By Marketing Liverpool Commercial Manager, Chris Adderley
November and December always seen to be a bit of a whirlwind, don’t they? Rushing to wrap things up before the end of the year. Planning ahead for the year to come. Looking back. Looking forward and forging ahead, with ambitious new plans and eternally optimistic resolutions in mind.
In the spirit of this head-spinning ‘end and new beginning’ season, here’s a quick round-up of the tail end of Marketing Liverpool’s 2022 activity, along with an update on our planned activity for January 2023. It’s going to be a great year for Liverpool, I can feel it. So take a look at our latest updates and have a ‘Happy New Year’ everyone!
VISITLIVERPOOL (INC TRAVEL TRADE)
- VisitLiverpool exhibited at World Travel Market in London – located on the UK Inbound stand. We showcased Liverpool City Region’s offer, introducing our products to an international audience, from 7-9 November.
- The region’s newest attraction, Eureka! Science + Discovery, located at Seacombe ferry terminal, opened 11th November.
- We attended VisitBritain’s ‘Meet the French Trade’ event at the British Embassy in Paris, on the 24th November.
- VisitLiverpool’s festive marketing campaign launched in mid-November, with promotional elements including advertising on ITV, outdoor exposure, regional print and social media.
- New VisitLiverpool partners this month include The Nest, based at the Royal Albert Dock, Opulence Voyage Executive Chauffer, INTX Chauffer Services and Freij Attraction’s popular ride and attraction ‘The Liverpool Wheel’ as well as new openings this month including Gaucho, Hawksmoor and Albert’s Schloss.
- River of Light saw a record number of visits to the trail, with more than 250,000 people over visiting the outdoor art gallery, over 17 nights. Each evening, thousands of people travelled the 2km-long route, enjoying ten large-scale artworks – a mix of world premiere commissions alongside pieces not showcased in Liverpool before. The event ran from 21 October until 6 November.
- Liverpool City Region Tourism Awards shortlist announced – good luck to all shortlisted businesses!
- Liverpool added a new music tour to its roster: ‘The Liverpool Music Icons Tours is a walking tour, featuring Pete Hooton or Keith Mullin from ‘The Farm’ and Brian Nash from Frankie Goes to Hollywood.
- Lufthansa announced that it will be increasing the number of weekly departures to Frankfurt from Liverpool John Lennon Airport, at the start of Summer 2023, following the success of the service, which started in May this year.
- On the 7th December Marketing Liverpool, Growth Platform and Liverpool BID Company celebrated another successful year for Liverpool by holding our annual ‘Christmas Social’ event at Liverpool new Bavarian bar and restaurant, Albert Schloss.
DIGITAL, PRESS AND PR
- Marketing Liverpool hosted an array of press trips from around the world, including international media from Australia, Brazil, Spain and South Korea, as well as leading national publications such as Metro and Love EXPLORING.
- We secured a feature in ‘The Scottish Herald’ on the ‘Best Things To Do In Liverpool in 2023’.
- Liverpool has also once again been included in Time Out and Conde Nast Traveller’s ‘Best Places to Visit in the UK in 2023’.
- We’re working on a range of coverage in internationally recognised publications for the start of 2023.
LIVERPOOL CONVENTION BUREAU (LCB)
- On the 1st November, LCB exhibited at the ‘Conference and Hospitality Show’ (CHS) in Birmingham. The event provided Liverpool Convention Bureau with a national platform to interact with event planners, agents and venue finders.
- From the 7-9 November, The LCB team also attended the ICCA congress in Krakow, which provided Liverpool with the opportunity to meet international association conference organisers.
- The LCB team secured 13 new international association conference leads during VisitBritain’s ‘European Sales Mission’ event, held in Paris and Brussels, from the 14-16 November.
- LCB were honoured and excited to once again be shortlisted for Meetings Industry Association’s (MIA) destination ‘Team of the Year’ award, with the ceremony taking place in Birmingham, on the 17th November.
- The Liverpool Convention Bureau team exhibited at IBTM in Barcelona, which provided a valuable forum for business networking, generating new ideas, discovering innovations and new business development, through a strong delegation of international meeting and event professionals.
SPORT
- Liverpool’s hosting of the 2022 ‘World Gymnastics Championships’ successfully concluded, garnering widespread acclaim. Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (F.I.G.) President, Morinari Watanabe, stated: “As you know, the Beatles created a new music scene. Liverpool World Championships turned gymnastics from sports to entertainment this time. It is the start of the new gymnastics scene”. The event sold more than 35,000 tickets, with 18,500 visitors attending in total.
- Everton FC’s new stadium, located within Liverpool’s Bramley-Moore Dock, has been shortlisted to host UEFA Euro 2028.
CULTURE, MUSIC AND FILM OFFICE
- Amazon Prime’s popular historical drama ‘Outlander’ filmed scenes for its 7th season at both Liverpool’s Croxteth Hall and in the city’s Georgian Quarter. Liverpool’s historic architecture will stand in for 18th century Philadelphia.
- On the 22 November, the Liverpool set fictional care home drama ‘Help’ won the International Emmy for TV Movie/Mini-Series. Help benefitted from the LCR Production Fund, was filmed in the LCR during the pandemic and starred Liverpool’s own Jodie Comer and Stephen Graham.
- Liverpool Film Office attendance at FOCUS International Production Trade Show – 6th-9th December.
- Liverpool’s ‘Open Sauce’ event took place on the 26th November. The brand new event aimed at inspiring the next generation of music creators, bringing together more than 100 16-25 year-olds, who want to break into the music industry.
- The ‘Royal Television Society North West Awards’ 2022 took place on the 26th November and it was an excellent night for Liverpool City Region. LCR Production Fund supported ‘The Responder’ picked up 2 awards – Best Breakthrough Talent (Adelayo Adedayi) and Best Script Writer (Tony Schumacher). LCR Production Fund supported ‘Help’ was also awarded ‘Best Single Drama’. ‘Anne’ written by Liverpool City Region writer, Kevin Sampson, secured ‘Best Drama Series’. Best Factual Series went to ‘Nail Bar Boys’ by Liverpool based production company, LA Productions. Best Digital Creativity went to Channel Four soap ‘Hollyoaks’, produced by Lime Pictures and ‘Peacock’ which filmed in Halton, saw Alan “Seapa” Mustafa take home the award for ‘Best Performance in a Comedy. Finally, a special Judges Award was also presented to celebrated Liverpool screenwriter and novelist, Frank Cottrell-Boyce.
- Award nominations continue for Liverpool production ‘The Responder’ with Broadcast Award nominations for ‘Best Drama Series’ and ‘International Programme Sales’. Award winners will be announced in February 2023.
- Liverpool Film Studios ‘The Depot’ celebrated its first anniversary and announced its first long-term tenant – Paramount+. The Depot officially launched just over 12 months ago, in an ambitious move to meet the increasing demand from production companies wanting to film in the city. The two 20,000 square feet studios, including sound stages and dedicated parking area, located off Edge Lane has been in high demand with a feature film and global commercial brands already using the space.
- Liverpool Film Office attended the FOCUS International Production Trade Show, from the 6th-9th December, showcasing and promoting Liverpool City Region as an international film location.
If you find this useful or if you have any additional feedback please drop me an email at cadderley@marketingliverpool.co.uk
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