Tories’ conference worth over £27m to Manchester

THE Conservative Party Conference is set to generate £27.4m for the city’s economy, according to the city’s tourist body.

The conference, which takes place at Manchester Central from 2-5 October, will have the largest economic benefit to the city since it established itself on the conference circuit back in 2004, according to Marketing Manchester. It is set to attract more than 13,000 delegates.

Marketing Manchester chief executive Andrew Stokes said: “Political party conferences have been one of the city’s biggest success stories of the last decade.

“The development of Petersfield, investment in the surrounding infrastructure and a city-wide partnership approach has enabled us to not only attract these events but keep them coming back year after year.

“They are now a firm fixture of the city’s business tourism calendar and contribute a significant amount to the city’s £573m-a-year conference industry.”

Baroness Warsi, Conservative Party co-chairman said: “I am very pleased that the Conservative Party is returning to Manchester for its conference. I was very impressed with Manchester as a host city, and particularly Manchester Central as a conference venue, when we first came in 2009.  Manchester rightly deserves its reputation as a first class conference destination.”

Marketing Manchester said the economic impact was calculated using a VisitBritain formula that takes into account corporate and individual spend across the course of the event.

Earlier this week, Liverpool city leaders said the Labour Party conference due to take place next week was worth around £15m to the city.