BUILDING tourism in the city, BRIC by BRIC.
As economic constraints slow tourism from the rest of Europe and the US, travel bosses are looking to encourage travel from the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) to plug the deficit.
“The opportunity that both China and India represent for UK tourism is abundantly clear and it is imperative that we continue to work with our partners on initiatives such as the China Visitor Economy Forum and Indian Steering Group
According to new figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), Manchester's efforts to bring in more travellers from these emerging markets has proved a great success - with a 59% increase in BRIC tourists over twelve months.
The new data states that in 2012, a combined total of 29,826 BRIC tourists visited the city, while in 2013 the number had jumped to 47,572.
While Chinese tourists continued to be the greatest in number, 18,987 in 2013 (a 31% increase from 2012), the largest surge in number came from Brazil, from 1,195 in 2012 to 5,317 in 2013 - an increase of 345%.
Visitors from Russia were up 41% to 9,605 in 2013, while Indian tourists to Manchester increased by 86% to 13,663 in 2013.
The overall number of international visits to Greater Manchester was also up, from 1,093,000 in 2012 to 1,171,000 in 2013 - an increase of 7%.
Luxury department stores and brands in the city are a huge draw for international visitors
Back in April 2014, Confidential reported on international visitor spend in the city, with Chinese shoppers now accounting for 50% of tax free retail spend in Manchester, spending more than any other nationality with an average transcation of £677.
Andrew Stokes, chief executive of Marketing Manchester, said: “China and India are fundamental to the integrated internationalisation strategy in place across Greater Manchester and it is very reassuring to see that the early promotional work we have undertaken in these markets is starting to yield results.
“The opportunity that both China and India represent for UK tourism is abundantly clear and it is imperative that we continue to work with our partners on initiatives such as the China Visitor Economy Forum and Indian Steering Group to grow sustainable tourism in the region.”
Ireland remains the most popular country of origin for visitors to Manchester with 139,474 visitors, next is Germany with 92,976, the USA with 82,874, Spain with 73,874 and Poland with 65,024.
There was also a surge in numbers from markets further afield, with tourists from Japan up 218% to 10,954, New Zealand up 108% to 8,904, UAE up 65% to 19,452 and Singapore up 39% to 8,741.
The good news for city tourism comes as passengers numbers at Manchester Airport return to 21m for the first time since 2008 - although this is only 40% of capacity, showing how much more airborne transport could be developed.
Another measure of growth could be with the number of hotel rooms. In 2006 the city centre had 4,990 hotel rooms. By 2013, this had jumped 58% to 7,860. If all the newly proposed hotels are built - as underlined in this article - the number will jump again to 11,137 by the end of 2016.
Planned Manchester Airport City
Ken OToole, Chief Commercial Officer at Manchester Airports Group (MAG) said: “It is positive to see tourism in Greater Manchester growing at the same time as passenger traffic at Manchester Airport is increasing.
Manchester Airport is the international gateway to the North of England and a key enabler of economic growth in the region. The strength of our catchment, and the engagement we receive from Marketing Manchester and other stakeholders in promoting the region has been instrumental in delivering passenger growth, increased connectivity through new routes like easyJet's service to Moscow and increased inbound tourism.
“China is one of a number of key territories for MAG. It's positive that Manchester Airport will shortly have the only scheduled direct flights outside of London to China with Cathay Pacific's commencement of services in December. This is great news for the region and will further grow the number of international passengers coming from the Far East .
More from Marketing Manchester here.
Japanese film crew in the city earlier this year
Chinese guests in Exchange Square on one of the editor's tours
Youthful French tourists enjoying a ghost tour
