Tourism: Call for major venue to boost Yorkshire’s events offering
YORKSHIRE is well placed geographically to attract big events but the lack of a major event facility could hold the region back, a leading business figure has said.
Mark Robson, UKTI regional director for Yorkshire and Humber, has warned that the region needs to think ahead to ensure the facilities are in place for it to remain capable of hosting major events.
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Mr Robson says: “We are very central, close to Manchester, the North East and the midlands, and the idea of Hs3 would be a great boost in building on the ambitions of a “northern powerhouse”, as the Chancellor recently said
“However, if you go to cities such as Dusseldorf, they have major events bases and that is one of the things this region lacks.”
Mr Robson points to the Global Manufacturing Festival, which he says is now becoming a global trade show.
“We have shown, through events such as Global manufacturing Festival, that we can do it. We can go further, and host events on offshore wind and healthcare.
“We can do even bigger, better conferences but we need to think of our conference facilities.”
Mr Robson says that Yorkshire has done well at hosting and keeping festivals here.
“I remember the Documentary Festival in Sheffield 10 or 12 years ago being tiny. Now it is supported internationally by UKTi and is a globally renowned cultural event,” he says.
“The Global Manufacturing Festival just keeps on growing. But it begs the question “where can they go next?” when these events start turning a corner in terms of growth, do we have the capacity as a region to keep them here? Is there a risk that they could be moved to bigger cities/regions?”
Andrew Manby, director at Harrogate-based Joe Manby Event services, which delivers business-to- business trade events and exhibitions across the UK, believes Yorkshire is not as well served as other regions.
“The Arena and Convention Centre (ACC) in Liverpool, Event City in Manchester show a real cross Pennine divide in terms of the event facilities on offer,” he says.
“Harrogate, with its event facilities including the conference centre and the Yorkshire showground, does score on many levels but there seems to be more on offer elsewhere, such as Liverpool and Manchester as I have mentioned, which also offer fantastic train, air and road links, so from a logistics point of view, they are the winners.
“Our region needs a major event venue, so we can continue to attract the annual trade shows, which really do have a positive impact on the economy.”
