Member Article

Coventry Building Society Arena attracted more than 900,000 visitors in 2022

Coventry Building Society Arena attracted more than 966,000 visitors in 2022 – and now the leading sport, conference, music and exhibition venue is moving into a new era. The multi-purpose venue, which was brought under new ownership in November, launched 10 new exhibitions, welcomed hundreds of thousands of sports fans and attracted world-leading music acts to perform in its stadium bowl.

Overall visitor figures have risen by more than 348,000 since 2021, boosted by major international events including the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and Rugby League World Cup. Performances by Las Vegas rockers The Killers and German superstars Rammstein saw in excess of 60,000 concert goers head to Coventry.

While over 600,000 people attended sport events at the venue between January and December. More than 630 events have been hosted over the course of the year at the Arena, a 37 per cent increase from last year.

The 60 exhibitions held in 2022 – which is up from 39 held in 2021 - heralded a record year for the exhibition side of the business. The venue also hosted 69 large conferences, 23 annual awards events and in excess of 230 small meetings.

It marked a year that also saw the opening of the new £6.3 million Commonwealth Convention Centre, which increased the indoor conference and exhibition space at the Arena to 7,750 square metres.
This included the unveiling of a new south pavilion entrance, with the full investment cementing the Arena as a modern, flexible and market leading facility. Occupancy rates at the onsite Doubletree by Hilton hotel also rose by 28 per cent from 2022, meanwhile the onsite Grosvenor Casino attracted 125,000 visitors.

The strong year comes as Coventry Building Society Arena won the accolade of Association of Event Organisers (AEO) Venue of the Year under 20,000 square metres and won bronze in the Best Stadium Events Venue category at the Stadium Experience Awards. Coventry Building Society Arena was also a finalist for Best Business Event Venue at the West Midlands Growth Company Awards and a finalist in the Venue of the Year category for the Midland Food, Drink and Hospitality Awards.

Paul Michael, Commercial Director at Coventry Building Society Arena, said: “Set against the backdrop of a difficult year, our team has produced an extraordinary 12 months of business at the venue.

“We have hosted a record number of exhibitions and have further positioned the venue as a leader in that sector, with new exhibitions launching with us including The Big Zero Show and Beauty UK. “Now we have the certainty of our new ownership we are set for an even stronger 2023.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Matt Joyce .