CULTURE in Liverpool is now better than in the days of The Beatles, a leading city academic claimed yesterday.
Prof Michael Parkinson, head of the European Institute of Urban Affairs at Liverpool John Moores University, revealed how he had worried he would be ashamed of Liverpool's Capital of Culture year and that it would be a disaster as a result of too much hype.
"But it was the greatest year I can remember. I took part in low and high culture and I have kept going," he said.
"I have been to three Shakespeare plays in the past 10 days. The cultural offer is better now that it was in the days of The Beatles."
It came as key city figures debated how to use tourism and leisure to help sustain Liverpool's economic growth at the MIPIM (Marché International des Professionnels d’Immobilier) conference in Cannes, on the French Riviera.
Liverpool Council chief executive Colin Hilton said the city's tourism and leisure industry was now established as a core driver of its economy.
Bernard Byrne, of Castlewood Property Management, suggested that hotels should pool marketing budgets to help promote the city to the rest of the world.
Jim Gill, chief executive of development agency Liverpool Vision, said it was essential the city continued to look forward and develop without standing still.
"We should not forget all the great things, but in a sense we should stop taking about Capital of Culture and talk about the future," he said. "We should build on what the city is as a place that people find interesting."
