Marketing Manchester

Annual Review 2006–2007

ImageDevelop the Manchester brand through promotion of the city to focus on thecontemporary and traditional strengths of the city-region’s culture.

EventsIncrease the interest in, and visitors to, the city, through the creation of aworld-class events programme that builds on the success of the CommonwealthGames and strengthens the Manchester brand.

International destination Position Manchester as a vibrant international destination, which also acts as agateway to the Northwest and represents an alternative gateway to Britain.

Business destinationEnsure that Manchester is further established as one of Europe’s leadingbusiness destinations.

InfrastructureSupport the enhancement of the tourism product in the Manchester city-regionthrough the development of tourism infrastructure.

Marketing Manchester aims to develop the Manchester city-regioninto a leading leisure, learning and business tourist destination fordomestic and international visitors, enhance the national andinternational reputation and promote sustainable economicdevelopment and growth.

Strategic Aims &Objectives

Strategic Aims & Objectives 1

“Forward”,Nick Johnson, Chairman 2

Chief Executive’s Review 4

Tourism Review 4

Highlight 2006/07 6

Facts & Figures 10

Tourism Awards 2007 13

Organisational Structure 14

Further Information 14

Marketing Manchester is the agency chargedwith promoting Manchester on a national andinternational stage. Visit Manchester is thetourist board for Greater Manchester and is adivision of Marketing Manchester. MarketingManchester is funded by 300 commercialmembers and the organisations below.

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“Marketing Manchester will free itself up tobecome a ‘heads up’, dynamic agency capable ofsetting a progressive, modern agenda for thecity and the region.”Nick Johnson, Chairman

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Annual reviews are often all about hindsight.One of the things Marketing Manchester hasachieved during this last year, though, is toset its sights on the future and strategicdirection the organisation needs to take tokeep Manchester, and the city-region inparticular, ahead of the pack.

This year we agreed with all our keystakeholders a two-tier structure for theorganisation moving forward. MarketingManchester will free itself up to become a‘heads up’, dynamic agency capable of settinga progressive, modern agenda for the cityand the region, driving quality, content andsubstance in everything that comes out of thecity-region – from bars, shops, restaurantsand hotels to buildings, places and spaces.

The shift will be delivered under thewatchful, critical and provocative eye ofPeter Saville, Manchester’s Creative Directorand will carry forward, expand and explorethe ‘original, modern’ work that Peter hasundertaken to date.

New technology will play a critical role. Thewebsite will be developed to become a majortool to promote and inform, setting newstandards for city promotion and information.

Visit Manchester will continue to deliver andto extend the work that MarketingManchester as an organisation has carriedout, in the quest to drive visitor numbers andpromote the city and the region overseas.

Visit Manchester will continue to work closelyin partnership with the Northwest RegionalDevelopment Agency, Manchester Airportand other key strategic agencies.

Together, I believe the organisation is wellplaced to drive demand in and to the region,whilst striving to ensure that expectationsmeet reality.

The ambitious challenges that MarketingManchester has set itself will not beachieved overnight. It will require thecooperation and commitment of a widervariety of shareholders, united by thecombined ambition to make this city andthis region the most desirable, the mostsuccessful, the most distinctive.

original, modern Manchester.

“Forward”Nick Johnson, Chairman

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Chief Executive’s ReviewAndrew Stokes

2006/07 was an exciting year for Manchester andindeed Marketing Manchester.

The Labour Party chose Manchester as thedestination for its annual conference – the firsttime in Manchester since 1917. The world’s mediaflooded into the city. Manchester provided theperfect backdrop, showcasing its conferencefacilities, its ability to deliver with ease significantevents, and its appeal as a visitor destination.Indeed the announcements that followed – theConservative Party annual conference to be heldin Manchester in 2009 and 2011 and the return ofthe Labour Party annual conference to Manchester,in 2008 and 2010 were testament to its success.

Preparations for the first Manchester InternationalFestival came to fruition in this year, as the firstfestival of completely new original work. MarketingManchester worked in partnership with the Festivalacross the key international markets of Europeand North America, successfully cultivating highprofile media attention to both the originality ofthe festival and the attributes of the city.

Beginning in September 2006 the destinationwebsite, visitmanchester.com, was completelyredeveloped to capture a new wider audienceand satisfy the requirements that users are nowdemanding. Over the year, visitor figures tovisitmanchester.com more than doubled, a directresult of the redevelopment and significantonline marketing activity, including a series ofaward winning podcasts.

