Member Article

Three year deal for Marketing Manchester and NOMA

Marketing Manchester has signed a three-year deal with NOMA - the 20 acres mixed use development in the city centre - to help promote the region’s newest neighbourhood to visitors to the city.

The deal will see the development become headline sponsor of the Manchester Visitor Information Centre (MVIC) in Piccadilly Gardens.

Marketing Manchester, the agency responsible for promoting the city on a national and international stage, will work with NOMA to highlight the tourism offering of the £800m development.

Andrew Stokes, chief executive of Marketing Manchester, said: “The MVIC is the public face of tourism in the city and welcomes over 300,000 visitors a year. For businesses looking to raise their profile in the sector, there is no greater platform.

“Tourism generates £6.6bn a year for the Greater Manchester economy and it is important that all assets are maximised. The city has a great track record in promoting new additions to its ‘core’, and the potential surrounding NOMA cannot be overestimated.”

David Pringle, director of NOMA, said: “Raising awareness of NOMA is a key priority for us, and whilst locally knowledge of the development is strong, we would like to work with Marketing Manchester to raise NOMA’s profile with visitors to the city.

Tourism will become increasingly important for NOMA as the neighbourhood evolves over the years ahead. The MVIC was a natural choice for us and we look forward to working with Andrew and his team across multiple projects in the coming three years.“

In 2010, the MVIC re-located from St Peter’s Square to Piccadilly Gardens following an £800,000 investment by Manchester City Council and the North West Regional Development Agency.

It was the first Visitor Information Centre in Europe to use Microsoft Surface Tables in the delivery of visitor information and in 2012 was named the best Visitor Information Centre in the country at the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence.

NOMA is the £800 million scheme to redevelop 20 acres of the northern side of Manchester city centre. The 10 year programme will create a truly mixed use district, incorporating office space, residential, retail and leisure facilities.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .