Manchester Central has revealed it welcomed over 139,000 visitors to 38 separate events in the past three months (April – June 2023), a 20.6% increase on the previous quarter, and up 39,000 on the same period last year.
The figures also showed the city centre venue contributed £47m to the Greater Manchester economy in the past quarter, up £8.8m on the same period last year.
Large scale events during the latest quarter included the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) Conference in April which welcomed over 9,000 delegates, while a further 12,000 (combined) attended the DTX technology conference and Housing 2023 to hear Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, announce new policy reforms. Both events contributed to hotel occupancies across the city reaching near-capacity. Public-facing events included Warhammer 2023 which saw over 20,000 fans attend, in addition to the HYROX World Fitness Championships.
Spend per delegate, however, decreased by £3 to £14 (average) per head, attributed to the ongoing cost of living crisis and hesitation to commit disposable income.
Shaun Hinds, chief executive, Manchester Central, commented: “The past quarter has re-established our importance to the city-region’s economic growth. We continue to move through the remainder of the year with a strong financial bottom line, providing us with confidence despite the current economic climate.”
He added: “We have a wide variety of events ahead, and I have no doubt that we will continue to attract crowds in vast numbers.”
The venue is set to welcome more than 34 events in the run up to December, including the British Weight Lifting Open 2023, Interflora World Cup and The Conservative Party Conference in October.
