Visitor figures show Manchester closing on second place
MANCHESTER is closing the gap on Edinburgh as the UK’s second-lost popular destination for international visitors, according to new figures.
International Passenger Survey (IPS) showed that Edinburgh’s lead over the city was narrowed by 84,941 visitors in 2012.
The Scottish capital drew 1,255,595 international visitors compared with Manchester’s 932,299 – a lead of 323,296. In 2011, this figure was 408,237.
Overall the city of Manchester’s visitor numbers dipped by 2,000 on the 2011 figure of 934,000 as tourists flocked to London for the Olympics and the Royal Jubilee celebrations.
The most popular countries of origin for visitors to Manchester were: Ireland (109,145), Germany (80,664), the US (68,936), Poland (60,315) and France (50,972).
The Netherlands (49,096), Spain (47,352), Norway (42,492), Canada (25,675) and Australia complete the top 10.
Andrew Stokes, chief executive of Marketing Manchester, said: “The city’s global connectivity is key to its international standing. Manchester Airport’s route network is unrivalled outside of London and continues to grow.
“In the last 12 months we have seen the introduction of new services to places like Washington DC and Moscow – attracting people that might otherwise have flown into Heathrow or rival destinations in Europe.”
In a year where all the other top 5 cities – Edinburgh, Manchester,and Birmingham all saw falls in visitor numbers, Liverpool saw growth of 5,000 between 2011 to 2012 to 550,000 with total spend of £184m.
The IPS collects information about passengers entering and leaving the UK, and has been running continuously since 1961.
