An additional 500,000 visitors came to Liverpool to celebrate the Eurovision Song Contest, early footfall figures suggest.
Although the economic impact and full evaluation will not be known for a few weeks, early footfall data and figures from Merseyside Police suggest that, over the two weeks of the festival, an additional 500,000 visitors came to Liverpool – compared to the 100,000 forecast.
The Eurovision Village on the Pier Head – which was open for nine days – welcomed 250,000 visitors.
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Figures from Liverpool BID Company show the city centre had an additional 384,036 visitors – an increase of 13.2% on 2022.
Liverpool ONE saw a 32% growth in numbers compared to the same period last year – with some days seeing increases as high as 53%. More than half a million people visited Liverpool ONE last week, making it the busiest week of the year so far.
Liverpool City Council has thanked all of the partners who have been so instrumental in making the success of the event possible, with special thanks going to:
- The local Ukrainian community – for their energy, ideas, enthusiasm and creativity
- Merseyside Police – for all of their work in creating a safe, welcoming and happy city
- Merseytravel – for ensuring the city kept moving and maintaining services and connectivity around the region despite national industrial action
- Liverpool City Region Combined Authority – for their financial contribution to the event and the region embracing the spirit of Eurovision with programming
- Liverpool BID – for their financial support of the Eurovision Village and help in creating such a welcoming city atmosphere
- Liverpool ONE – for their financial support in the city programme and fantastic animation
- Royal Albert Dock – for their programming and animation
- Baltic Triangle District – for becoming the home of the EuroClub and creating a great atmosphere for visitors across the city
- Night Life CIC – for their work in leading the night time economy to ensure a safe and fun atmosphere for everyone
- Liverpool Hospitality – for bringing together the hotels, bars and restaurants across the city to create an incredible Liverpool welcome.
Cabinet Member elect for Healthy and Vibrant City, Cllr Harry Doyle, said: “The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of blue and yellow as we have welcomed people from across the world to celebrate with us on behalf of Ukraine.
“Anyone who got the chance to be in the city centre over the past few days knows how busy it was and the incredible buzz it generated.
“We always knew Liverpool would sparkle during Eurovision and now we just hope those people who came and were part of history come back again and bring their friends!”
Director of Culture Liverpool, Claire McColgan, said: “The logistics of staging an event of this scale and within this time period would have been impossible without the incredible support of our colleagues across the city council and our city partners.
“Everyone across the city and region stepped up and it was a true team effort. We are uniquely lucky to have a collection of experts in their field who handled everything we threw at them with professionalism, good grace and humour.”
Bill Addy, CEO of Liverpool BID Company, said: “The lasting memory of Eurovision in Liverpool will be one of joy. To see so many people enjoy the city has given it such a buzz and that’s the message we have had from our businesses. They’re telling us they have seen a real boost in people coming in and just wanting to enjoy the atmosphere.
“The private sector, through BID, made a six figure investment to help ensure the benefit of Eurovision would be felt throughout the city centre. We’ve spent a lot of time with our city centre businesses helping to prepare for this, from window dressing and artwork to karaoke displays and language classes, so it’s great to see it paying off.
“We know that the impact of Eurovision isn’t purely in the two weeks of celebrations, but for the 160m people watching at home and the projected economic impact of £250m over the next three years.”
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