Strong summer for Manchester hotels
HOTEL occupancy in Manchester city centre last month was the highest August on record – with the monthly average at 77%.
The figures from Marketing Manchester represent an 11% rise on August 2012.
The busiest day was Saturday, August 3 when the city’s hotels were 94% occupied.
That weekend saw England take on Australia in the Ashes at Emirates Old Trafford as well as the first weekend of the Manchester Pride Fringe and the ‘Dig The City’ festivals.
A number of international conferences also drew overnight visitors to the city, including the International Congress of Anthropological & Ethnological Sciences from August 5-10 which had 1,500 delegates, the CASE Europe Annual Conference from August 27-30 with 900 delegates and the European University Debating Championships from August 18-24 which had 800 delegates.
The average hotel occupancy across Greater Manchester was also up 11% from 67% to 78%. Paul Simpson, managing director of Visit Manchester, said: “August is traditionally a quiet month for the city’s tourism industry as many people take their main overseas holiday during this month. For the same reason, there are very few conferences that take place during the summer – with many opting for dates in September, which is the start of the ‘conference season’.
“The 11% rise in occupancy in August is great news for the industry and further proof of the importance in supporting the city’s events programme – which is already one of the most impressive of any UK city.”
Tourism generates £6.6bn a year for the Greater Manchester economy and supports 84,000 full time equivalent jobs.