Over the next few years Marketing Manchester isset to undergo a certain degree of change. Tourism,whilst ever important to the growing organisation,will not be its sole focus. Visit Manchester is theTourist Board for Greater Manchester and is adivision of Marketing Manchester.

I would like to thank the dedicated, creative andenthusiastic workforce employed at MarketingManchester. I would also like to thank allMarketing Manchester’s members, stakeholdersand partners who work together in thepromotion and advancement of the city.

2006/07 was a significant year for tourism toManchester. Figures released by the Office ofNational Statistics showed that Manchestermaintained its well earned position in the top threeof the most popular UK cities for overseas visitors.

Manchester attracted 912,000 overseas visitorsduring 2006, a growth of over 10% from theprevious year. But, it was even better news forthe wider city-region, who collectively attracted astaggering 1,118,000 to the region.

The extended flight routes to Manchester Airport,investment in the city-region’s tourism product

and continued commitment to reaching newaudiences whilst maintaining a strong dialoguewith existing markets, have ensured thatManchester remains an attractive destination forboth international leisure and business visitors.

Presented with numbers like this, it is absolutelyvital that we as a region continue to invest in ourtourism product. For Manchester to attract keyvisitors in the face of increasing competition fromother urban destinations, a high quality and co-ordinated tourism product must be offered.To this end Visit Manchester has published a newtourism strategy for Greater Manchester 2008–13.

Tourism ReviewPaul Simpson, Managing Director, Visit Manchester

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“Manchester provided the perfect backdrop,showcasing its conference facilities, its abilityto deliver with ease significant events, and its

appeal as a visitor destination.”Andrew Stokes, Chief Executive

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International visitors

The number of international visitors toManchester increased from 824,000 in 2005to 912,000 in 2006, a growth of over 10%.Across the wider city-region, visitor numbersalso increased from 1,079,000 in 2005 to1,118,000 in 2006. The figures, released by theOffice for National Statistics, reaffirmManchester’s position as the third most populardestination in the UK for overseas visitors.

The Labour Party AnnualConference 2006

In September 2006, the Labour Party AnnualConference visited Manchester for the first timesince 1917. It brought £15 million worth ofeconomic benefit to the region and was sosuccessful, that the Labour Party has confirmedthat it will return in 2008 and 2010. In addition,the Conservative Party have announced theyare to hold their own annual conference inManchester in 2009 and 2011.

Manchester InternationalFestival US media launch

Marketing Manchester, in conjunction with theManchester International Festival, organisedthe US launch of the event. Held at TheGramercy Park Hotel in New York, it succeededin attracting over 150 key travel and culturalpress. Guests were addressed by the BritishSecretary of State for Culture, Media andSport, the Rt. Hon. Tessa Jowell MP, Sir RichardLeese, Leader of Manchester City Council, andAlex Poots, the Festival Director.

Highlights 2006/07

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Manchester: The ‘Best UK Destination’

Manchester was awarded the title of ‘Best UKDestination’ at International Confex 2007 –Europe’s leading annual forum for theconferences, meetings, events and corporatehospitality industries. The judges commentedthat Manchester’s conference wins were atestament to the impressive critical mass ofManchester’s infrastructure and range ofquality venues.

Manchester in the media

Manchester’s profile within the national andinternational media has increased considerablyover the past twelve months. MarketingManchester has co-ordinated over 100 presstrips, which consisted of 260 journalists visitingthe city-region during the past year. Over 250pieces of print, radio, TV and web coveragewere produced as a result of these visits andfrom media enquiries. Valued at over £2 million,the coverage has been seen by over 38 millionpeople around the world.

Award winning podcasts

A series of podcasts commissioned byMarketing Manchester and designed to attractvisitors to the city won a DADI Award (DrumAward for Digital Industries) in the best podcast/ blog category. The ‘Manchester Music Speaks’podcasts were presented by local celebritiesincluding Mike Joyce (The Smiths), Peter Hook(Joy Division / New Order), Jenna G (BBC Radio)and Guy Garvey (Elbow) and attracted over7,000 unique visitors to visitmanchester.com.

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Young Star Chef

Launched during the Manchester Food & DrinkFestival 2006, Young Star Chef is a jointinitiative between Marketing Manchester andSpringboard. Through partnership with someof Manchester’s leading restaurants, theprogramme aims to highlight the talents andachievements of young chefs in theManchester city-region. Followingdevelopment and training, the young chef hasthe opportunity to take charge of the kitchenat their restaurant and produce a signaturethree-course meal for between 30 and 100diners to showcase their new skills. Since itslaunch, five restaurants across the city havetaken part in the scheme.

New look visitmanchester.com

A new look visitmanchester.com was unveiledin September 2006. The site contains stunningnew images, exciting editorial and insider tips,including experience pages providing visitorswith interesting ideas on what to do whilstthey are in Manchester. The pages detailingshort breaks to Manchester are available infive foreign languages – French, German,Spanish, Italian and Swedish.

On-line marketing

Some of Marketing Manchester’s mostsuccessful on-line marketing activity tookplace in 2006/07. In October 2006, a pre-Christmas campaign e-blast was sent to over10,000 contacts and achieved a 40% read-rate – an amount well above the industrystandard. The campaign helped to double thenumber of visitors to visitmanchester.comduring that month.

Highlights 2006/07

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New enhanced programme for Profit Through Productivity

The Profit Through Productivity programmewas an new initiative launched in 2006 toassist employers across the tourism sectorwithin the Manchester city-region to becomeprofitable, productive and competitive. Theprogramme, which continues to be subsidisedby Marketing Manchester, the NorthwestRegional Development Agency (NWDA) and theEuropean Regional Development Fund, givesbusinesses the chance to benefit from one-to-one visits from a team of specialist tourismbusiness coaches, who help identify andaddress specific business issues. In 2006/07, 38 businesses took part in this initiative.

A Manchester club night

Marketing Manchester and Jet2.com worked inpartnership on a dedicated campaign toincrease leisure visitors from the Spanishyouth audience to Manchester. The key focusof the campaign was a Manchester Club Night hosted at nightclub, Razzmatazz in Barcelona. A microsite was set upwww.visitmanchester.com/party whichfeatured the event, destination information, acompetition and links to the Manchesterpodcasts. The event held in March 2007 was ahuge success attracting over 5,000 people andseveral journalists. The number of bookings to Manchester increased from 5.7% to 13.6%making Manchester, Jet2.com’s bestperforming UK route from Barcelona.

Busy year for NorthwestConference Bidding Unit

The Conference Bidding Unit pulled togethera total of 77 conference bids in 2006/07.Among the successful were: the UrbanScreens 2007, the 35th Annual EuropeanManagement Assistants Conference 2009,the 2007 Association of Exhibition OrganisersConference and the British Society of MedicalSecretaries Symposium 2007. The totaleconomic benefit of conference wins in2006/07 was over £30 million. These winsinclude the forthcoming Labour Party AnnualConferences in 2008 and 2010.

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Facts & Figures

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Visi

tors

(tho

usan

ds)

500

700

900

1100

0

20

40

60

80

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Uni

que

visi

tors

(tho

usan

ds)

International visitors to Manchester and the city-region

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

£ (b

illio

ns)

2

3

4

5

Economic impact of visitors to the Manchester city-region

Unique visitors to visitmanchester.com

200520062007

Bids produced by Northwest Conference Bidding Unit

22 bids in 2004/05: 7 won

43 bids in 2005/06: 9 won

77 bids in 2006/07: 16 won

International conventions held in Manchester

Out of the 141 bids produced there were still 46 pending at the end of March 07. Total economic benefit from April 04 to March 07 was £89,282,242 (of confirmed business).

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Empl

oyee

s (t

hous

ands

)

50

55

60

65

22 events in 2005

15 events in 2006

21 events in 2007

Employment supported by tourism in the Manchester city-region

ManchesterManchester city-region*figures only available from 2005

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“...Manchester maintained itswell earned position in the topthree of the most popular UKcities for overseas visitors.”Paul Simpson, Managing Director, Visit Manchester

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Facts & Figures

Commercial: 41%

Public: 39%

Project funding: 20%

Income£5 million

Salaries/overheads: 23%

Promotion/events: 19%

Destination marketing: 17%

Tourism Development: 11%

Conference: 10%

TIC: 8%

Communications: 7%

Other: 5%

Expenditure£5 million

Financial Information

Primary marketsSecondary markets

Overseas MarketingActivity 2006/07

Future markets

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Manchester Tourism Awards 2007

