Famous all across the universe

Mar 5 2007 By Catherine Jones, Liverpool Echo

THE Russians are coming – plus the Chileans, Saudi Arabians and Turks.

In fact, Liverpool’s world famous attractions are enticing visitors from everywhere from Barbados to Oman.

The cosmopolitan tourist influx also includes sightseers from Columbia, Mauritius, South Korea and India.

Figures show the city is a hotspot for people from 52 global destinations, with tourism bosses revealing thousands more visit from other countries.

With Capital of Culture only months away, they expect the numbers to keep rising.

Last year there were a record 32 million visits made to Britain, with tourists spending more than £15bn.

In April we will discover the size of Merseyside and Liverpool’s share of this lucrative tourism pot.

The Mersey Partnership director of tourism Martin King said: “The rate of growth in the past six months is fantastic.

“It demonstrates very clearly that more and more people are interested in our world-class tourism offer and as we launch into our 800th birthday celebrations and 2008, the level of interest will grow even faster.

“We anticipate seeing more visitors from all over Europe who have easy access through routes to Liverpool.

“Flyglobespan’s launch of an air link to New York will also draw more US-based visitors and, significantly, we’ll also see increasing numbers of visitors coming from other UK gateways like London's airports or Manchester Airport, because Liverpool’s offer really is unique in the next couple of years.”

Japanese, German, Spanish, French, Italian and Dutch versions of TMP’s website all saw increases in traffic throughout 2006. Further afield, there are some who believe the potential of the Chinese market is massive.

However, any real surge in visitors from the People’s Republic could be several years away.

At the Beatles Story, it is tourists from the former Soviet Union who are beginning to push the numbers skywards.

The Albert Dock museum is also the most translated attraction outside London.

It offers tours in French, Italian, Spanish, German, Japanese, Polish, Russian, and is likely to add either Cantonese or Mandarin at the end of 2007.

Director Jerry Goldman said: “If you look at the potential in the Chinese market, it’s going to be massive, but not immediately. It could be five years off.

“As far as Liverpool is concerned, there are markets a lot closer to home that have greater potential for us currently.

“You have to look at what attracts people to Liverpool. They either think Beatles or football or both.

“In China, the Beatles aren’t particularly big, there isn’t that fan base. But in Russia and the ex-Soviet Republics they were massive, and football is also massive for them.

“Before, they rarely had the chance to travel, and now a lot of them have money to do it.

“We’re getting significantly more Russian visitors – there’s a Russian newspaper currently doing a two-for-one offer to the Beatles Story and we’re getting a lot of these Russian vouchers.”

In 2005 there were an estimated 4,243 visitors from Russia, more than 350 from Belarus and almost 500 from the Ukraine to Merseyside.

During an afternoon at the Beatles Story there were fans from France, Italy and Japan.

Mathilde Blondeau, 24, a teaching assistant from Paris, who was visiting with her boyfriend Mathieu Segal, said: “I’ve never been to Liverpool before.

“We came here because of its history, and we listen to the Beatles as well.” Mathieu, 24, also from Paris, said: “I think almost everybody is a fan of the Beatles. I’m enjoying our visit.”

Student Rika Nagasawa, from Osaka in Japan, was making use of the Japanese audio tour.

The 22-year-old, visiting with her friend, Liverpool University student Amy Venables, said: “I only arrived in Liverpool this afternoon and we’ve been to the Albert Dock and now here.

“I don’t know very much about Liverpool, apart from the fact it’s where the Beatles are from, but I’m hoping to find out a lot more.”

The owners of the new Hard Day’s Night Hotel say that tourists are responsible for up to 6,000 hits a day on the venue’s website – and it does not even open until the autumn.

At Anfield, LFC’s museum is on track for a record numbers of visitors in 2007, many of them from abroad.

Curator Stephen Done said: “Name a country and they come here. The Norwegians are bonkers about the club.

“Poland is massive, and what’s really interesting is that when Houllier came, France took off – and that’s continued.

“Now with Rafa arriving, we get a very large number of Spanish who didn’t come before. We’re creating a new exhibit about Rafa, and it’s going to be in English and Spanish.

“I’m also planning some leaflets in different languages this summer and when the museum is built in the new stadium it will be multi-lingual from day one.”

The Spanish have also arrived, according to Steve Power at the 08 Place in Whitechapel.

Mr Power, who speaks the language fluently, said: “We’re getting absolutely millions of Spanish, but it’s also anywhere easyjet and Ryanair come in from.

“People are coming to Liverpool with open minds and they love it.”

.... and we’re big in Japan!

HEAR,HEAR: Student Rika Nagasawa, 22, from Osaka in Japan, was making use of the Japanese audio tour on her visit to the Beatles Story with her friend, Liverpool University student Amy Venables

Cruisers to splash out £500k

CRUISE visitors to Liverpool are expected to spend more than £530,000 during 2007.

More than 6,000 passengers and 3,500 crew will sail into the Mersey on six liners - including the QE2 - during the year, with four Royal Naval vessels also paying a visit.

The cruise ships are owned by American, German, Japanese and British companies.

And Angela Redhead, the Culture Company’s cruise manager, will be at the Seatrade shipping convention in Miami this month to sell the city to other cruise lines.

Beautiful South

MUSIC fans and industry movers and shakers at one of the world’s biggest festivals will get a taste of Merseyside this month.

The South by Southwest Festival in Texas is holding a Liverpool Night on March 17.

Showcasing the city’s musical talent could bring thousands more music fans to the banks of the Mersey, as well as promoting Liverpool bands. South by Southwest involves hundreds of acts from around the world on 50 stages in Austin from March 9-19.

The Wombats, 28 Costumes and Hot Club de Paris will perform at the Liverpool night.

Dave Pichilingi, who is organising the Liverpool event, said: “It will raise the profile of Liverpool and its music.”

League of Nations

Top 5 countries for visitors to Merseyside in 2005

1: Ireland - 112,320

2: US - 46,800

3: Germany - 45,240

4: Spain - 43,680

5: France - 35,880