Birmingham named top UK tourism city for second year in a row

BIRMINGHAM has been named the Best UK Destination for tourists – for the second year in a row.

The city was recognised at a special awards ceremony held at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole last night (Wednesday) to coincide with the first day of the Group Leisure & Travel Trade Show at the NEC.
 
Birmingham saw off competition from London, Liverpool, Torquay and York in the awards from trade publication Group Leisure magazine, the country’s leading publication for group travel organisers.
 
Active travel organisers from sports and social clubs, retired associations, special interest societies and other groups voted for what they consider the best across 21 categories, including awards for Best Cruise Line, Best Theatre Production and Best Airline.
 
Birmingham’s success follows record visitor numbers to the city in 2013, with 34m people contributing £5.34bn to its local economy, supporting nearly 64,000 jobs.
 
The award was presented to Visit Birmingham, the city’s leisure tourism programme, by comedian and ventriloquist Paul Zerdin and managing editor of Group Leisure magazine, Rob Yandell.
 
Emma Gray, Director of Marketing Services at Visit Birmingham, said: “Birmingham is thrilled to have been voted Best UK Destination. The city’s growing reputation resulted in our visitor numbers reaching a record high during 2013, and as we gear up for a spectacular 2015 with new developments and exciting events, we look forward to welcoming even more groups.”
 
Rob Yandell, Managing Editor of Group Leisure, added: “For Birmingham to win Best UK Destination represents a personal recommendation from group travel organisers, and what better way to celebrate such an achievement than for the group travel trade to come together on one evening to mark this success.”
 
The award strengthens the city’s latest tourism campaign – “15 in ’15” – which highlights 15 major events taking place in the city next year.

These include the completion of the £600m redevelopment of New Street Station, the £26m refurbishment of the National Indoor Arena (NIA), the opening of the new £127m Midland Metro line in Birmingham city centre and on the sporting front, next autumn’s Rugby World Cup, which comes to Villa Park, and the return of Ashes Test cricket to Edgbaston.