Member Article

Conference and business events generate £822m for Manchester

Conferences and business events have generated £822m for Greater Manchester’s economy during 2011, according to a new tourism study published by Visit Manchester.

The figure is a 43% increase from the £573m reported for 2009, and represents the income to businesses in the Greater Manchester area due to conference and business events hosted during 2011.

The region welcomed 5.2m delegates to its venues in 2011, representing an increase of 23% on 2009’s 4.2m delegate figure.

Furthermore, 8.2m delegate days were generated, representing a 19% increase on 2009 when 6.9m delegate days were recorded.

The study also suggests that 21,800 full time jobs were supported by the business tourism sector throughout Greater Manchester.

Corporate business events were also shown to account for 59% of all business events in the region, followed by government and public sector events (28%), national association conferences (11%) and international association conferences (3%).

Paul Simpson, managing director of Visit Manchester, the tourist board for the Manchester city-region, said: “We are thrilled with the results of this study, which shows just how big a contribution the conference and business tourism sector makes to the local economy – in terms of both economic value and job creation.

“There have been major developments in Greater Manchester’s conference product over recent years, in terms of developing the infrastructure and support services that organisers expect of a world class conference destination and increasing the region’s conference venue supply.

“When looking at the figures in detail it is particularly encouraging to see that the national association sector has experienced the largest growth in terms of generating economic impact in the last two years – up 68% on 2009 – and that the economic impact from international association conferences nearly doubled to £21 million in 2011 from £11 million in 2009.

“Overall the results outlined in this study are a testament to the incredible conference facilities we have on offer in Manchester and we’re confident that the city-region will continue to generate a significant economic benefit from these sectors in the future.”

The Conference Value & Volume 2012 study was commissioned by Visit Manchester and carried out by TEAM Tourism Consulting, who also undertook the 2010 study.

PlaceFirst Economic Redevelopment & Regeneration Consultancy provided the employment analysis.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .