The economy of the Liverpool City Region will see an expansion in tourism with the creation of around 2000 new jobs by 2012, according to a new report.
An action plan from The Mersey Partnership (TMP) says that the city of Liverpool is the region's leading 'brand' with its rich mix of culture and heritage high on the marketing agenda.
Tourism to the region is expected to experience continued growth despite the recession but some hoteliers fear there will be a glut of accommodation in the city.
Marcus Magee, general manager of The Hilton Hotel at Liverpool One, called for an urgent re-think of the number of new hotel developments being built in the city,
He said: “I believe Liverpool is close to the threshold of having enough hotel bedrooms, and we need some sort of strategy.
“Between November and May, we had very good rates in occupancy and we certainly achieved our targets.
“But June and July were particularly challenging.”
Tourism already brings in around £1.3billon a year to the city and its surrounding areas, with the Echo Arena, Beatles Tourism and Liverpool’s maritime history among the big draws for visitors.
The TMP document outlines expected growth in the sector of £1.4million, supporting 25,000 jobs by 2012.
There is also a vision that by 2020 the industry could be providing employment for 37,000 with an annual visitor spend of £2billion.
TMP Chief Executive Lorraine Rogers believes tourism needs to grow in order to fill empty hotel rooms.
She said: “The Visitor Economy is a significant sector for the City Region - not just because of everything it brings to the quality of life and profile of the area but because it’s a major economic driver.
“The sector has already been transformed in recent years but if we’re going to fill the hotel rooms, the restaurants, the shops, the venues, the museums, the inbound planes, etc. we need to focus on the next level of transformation.
The Visitor Economy has been identified by all six Local Authorities and business leaders as one of the four key sectors where the City Region has a competitive edge and significant growth potential to make step changes in economic performance.
The other three sectors are Low Carbon Economy, Knowledge Economy and Liverpool SuperPort.
Ms Rogers added: "As the Official Tourist Board, in our view, the job’s not done yet. There is another quantum leap that the sector can make and needs to make. This three-year plan sets out how the Tourist Board will continue to grow the City Region’s Visitor Economy."
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