“Our tourism challenge is to create a city that delivers a better quality of life for the 3 million people who live or work here. It’s as simple as that.”
Discuss the role of events in meeting the above challenge for Manchester as an urban destination.
In 2003 Manchester’s current population was 422,300 (Manchester Demographics and Statistics, no date: online). This has since increased to around 3 million (The University of Manchester, Manchester Cancer Research Centre, no date: online). 500,000 live in the city itself, while the other 2,500,000 live around the city.
Manchester’s wealth was all based on cotton and it was the wealthiest city in the world. This attracts tourists and therefore improves Manchester’s economy. Their biggest home grown business at the minute is the Co-operative. It provides thousands of jobs for local people.
Tourism is defined as “the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes” WTO and UNSTAT (1994 in Cooper et al., 2008:11).
“’Event tourism’ is generally recognised as being inclusive of all planned events in an integrated approach to development and marketing” Getz (2008, page 405).
Events are happening all the time in Manchester. They make people happy and they can bring people of all different cultures together. This delivers a better quality of life for the 3 million people who live and work in Manchester as they are able to meet new people who have the same interests and they are able to do and see things that they enjoy.
Manchester needs to be eventful as cultural and other events are important in the wealth creation process, festivals influence people’s idea of a city and it is fun for tourists and residents.
A framework used to analyse destinations is the 4 A’s by Cooper et al. (1998). The 4 A’s stand for attractions, amenities, access and ancillary services. Manchester’s attractions include the Museum of Science and Industry, Platt Fields Park, MEN Arena, Sportcity, Spinningfields, Whitworth Art Gallery, the Royal Exchange Theatre, the Manchester Museum, Manchester Town Hall and the Lowry.
The MEN Arena is a key venue where various different types of events are held. These events include concerts, tv shows, sports events and awards, business awards, property exhibitions and sponsorship of many events including Manchester Pride and Manchester Food and Drink Festival.
Spinningfields has also become a new part of the city recently. There are many new shops and restaurants, which creates more jobs for the local community. It is an award winning development which will help the local economy as people will want to visit it (Spinningfields Manchester, no date: online). Spinningfields’ big screen hosted a season of 16 free movies throughout the summer, and became a “destination for film buffs and sports fans alike” (BBC, 10 June 2009: online).
Although this big screen has been host to many events, it has also been the cause for riots after the screen failed when a final match of football was on. The crowd became very violent and “what followed was the worst night of violence and destruction suffered by Manchester city centre since the Blitz”. Many were jailed for the violence that happened that night and the streets were not pleasant for the people who had go through Manchester the next day. (BBC, 3rd September 2010: online).
There are many free events in Manchester, which provide a better quality of life for the local people. All art galleries and museums are free apart from exhibitions. This is good for the local economy as well as the local community, as they attract tourists. The Whitworth Art Gallery has paintings by Van Gogh, which is a tourist attraction and The School of Music hosts free concerts in the afternoon.
The costume gallery located in Platt Fields Park also attracts tourists as it is “one of the most important