Visitor economy in Liverpool bucking national trend

New figures have been released that reveal Liverpool’s visitor economy is performing “strongly” and bucking the national trend. The Mersey Partnership’s chief executive Lorraine Rogers said the industry was “significantly exceeding” UK levels.

The figures for 2010, taken from independent research commissioned by The Mersey Partnership, reveal a 5 per cent increase in visitor spend and tourism supported jobs, and an increase of 8 per cent in staying visitors and 4 per cent in day visitors compared with 2009.

TMP said an estimated 54.5 million visitor trips were made to the Liverpool city region last year, comprising 4.4 million staying visitors and 50.1 million day visitors.

By comparison, UK performance figures published by national tourism body VisitBritain estimate that in 2010 domestic overnight tourism fell by 5 per cent and overseas staying visits dropped by 0.3 per cent.

“In the current economic climate few sectors are showing growth. Liverpool city region’s visitor economy is not only showing strong growth but is significantly exceeding national performance levels,” said Rogers.

“The results also show the return that is being made on the significant public and private investments in the visitor economy in recent years. The strategy to invest in the sector is proving to be the right one.”