Multimedia Background image for 'La Machine - Saturday evening'
LIVERPOOL council leader Warren Bradley last night said events like last weekend’s La Machine spectacular showed "every penny invested in Culture year will come back tenfold".
His views were echoed by Steve Broomhead, chief executive of the Northwest Develop- ment Agency, who said the city had benefited "significantly" from giant spider La Princess and some great international press coverage would undoubtedly raise the profile of the city.
Figures released by the Culture Company show that, between Jan- uary and the end of July, Liver- pool’s Capital of Culture year attracted 7,500 items of coverage by the national and international press, estimated to be worth £70m.
Jack Stopforth, chief executive of Liverpool Chamber of Trade, added: "It has been a great way to keep the momentum of Capital of Culture going, the city was buzzing with thousands of people which is good for bars, restaurants and business."
Nicky Webb, of producers Artichoke, who helped bring the 50ft giant spider to Liverpool, last night thanked the city for turning out in such numbers to enjoy the La Princess and said they had been "really, really delighted" with the event.
But it wasn’t just people in Liverpool that were impressed by the £1.8m extravaganza.
La Princess was reported from South China to Canada, and also on global cable television networks like CNN.
Next year, the show will head to Japan where it will help further boost Liverpool’s profile as it was seen here first.
Its French creators hope to replicate the Daily Post’s idea of creating a souvenir comic for the show – which we included in yesterday’s paper and sold out.
The city was captivated by the 27-tonne creature from the moment it appeared on Concourse House, in Lime Street, to the moment the show was brought to a crescendo outside the Queens- way tunnel on Sunday night.
More than 200,000 people are estimated to have seen the huge creature as it made its way across Liverpool city centre.
"From my point of view, it has been a money and a profile spinner spider for Liverpool," said Mr Broomhead, whose agency has sponsored Capital of Culture.
"As a piece of public art, it has put Liverpool on the map and celebrated the city in a unique way while it was also good for a lot of people in Merseyside.
"We have not done the economic benefit analysis but it will be significant." Ms Webb last night said: "By and large we are really, really delighted with how it went, and we had some lovely comments.
"It felt like people had come out just to have a little look and ended up staying out for a while.
"The company [La Machine] are planning to take a version of this show to Japan next year."
She said a friend had called to say the spider was on television in India.
Cllr Bradley said: "Liverpool’s profile has had a massive boost internationally as a result of being European Capital of Culture and every penny invested in the year has come back tenfold, be it through publicity or visitors spending time and money in the city.
"On the back of events such as La Machine, the city is strengthening its reputation on the global stage, the impact of which will be felt for many years to come."
Lorraine Rogers, chief executive of tourism and investment body The Mersey Partnership, said: "La Machine generated a massive profile for Liverpool all over the world, and the city has once again demonstrated its ability and capacity to stage huge events which entertain tens of thousands of people.
"Like many of the 08 programme highlights, it’s about changing people’s perceptions of the city and what we can offer our visitors."
