Business leaders came together to debate the city’s visitor economy. Tony McDonough reports

PERSUADING the Government to allow cruise ships to begin and start their voyages at Liverpool is key to the future growth of the city’s visitor economy.

That was the view put forward during the latest LDP Business debate.

Economic development agency The Mersey Partnership (TMP) has produced detailed documents outlining a push for growth in four key sectors – knowledge economy, superport, low carbon economy and visitor economy.

This latest debate on the visitor economy was chaired by Daily Post business editor, Bill Gleeson, and on the panel was TMP chief executive Lorraine Rogers, Liverpool Football Club managing director Ian Ayre, ACC Liverpool chief executive Bob Prattey and Stephen Roberts, manager of the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

Cruise ships are currently allowed to call in at Liverpool’s cruise liner terminal but not begin or end their journeys.

Because of the level of public money used to build the facility, the Government says allowing it to be used as a turnaround facility may contravene the rules on state aid.

TMP, backed by a Daily Post campaign, is pushing for this to be overturned.

During the debate, Lorraine Rogers said that if the lobbying were to prove successful, it would prove to be a “real game-changer” for the city region.

“I believe we are edging closer to it,” she said. “Getting a turnaround facility would be great news.”

Stephen Roberts, whose hotel overlooks the terminal, added: “A turnaround facility would be the most significant opportunity for the visitor economy.

“The pre and post-cruise liner market is enormous, so if it happens it will be fantastic.”

Ms Rogers said the city region now had an all-round package to offer to visitors and the next big task was marketing that offer to maximise the potential to the sub-regional economy.

She added: “Our offering is all about culture in the very broadest sense – the assets and cultural events that we have – music, sport, fine arts, exhibitions.

“We have the finest collection of art outside London.

“Gaps – for example, in retail – have now been filled and we now attract a very broad audience.

“We have the raw ingredients but it is about how we package them – how we get the message out.

“There is a big focus on overnight stays – occupancy figures are very important to us.”

Bob Prattey claimed the Echo Arena and BT Convention Centre had generated around £400m for the local economy since they opened.

He said: “People who come to the arena tend to be day visitors – usually from within a 60- minute drive time. The arena has recently welcomed its two millionth visitor.

“People coming to the convention centre will travel from across the country and from abroad. Numbers are lower than the arena, but the majority will stay here overnight. The conferences are now coming in week after week and we can encourage people to stay after the events and take in the leisure attractions.

“The majority of them are coming to Liverpool for the first time and some of them are high rollers.

“That is great because today’s business tourist can become tomorrow’s leisure tourist.”

Ian Ayre, who is also chairman of TMP’s visitor economy, talked about the huge economic impact of football to the city.

He said: “Usually around 10% of people who come to watch a match at Anfield come from outside the city region, and around 50-60% of them will come from outside the UK.

“We are talking about 2,500 people. The fixture list for the season has just been published and that will help the hoteliers know when they are going to be full.

“Those visitors will often come to us at the club and ask about other attractions in the city.”

Mr Roberts acknowledged the positive impact on the city and talked about a growing phenomenon whereby people coming to watch football will also bring their partners and families and visit other attractions while they are here.

However, he said the absence of European football next season would have an impact, and he said the city needed more midweek attractions to fill the gap.

He also addressed the issue of whether or not Liverpool had too many hotel beds for the number of visitors it currently gets.

He said: “There is an argument that says the proliferation of budget hotels in Liverpool is not doing the city any favours.

“Having more hotel stock at the lower end of the market means we attract more weekend stag and hen parties, and they just want to imbibe.

“So there needs to be balance and we need to make sure we are a little more targeted.”

However, Mr Prattey said as many hotel rooms as possible, from whichever end of the market, were essential if Liverpool was to compete with other cities for major events and conferences.

He added: “I think the more hotels the better. We have a challenge during big conferences to get enough bed stock within the vicinity of the ACC.

“Other cities like Manchester have more rooms and when there is a big match on here, or an event like the Grand National at the same time as a conference, then that is a real challenge for us.”

Mr Rogers said that, on this issue, the city was a victim of its own success.

“The visitor market has grown so rapidly in such a short space of time and so maybe it needs to settle.

“We have to look at the hotel stock and what kind of events we have. In terms of what the city has to offer, we have raised the bar and we don’t want to drop our standards.

“There is less money now from the public sector for events, and so we need to work with the private sector to be more creative. We are not a capital city and to compete with capital cities is very difficult. They have more resources.

“We do have some very special parts to our offering – the music scene and the golf, for example. How many cities have two Open golf courses nearby.”

The panel agreed that golf was an area with a huge amount of potential.

Mr Ayre said: “Both golf and horse racing offer outstanding events with an international profile and we need to capitalise on what we have created.

“The England’s Golf Coast initiative has seen 10 times the number of people coming in for golf breaks.

“We need, perhaps, some bespoke packages to attract even more.”

Mr Prattey agreed, adding: “A lot of people who come to conferences like to play golf, so it is a case of persuading them to stay.”