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MAY 2012

Monitor Focus   Business   People   Place   Housing

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Overseas visitor numbers rise

New figures from the International Passenger Survey (IPS) highlight GM’s growing popularity as destination of choice for foreign visitors, with Manchester now the third most popular UK destination for tourists from overseas. In addition, growth in passenger numbers at Manchester Airport shows no signs of abating.

Visitor numbers & hotel occupancy

The new release of the IPS shows that international visitors to GM increased by 100,000 to 1.1 million between 2010 and 2011. Supporting this rise was Manchester’s growing conference market and new route development at Manchester Airport. GM’s most popular tourist destination in 2011 was The Lowry arts venue, followed by the Museum of Science & Industry, and Chill Factore.

Year-on-year, hotel occupancy rates in Manchester city centre were recorded at 72.7% in March 2012. This equated to a small decline of 0.8 percentage points compared to the same month in 2011. For GM as a whole, average occupancy rates in March were 70.4%, a slight fall of 0.4 percentage points year-on-year.

At a city centre level, the highest level of occupancy in March was 97%, which was achieved on the 10th and 27th when Manchester United hosted Premier League matches.

Sport is likely to play an important role in boosting occupancy rates in GM over the next few months, with Olympic football coming to Old Trafford in July and August. Together with the warm up basketball games against the United States at the Manchester Arena, these events are estimated to be worth up to £30million to the GM economy.

Airport passengers

Passenger numbers at Manchester Airport were 1.18million in February 2012, compared to 1.07million 12 months ago. This represents an annual increase of 10% (107,000 additional passengers) – substantially higher than the rises seen at London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports over the same period (3.9% and 2.6% respectively), whilst Birmingham suffered a decline of 0.8%.

The number of flights from Manchester Airport grew on a 12 month basis by 5.5% (575) to just over 11,000 in February 2012. Heathrow (1.6%) saw a more modest rise, while Gatwick (-3%) and Birmingham (-2.1%) saw annual declines in flight numbers.

Provisional figures from the Civil Aviation Authority for March 2012 show that annual growth in passenger numbers at Manchester will continue. Initial estimates indicate that 1.36million people travelled through the terminals in March, compared to 1.21million in the same month last year.

Looking further ahead, the recent Easter holiday period will provide a boost to the April passenger numbers. In particular, 260,000 holidaymakers were estimated to have passed through the terminals over the extended Easter weekend. Dubai, Tenerife and Orlando were some of the favoured destinations.

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DOWNLOAD THE BACKGROUND DATA

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PLACE MONITOR

• Airport activity (107kb)
• Hotel occupancy rates (27kb)
• Footfall (29kb)

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DISCLAIMER

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All data contained in the Manchester Monitor, and all Monitor-related reports, has been compiled by New Economy from a range of sources and is published for general information purposes only. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the data and other material contained in this report, the Commission for the New Economy does not accept any liability (whether in contract, tort or otherwise) to any person for any loss or damage suffered as a result of any errors or omissions. The information, opinions and forecasts set out in the report should not be relied upon to replace professional advice on specific matters, and no responsibility for loss occasioned to any person acting, or refraining from acting, as a result of any material in this publication can be accepted by the Commission for the New Economy.