Large Hotel of the Year

Radisson Edwardian ManchesterSponsored by NCP Manchester Ltd

Small Hotel of the Year

Great John StreetSponsored by the Manchester Hoteliers Association

Tourism Bar of the Year

The River Bar at the Lowry HotelSponsored by CityCo

Tourism Website of the Year

Manchester International FestivalSponsored by Manchester Airport

The Manchester Recommends Award

The Manchester Craft and Design CentreSponsored by the Manchester Evening News

Large Visitor Attraction of the Year

Urbis

Small Visitor Attraction of the Year

Ordsall HallSponsored by The Trafford Centre

Tourism Retailer of the Year

Rags to BitchesSponsored by Premier Travel Inn

Business Tourism Award

Manchester CentralSponsored by the Northwest Regional Development Agency

Taste of Manchester Award

Choice Bar & Restaurant Sponsored by North West Fine Foods

Tourism Restaurant of the Year

The French at the MidlandSponsored by Macdonald Manchester Hotel

Outstanding Customer Service Award

Norman SwiftThe Manchester City Experience Museum & TourSponsored by Serviced Auditors UK Ltd

Tourism Event of the Year

The Salford TriathlonSponsored by FaFlora

Tourism Transport Provider of the Year

Transpennine Express

The Manchester Tourism Awards 2007 were celebrated instyle at a glittering awards ceremony hosted by televisionand radio star Sara Cox.

Over 400 high profile guests attended the event, which recognises the highlevels of investment in quality and outstanding contributions to tourismacross the city-region. The event was supported by the Northwest RegionalDevelopment Agency and a number of corporate sponsors.

The winners were:

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Organisational Structures

Marketing Manchester

Marketing ManchesterCarver’s Warehouse, 77 Dale Street, Manchester M1 2HG

T. 0161 237 1010 F. 0161 238 2960

General enquiries: mm@marketingmanchester.comHuman resources: vacancies@marketingmanchester.comPress enquiries: press@marketingmanchester.com

www.marketingmanchester.comwww.visitmanchester.com

A range of literature is available to keep members,stakeholders, the press and public updated on thecompany’s activity throughout the year.

Membership Pack

The membership pack is a comprehensivesummary of the benefits of membershipof Marketing Manchester, and is availableto all members. It summarises how thedifferent teams at Marketing Manchesterwork on behalf of its members, as well asthe marketing opportunities available.

To obtain a copy please email:rachel.heaton@visitmanchester.com

Identity Manchester

Identity Manchester is the quarterlynewsletter, keeping members andstakeholders up to date with the activity ofMarketing Manchester. It is produced byMarketing Manchester’s Press & PR Team.

To be added to the mailing list please email: press@marketingmanchester.com

Further Information

Chief ExecutiveAndrew Stokes

PA toChief Executive

Head of CommercialRelationships

Head of Events &Marketing Services

Head of Communications

CommercialEvents & Design Press & PRNew Media

Director of Strategic Marketing

Helen Palmer

Head of Marketing

Marketing

Visit Manchester

Managing DirectorVisit ManchesterPaul Simpson

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Visit Manchester

Members e-newsletter

The Members e-newsletter is the monthlyemail update, designed to provide regularinformation about the activity of The TouristBoard and how members can engage withinthis activity.

To receive this monthly update please email:rachel.heaton@visitmanchester.com

GM Tourism Strategy

Manchester has recently reviewed its fiveyear tourism strategy ‘DestinationManchester’ 2003–2008 and has nowpublished a new strategy for 2008–2013.The document sets out the future directionfor Manchester as a burgeoning visitordestination.

To obtain a copy please email: info@visitmanchester.com

Destination Management Plan

The Destination Management Plan (DMP)sets out the future tourism priorities for theManchester city-region. Building on theaims and objectives in the GM TourismStrategy, the document represents theaction plan for the coming twelve months.Manchester updates its DestinationManagement Plan on an annual basis.

To obtain a copy please email: info@visitmanchester.com

Chief ExecutiveAndrew Stokes

Head ofBusiness Tourism

Head of Leisure Tourism

Conference &Research UnitLeisure Tourism

Head of TourismDevelopment

TourismDevelopment

Head of Finance

Finance

Managing DirectorPaul Simpson PA/Office Manager

Head of Visitor Information

Manchester TouristInformation Centre

Director of Tourism

Melissa Marriott

Printed with vegetable inks on Oxygen 50:50 paper (50% recycled & 50% FSC).