Welcoming Back the Visitor Economy

Leaders of the North’s visitor economy struck an optimistic tone when asked how this sector can return and show resilience after the turmoil of the last 12 months.

A twin panel discussion, sponsored by Manchester Central, was chaired by TheBusinessDesk.com’s North West editor, Shelina Begum.

On the first panel – “Being a destination” – were David Harland, chief executive of Eden Project, Hannah Plumb, culture and talent director at The Alchemist bar and restaurant chain and Iain Finlayson, estate director at Liverpool One.

The second panel – “Putting on a show” – featured Shaun Hinds, CEO at Manchester Central, Sacha Lord, night time economy adviser for Greater Manchester and co-founder of Warehouse Project and Parklife, Claire McColgan, director at Culture Liverpool and Abigail Scott-Paul, director of external relations for Leeds 2023.

Finlayson said Liverpool One normally sees 30 million visitors each year, a figure which plunged massively last year.

But he believed people would feel safe enough to return thanks to the vaccination programme.

“We think that by June we’ll be seeing the same levels of footfall and sales that we saw in 2019,” he added.

He stressed it is important to have the football stadiums operating with spectators, as these also help boost numbers.

Plumb said there is a healthy appetite for a return to eating out.

“We’re really looking forward to bringing people back and we think it’s going to be very busy everywhere,” she said. “We’ve got thousands of reservations in for when we can open in May.”

Harland explained that in spite of the disruption, plans were still underway for Eden Project North, in Morecambe.

And he said the “staycation” trend would be a big factor this year and probably into 2022 also. “The key thing for our industry is to offer people a quality experience,” he said.

“If we get that right people will see that despite the weather Britain is an amazing place to visit with plenty of stunning locations. The future remains ours too make.”

Lord pointed out this September’s Parklife Festival has already sold out, noting the huge demand for tickets demonstrated what the “bounce back” would be like.

He conceded there would be hesitance to return to city centres, with some people continuing to be reluctant to use public transport or queue up for taxis.

But he pointed out this could work in favour of smaller, independent businesses in the suburbs as customers look to stay local.

Hinds said the Nightingale Hospital at Manchester Central was currently being decommissioned.

He stressed the type of events which normally take place at this venue are usually booked well in advance, so it won’t rapidly return to hosting these functions.

“We think it will be autumn when the events we traditionally host will start to come back,” he said.

McColgan said: “We need to get people back to Liverpool city centre as it’s so important for our economy. We’ll be using events as a way of moving people outside. But we want to dial it up gently to give people confidence to come back.

“What we don’t want is for things to go absolutely ballistic on April 12.”

Scott-Paul added it had not been ideal to be organising the Leeds 2023 cultural festival during lockdown.

“Even though it’s a couple of years, 2023 doesn’t seem that far away now,” she said. “But we hope to be able to re-emerge in May with confidence that Leeds 2023 will be going ahead. We want to provide some hope and optimism on the horizon.”

 

 


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