Member Article

Hoteliers - and Labour - see IFB 2014 as big opportunity for region

The new chairman of the Liverpool Hoteliers Association believes that 2014 will be a “monumental” year for the city’s tourism sector.

James Rush, general manager at the city’s Malmaison hotel, was speaking as the countdown to the start of International Festival for Business 2014 (IFB) reached the six-months-to-go mark.

Labour leader Ed Miliband met organisers of the massive event, to be held in Merseyside over six weeks next June and July, and praised the IFB as a “brilliant opportunity” for the UK.

The summer promises to be one of the busiest ever for the Liverpool hotel industry as one million visitors from all over the world are expected to come to the region for the IFB, its adjoining cultural and entertainment programme - and The Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club.

Starting this week, a group of Liverpool’s leading hotels are throwing their support behind the 50-day IFB with banners decorating their lobbies for the next six months.

Mr Rush, who succeeds Mike Dewey of the Hard Day’s Night Hotel as chair of the association, said: “It will be a monumental year for hoteliers in Liverpool.

“The IFB will play a major role in its success, both in numbers of people it will bring to stay in the city and for the legacy it will create.

“I speak not just on behalf of Malmaison, but also for the rest of the hoteliers here – it makes perfect sense to be engaging with IFB now.

“These banners show that the city and its hotels are certainly open for business.”

Chris Brown, director of Marketing Liverpool, said: “I speak to hoteliers on a regular basis and there is real excitement about this year and particularly the summer months.

“The IFB will help shine a spotlight on our region and attract many people from across the UK and the world for a diverse range of activities and it is extremely important that the hotel industry in the city is backing our endeavours and is grasping the opportunity to be involved at this early stage.”

The enthusiasm from Liverpool’s hotel industry comes after Ed Miliband received a special briefing from the festival’s chairman, Max Steinberg.

Mr Miliband said: “It is fantastic that the UK is hosting the International Festival for Business and great news for Liverpool. It is a brilliant opportunity to bring more investment into the UK and support our existing businesses.”

Mr Steinberg added that it had been a “very positive” meeting and that IFB organisers were now discussing with Mr Miliband’s team how he and members of the shadow front bench can be involved with the business festival.

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