Sea Odyssey brings in £32m

THE Sea Odyssey event created by French street theatre company Royal De Luxe that took place in Liverpool last month generated £32m for the city-region’s economy, according to a new report.

The report by Vector Research states that around 800,000 people flocked to see the event, and of the sample it interviewed, 43% were from the City of Liverpool, 50% were from elsewhere in the UK and 6% were from overseas.

Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson said: “This was the biggest event in Liverpool’s history.

“Liverpool is the only city in the country that can deliver such a giant cultural event, which has also resulted in giant economic benefits for the city.

“Sea Odyssey demonstrates how ambitious I want this city to be. We need to think in giant terms – in this case, literally!

The report calculated that the average spend by visitors was £40.74 per person, with those staying overnight spending £34.55 each on accommodation. Of the £32m spent, £10.5m was on accommodation and £20m was spent in shops, bars, restaurants and at other tourist attractions.

Saturday was the busiest retail day of the year, with sales at Liverpool ONE up by 25% on the prior year. Hotel occupancy rates in the city on the Saturday night were 99%.

Liverpool City Council’s cabinet member for culture and tourism, Cllr Wendy Simon, said: “A month on, and people are still talking and writing to us about Sea Odyssey which goes to show how this event really struck a chord with everyone.

“The figures in this report are phenomenal and the £32 million has exceeded all our expectations.”