Minister for Sport and Tourism Helen Grant MP held a two day visit to Liverpool City Region to learn about the destination’s successful major events programme and other developments in its Visitor Economy.
The visit coincided with Liverpool appearing third in Rough Guide’s ranking of world cities to visit in 2014, behind only Rio de Janeiro and Sarajevo.
During a private dinner with Members and Partners of the Liverpool City Region’s Visitor Economy Board, the Minister heard how the tourism sector has now grown to support 46,000 jobs; attracts 56 million visitors a year and generates an annual economic impact of £3.4bn.
The Minister also attended the official launch of the UK’s largest cultural event to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War 1.
Taking place over five days in July, this event will see the return to Liverpool of the acclaimed, French-based Royal de Luxe street theatre company whose last event in the city two years ago attracted more than 800,000 visitors and generated £32m for the local economy.
The Ministerial Party also visited Wirral’s Royal Liverpool Golf Club at Hoylake, venue for this year’s Open Championship where she was briefed on preparations for the global showcase being staged in July.
Sara Wilde McKeown, Chair of the City Region’s Visitor Economy Board which co-ordinated the programme for the visit, said:
“This was an important opportunity for the City Region to demonstrate the strength and vibrancy of its Visitor Economy. Major events, including world-class sports such as the Grand National, the Open Championship, Premier League football and Rugby League, are a massive part of our appeal as a visitor destination.
“We briefed the Minister fully on the scale of the opportunities we have identified and how Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Members and Partners are working together to ensure our economy benefits from further growth.”
Chris Brown, director of Marketing Liverpool, said: “This was an important and timely visit by the Minister and she was impressed by the range of the city region’s offer as well as the scale of our ambition.
“One only needs to speak to the hotels to realise how important 2014 will be to the visitor economy. Each has already seen an excellent take-up with events such as the Biennial and International Festival for Business, and they can expect another rush following the announcement of the Giants return.
“Liverpool Cruise Terminal is also preparing for its biggest year yet, with 52 ships bringing around 64,000 passengers to the city with an economic impact of £4.5m. This growth is phenomenal when you consider that in 2008 just 13 ships came to Liverpool, and testament to the magnificent work of the team.
“The Mayor’s ambition is that every year will be as diverse and wonderful as this year promises to be and Marketing Liverpool together with our partners will continue to work hard on delivering a first class visitor experience that will help create jobs, businesses and wealth.”