City records busiest ever month for hotel stays

A wide range of events and attractions are bringing people to Liverpool, the council said

More hotel bookings were made in Liverpool city centre in July than in any month on record, the council has said.

More than 195,000 rooms were sold - the busiest since records began in 2004, according to data released by Liverpool City Council.

Cabinet member for growth and economy, Nick Small, said Liverpool's range of events and attractions was bringing huge numbers of people to the city.

"It's not just down to one thing," he said. "It's events, it's the great shopping, it's the great night-time economy... but it's also things like business tourism [and] conferences".

'Sustainable visitor economy'

The city has seen a number of high-profile events this year which have benefited the local economy.

Concerts at Anfield Stadium including Bruce Springsteen and Dua Lipa, as well as regular Liverpool and Everton football matches, the Grand National at Aintree and the British Chess Championships have also boosted numbers.

The best previous month was August 2018 when just over 192,000 rooms were sold.

The council said 1.25m rooms had been sold since January and the city was on course to beat 2018, when about 2,087,000 rooms were sold.

Bill Addy, the CEO of Liverpool BID Company, which represents more than 351 retail and leisure businesses in Liverpool city centre, said the ambition of the hotel industry was "to create a circular and sustainable visitor economy".

"Having this key marker of impact - of overnight stays and increased local spend - helps us to identify the events which will have the biggest impact on our hospitality and our cultural sectors," he said.

"This is a city that welcomes visitors.

"We need to support local businesses to be able to deliver a great welcome for visitors so that they want to stay here and they want to come back."