Director of Marketing Liverpool, Chris Brown, reflects on the success of Eurovision on Liverpool’s Visitor Economy
As we reflect on a hugely successful Eurovision that Liverpool hosted on behalf of Ukraine, it is right that we reflect upon the input and support of the hospitality, culture and tourism sector who played a major role in the preparations and delivery of the event.
From the very start, team Liverpool pulled together to make it all a success. When we needed to have 55,000 room nights on hold at agreed room rates for the Eurovision bid, the hoteliers made it happen. When we were planning how to welcome the thousands of international visitors to the city our travel partners went above and beyond. And when it came to Liverpool’s famous hospitality, our partners across bars, restaurants and attractions provided the best experience for our visitors. The whole sector has really raised the bar.
Not only in Liverpool has this happened, but right across Liverpool City Region, demonstrating the brilliant collaboration we are capable of as a region.
Within this we cannot forget the amazing work undertaken by our colleagues at ACC Liverpool. The team there moved mountains during the bid process to make sure bringing Eurovision to Liverpool was possible, they also delivered the most exceptional experience for those fortuitous enough to have a ticket to any of the nine shows. And didn’t it look brilliant on TV!
We should remember that going into Eurovision, we had a sector that was and still is going through difficult times due to the soaring costs of energy and utility bills. Hopefully many of them will have had a huge boost over the Eurovision period that will help them going forward.
Since COVID we have had to rely heavily on the domestic market so the huge influx of European and international visitors, supported by extraordinary levels of media coverage from the global press, will help reignite those markets. This will not only give us a huge boost over the summer but in years to come. Business tourism is also a huge part of our business mix so the success of ACC will no doubt see a huge increase in enquiries for them too.
The close working relationship that we have – and had – all through Eurovision with colleagues at VisitBritain and VisitEngland will I’m sure also provide a great legacy for Liverpool and the wider city region.
The legacy of Eurovision is where we need to now focus to ensure that we maximise the impact from an event that will, in time I think, be even greater than what was achieved in 2008. And we will start that by capitalising on the great music and cultural offer of the city and wider region.
There will be areas of discussion going forward about accommodation, particularly around pricing within the private rented sector, and how we can as a country deliver better regional rail transport to the same level as our city region was able to do. But for now the visitor economy sector and all its staff should be incredibly proud of their contribution to what has been an incredible Eurovision experience.