Member Article

Up, up and away - surge in BRIC tourists to Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester’s combined effort to attract visitors from BRIC countries has proven to be effective, according to new figures release by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) as part of the annual International Passenger Survey (IPS).

A 59% increase in BRIC visitors - up from a combined 29,826 in 2012 to 47,572 in 2013* - is welcome news for city tourism bosses who have recently focused promotional activities on emerging country markets such as China and India.

The overall number of international visits to Greater Manchester increased by 7% in 2013 – up from 1,093,000 in 2012 to 1,171,000 – whilst visits to the City of Manchester grew by 6% to 988,000.

Andrew Stokes, chief executive of Marketing Manchester, said: “China and India are fundamental to the integrated internationalisation strategy in place across Greater Manchester and it is very reassuring to see that the early promotional work we have undertaken in these markets is starting to yield results.

“The opportunity that both China and India represent for UK tourism is abundantly clear and it is imperative that we continue to work with our partners on initiatives such as the China Visitor Economy Forum and Indian Steering Group to grow sustainable tourism in the region.”

The data shows that the most popular countries of origin for visitors to Greater Manchester remain traditional markets such as Ireland (139,474), Germany (92,976), USA (82,874), Spain (73,874) and Poland (65,024).

There was also significant growth however in a number of further-flung markets including Japan (up 218% from 3,442 to 10,954), New Zealand (up 108% from 4,283 to 8,904), UAE (up 65% from 11,790 to 19,452) and Singapore (up 39% 6,292 to 8,741).

Ken OToole, Chief Commercial Officer at Manchester Airports Group (MAG) said: “It is positive to see tourism in Greater Manchester growing at the same time as passenger traffic at Manchester Airport is increasing.

“Manchester Airport is the international gateway to the North of England and a key enabler of economic growth in the region.

“The strength of our catchment, and the engagement we receive from Marketing Manchester and other stakeholders in promoting the region has been instrumental in delivering passenger growth, increased connectivity through new routes like easyJet’s service to Moscow and increased inbound tourism.

“China is one of a number of key territories for MAG. It’s positive that Manchester Airport will shortly have the only scheduled direct flights outside of London to China with Cathay Pacific’s commencement of services in December. This is great news for the region and will further grow the number of international passengers coming from the Far East.

“We continue to progress discussions with existing and prospective airlines worldwide on the opportunities available in the North West. We remain confident of the appeal of Manchester Airport and look forward to continued growth and further new routes in the year to come.”

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