Liverpool's international visitor figures treble
31 Aug 2007
THE number of overseas visitors to Liverpool has trebled in just two years, new government tourism figures revealed last night.
In the past year, almost 626,000 overseas visitors arrived in Liverpool, compared with 210,000 just two years ago. It places Liverpool in sixth place in a “league table” and earned £255m for the local economy.
The figures provide a boost for the city region’s growing tourism industry as Liverpool heads for its crown as European Capital of Culture.
It also makes Liverpool a more popular destination than traditional favourites including York, Bath and university towns Oxford and Cambridge.
With just months to go to the opening of the new arena at Kings Dock, as well as Grosvenor’s £1bn Liverpool One project, the city could overtake rival destinations like Glasgow and Manchester during 2008, tourism commentators believe.
The start of the Tall Ships Race from the Mersey as well as the Golf Open at Royal Birkdale, and the arrival of more cruise liners will send the 2008 figures rocketing.
London tops the tourism chart, as it always does, with Edinburgh again in runner-up position. Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow take the next three places.
The figures, researched by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), confirm that Liverpool is closing the gap on the cities currently ahead in the league table with a giant 43% leap in international visitor numbers.
During 2006, Liverpool welcomed 625,000 international visitors up from 438,000 in 2005. Only two years ago, in 2004, Liverpool lay in 16th place with 210,000 visitors.
Overseas visitor numbers for the wider destination beyond Liverpool reflect the importance district locations play in the visitor economy. Merseyside is getting 2.3% of all international visits now compared with 0.9% in 2004.
The overall Merseyside figures since 2004 demonstrate the pace of growth and value of overseas visitor spend to the region’s economy.
The 260,000 visitors to Merseyside in 2004 spent an estimated £82m. In 2005 the numbers rose to 540,000 (spending £217m) and the total number of overseas visitors to Merseyside in 2006 was 740,000, spending an estimated £255m.
The development of new routes to and from Liverpool John Lennon Airport has played a significant part in attracting more visitors.
Martin King, director of tourism at the official tourist board, The Mersey Partnership, welcomed the figures published by VisitBritian, the national tourist authority.
He said: “Our destination has done tremendously well to prove its attractiveness to international visitors by turning in a set of figures like these in the last three years. To almost triple the overall figure in the IPS survey, and be a more popular destination than places like Bath, Oxford and York, is a fantastic achievement which gives us a perfect springboard into our year as European Capital of Culture.”
He said the partnership’s marketing work with Liverpool John Lennon Airport, and with airlines, as well as directly in key European cities had all contributed to the growth.
He added: “With 2008 firmly in our sights, and huge investments in our visitor economy in schemes like Arena and Convention Centre Liverpool, Grosvenor’s Liverpool One, the cruise liner berth, new hotels and new conference facilities and hotels in Southport, we are in great shape to build on our success to date.”
by Larry Neild, Liverpool Daily Post
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