Member Article

Further boost for Manchester’s visitor economy

Manchester’s visitor economy is continuing to grow, according to the latest Manchester Monitor, with average hotel occupancy up by one percentage point on last year and a 2.6% increase in airport passengers, year-on-year.

The Monitor – a monthly snapshot of Greater Manchester’s latest available data – also shows:

Jobseekers Allowance Claimants (JSA) continue to fall

At 34% in Q1 2014, the balance of Greater Manchester’s manufacturing companies reporting improved sales is approaching the pre-recession peak of 39%

The average house price in Greater Manchester is now £105,000 (an annual rise of 3.5%)

Dr Alexander Roy, acting deputy director of research at New Economy, said: “The continued growth of passenger numbers through Manchester Airport is one of the conurbation’s greatest economic success stories and we expect this trajectory to continue apace with new routes launching to various European destinations later in the year, as well as a route to Hong Kong from December, the only UK direct flight to China from outside London.

“The boost in passengers is not simply flowing in one direction either, with growth in hotel occupancy demonstrating the popularity of Greater Manchester as both a business and leisure destination.”

“This success is also manifesting in other areas of the economy with house prices slowly rising and unemployment continuing to decrease. The latest JSA data will be issued by the Office for National Statistics on Wednesday and we would hope to see this trend continue.”

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