The Grand National, Liverpool and Everton FC bring the tourist dollars flowing in to Merseyside

Aug 1 2007 Liverpool Daily Post

The Grand National, Liverpool and Everton FC bring the tourist dollars flowing in to Merseyside

FOOTBALL and racing make a multi-million pound contribution to Merseyside’s tourism economy, and it is a sector growing all the time.

The area is home to the undisputed greatest steeplechase in the world, The Grand National, beaming pictures of the famous Aintree racecourse to every continent.

It is a similar story with the area’s two premier football clubs, Liverpool and Everton.

A home match for one of the big two in the Premiership invariably means no vacancies at any of the local hotels.

Aintree and the football stadia are international destinations.

Recently Liverpool Football club was recognised for its contribution to tourism on Merseyside by The Mersey Partnership.

Manager Rafael Benitez, alongside club captain Steven Gerrard, received the Chairman’s award for the Visitor Economy from David Wade-Smith, chairman of Merseyside Tourist Board and Martin King, Director of Tourism at TMP.

The award is in recognition of the millions of pounds the club brings to the region’s economy in visitor spending through increased bookings at hotels, visitor attractions and additional trade in bars and restaurants.

The LFC museum and stadium tour has welcomed record numbers of visitors with 116,225 people coming through its doors in 2005, and even more last year.

David Wade-Smith said: “The success and history of Liverpool Football Club, alongside The Beatles, has always had a positive impact on attracting visitors to the region. The special award to the club goes some way to show how important the club is to the continuing growth of the region’s economy.” The Grand National meeting at Aintree is an odds-on certainty for the area’s tourism sec- tor, providing a massive win the local economy.

A study commissioned by The Mersey Partnership (TMP) on behalf of partners Sefton Council and Aintree Racecourse, and conducted by England’s Northwest Research Service, has revealed the total tourism spend generated by the big Spring race meeting. It pumps more then £10m into the economy.

More than half the money is spent in Liverpool, with more than £1.3m of that being spent on food and drink during the April meeting.

The findings underline the immense opportunities created by hosting world-class sporting events.

Hotels and accommodation providers in the area earn more than £2.5m from the Grand National meeting, providing around 70,000 bed nights during the event.

Even the transport industry benefits, with racegoers spending more than £600,000 on travel and transport in Merseyside.

Martin King, director of tourism at TMP said: “We’ve been on a winner with the Grand National for a number of years as the popularity of the event, the investment in facilities at Aintree and – not least – the quality of the racing and visitor offer have improved dramatically. The research report underlines the success and significance of this world class event to the economies of Merseyside and the wider North West.”

Away from the big events, the race meetings at Haydock Park and the impact on Wirral of Tranmere Rovers both make a fine contribution to the tourism economy.