Liverpool ’ s premier events space has been at the centre of city ’ s Covid response , and will be key in the recovery
iverpool City Region has been working tirelessly since the coronavirus outbreak , readying itself for the return of conferences and exhibitions and gearing up to help rebuild the events industry .
The business tourism sector is critical to the Liverpool economy . Worth over £ 3.3bn a year and supporting 38,000 jobs , its visitor economy is reliant on business events to support venues , hotels , bars , restaurants , retail , attractions and taxi drivers , particularly mid-week . Put simply , it is a vital contributor to Liverpool ’ s economy .
Chris Brown , director of Marketing Liverpool , said : “ Liverpool is an internationally renowned destination for events . Our visitor economy accounts for 48 % of our business rates , and events have been a huge
factor in its growth over the last 15 years . The huge success of our cultural and sporting events rightly attracts global headlines , but business tourism has really been the cornerstone of our development .”
ACC Liverpool , the city ’ s largest event campus , is a major contributor to the visitor economy , delivering over £ 2bn in economic impact to the city region since opening in 2008 . Welcoming more than eight million visitors , it supports hundreds of jobs in the venue and thousands across the wider leisure and hospitality sectors . 2020 was set to be one of its busiest years to date with the Labour Party Conference among events forced to postpone . Highlights over the past 12 years include nine consecutive outings for
For more details visit accliverpool . com / rediscoverevents
31
BBC
Liverpool
Studios Showcase , NHS Confederation , the Royal College of Nursing and the European Association of International Education .
Bob Prattey , chief executive of The ACC Liverpool Group , said : “ Despite not being able to hold any events since March , we have been committed to supporting Liverpool City Region . Exhibition Centre Liverpool is currently being deployed for ground-breaking mass Covid-19 testing . The arena and convention centre have been operating as a logistical distribution hubs for PPE equipment as well as food and household goods for the vulnerable . The versatile use of our campus demonstrates how our industry has continued to step up and provide vital support to the government .
“ Meanwhile we wanted to show our clients how much work has been going on in the background to make sure we are ready for their return , so we launched our campaign to “ Rediscover events at ACC Liverpool ” which includes an A-Z of covid-19 secure operational plans . We are also introducing a hybrid event solution for socially distanced hybrid and multi-channel events .
“ Confidence is going to be a vital part of revitalising the events industry when we are able to open our doors again . We are doing everything we can to build and instil that confidence in event organisers , suppliers and audiences , and to bring them back to the city for 2021 .” www . conference-news . co . uk