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Rise in British visitors to Manchester boosts economy

British visitor numbers to Manchester are rising, as figures show the number of home visits to the city rose by 20% last year.

The number of Brits visiting Manchester increased from 2.6m in 2011 to over 3.1m in 2012, with an increased spend of £566m on their trips to the city, up from £523m in 2011.

Business visits to Manchester saw a significant increase of 40% from 630,000 in 2011 to 885,000 in 2012, which VisitEngland, who collected the data, said fuelled a 4% rise in the number of Brits going to the city on holiday.

Paul Simpson, managing director of Visit Manchester, said: “Tourism is an important contributor to the Greater Manchester economy and the city’s ability to attract large-scale conferences and events – which bring with them (statistically) high-spending delegates - has always been a key strength.

“A 40% rise in the number of business visitors is not only great news for the economy – but also further proof of the importance of continuing to invest in the city’s conference infrastructure”

Tourism in Greater Manchester contributes £6.2bn to the region’s economy, and supports 81,000 equivalent full time jobs.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .