Hosting the Eurovision Song Contest next year could have a major impact on Liverpool's economy, experts have said.
The city is battling it out with Glasgow for the right to hold the next edition after making the final two, seeing off competition from Birmingham, Leeds, Newcastle, Sheffield and Manchester.
Ukrainian entry Kalush Orchestra triumphed at the 2022 competition in Turin, Italy, but the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which produces the annual event, decided the show cannot be safely held in the country following Russia's invasion.
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A final decision is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
After Liverpool made the final two, BusinessLive spoke to business and music experts to find out what the economic impact could be for the city if it emerges victorious.
Bill Addy, CEO of Liverpool BID Company, said hosting Eurovision would have a "huge impact on the city" and would be a "chance to tell our city's story".
He added: "We are delighted to lead the private sector response to this bid as we know how important it is to the businesses of the city, which is why we have committed our resources to support its success.
"We know that major events in the city have an impact on local business and have a positive impact on the economy - we’re seeing that with the Labour Conference this week but we also see it with festivals as well as concerts. Eurovision isn’t a one off event, it’s a week long festival bringing a small army of musicians, artists, a creative community and, of course, fans.
"It would have a huge impact on the city, from filling hotel rooms to restaurant tables. The increase in footfall converts to spend in the city. So part of the work you do is showing everyone what the city has to offer.
"It’s also about profile. Eurovision has a huge global audience and it’s an opportunity to show people around the world what a rich, diverse, welcoming, inclusive, colourful and musical city Liverpool is.
"If even 1% of the 160 million viewers who watch Eurovision on TV and online decide they want to see Liverpool for themselves that has a major impact on our visitor economy. It is a chance to tell our city’s story, to remind everyone from tourists to investors, what Liverpool has to offer."
Hosting Eurovision would be a "great opportunity for the city to further demonstrate its credentials as a global city of music", Liverpool Chamber CEO Paul Cherpeau added.
He also said that the "prominence and profile of Eurovision is extraordinary and would provide our visitor economy and cultural businesses with a substantial boost".
Dr Mike Jones, reader in music industry at the University of Liverpool, said the city is a "perfect location" because of its strong musical heritage, the sense of the need to support and include people of all ages in music-making".
He added: "What is notable about the UK shortlist of two for the choice of Eurovision host (considerations of Brexit aside) is that Glasgow and Liverpool are, respectively, UNESCO Cities of Music for their respective countries.
"Liverpool became the English UNESCO City of Music in 2015. The honour was a deserved one - not only has the city produced more number one hit singles than any other, but it is also home to the UK's oldest symphony orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic (RLPO). In its turn, the RLPO refuses to live in and on its past and is an active force for music education in the city.
"Overall, Liverpool is a perfect location for Eurovision because of this activity, this sense of the need to support and include people of all ages in music-making. For example, the University of Liverpool's Music department has grown exponentially over the past few years, almost tripling in size and offering a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate teaching (including an MA in the Beatles: Music Industry and Heritage).
"LIPA (based at Paul McCartney's old school) is internationally known as an intensive hub for the career development of young musicians and Liverpool Community College is equally focused on supporting this development for local teenagers.
"One of the factors that led to Liverpool's decline as a port city was that it is on the wrong side of the UK for trade with Europe.
"EC entry gave the Port of London, Dover and Southampton advantages that Liverpool could not enjoy. But, for all the lack of trade in goods with Europe, Liverpool enjoys a trade in tourism that Southampton could not even dream of!
"Before it was interrupted by the pandemic, Beatles tourism to Liverpool was at an all-time high and this is likely to recover over the next few years, with the city firmly on the map as a tourist destination.
"The M&S Bank Arena, opened in 2008, would host the Eurovision contest on a waterfront that seems always to be in a process of becoming more striking and more interesting - a perfect location within a UNESCO City of Music."
Dr Jan Brown of Liverpool Business School, LJMU, said: "From a short term perspective hosting Eurovision would bring to the local economy the economic capital uplift that comes from not only the sales of tickets, the broadcasting and hosting of the event in Liverpool but also from the capital gained from the required event infrastructure that is needed to host such an event.
"This hosting would demonstrate to a wide international audience how Liverpool and the LCR is agile enough to work together to put on a logistically complicated event in such a short time scale.
"The confidence of being able to pull such an event off comes from the trust built between an established ecosystem of partners who have a wealth of experience in hosting numerous public facing events successfully and builds on the reputation established prior to, during and post the Capital of Culture 2008 that contributed to a change in international reputation of the city of Liverpool. Building on work undertaken to receive the UNESCO Creative City of Music status and the continued purple flag award and status Liverpool not only knows how to put on a party but also to do it safely and to a high standard.
"From a broader and longer term perspective an inclusive event like Eurovision not only demonstrates the LCR’s solidarity with Ukraine by hosting their event for them when they cannot but also demonstrates how important international connections are to the city region.
"Using music, which is at the beating heart of the region’s identity, to demonstrate that Liverpool is open for business post Covid, has an international outlook and reach, has the infrastructure and expertise to host large scale events and is continuing build its identity and its place brand as the region develops could demonstrate to a wide international audience that Liverpool and the LCR has strong ambitions and can deliver and that the stated LCR 2022 strapline of ‘a fairer, stronger, cleaner, connected city region’ is not just a slogan but is in action.
"By using Eurovision as a catalyst connections with the wider city region can also be strengthened the connections between those organisations/sectors/industries who came together to host Eurovision and used as examples of good practice in the future. Eurovision could also be used to once again demonstrate and draw international attention to the importance of the creative and cultural sector to the region.
"On the back of Eurovision and the international attention being drawn to the LCR a light could also shone on the multitude of inspiring practice being undertaken not only in Liverpool but also in the wider LCR event."
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