As the final sequins are getting swept up from the Pier Head, Liverpool City Council has announced early indications that the Eurovision Song Contest has smashed visitor targets.
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 9 days – welcomed 250,000 visitors.
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 would like to thank all of the partners who have been so instrumental in making the success of the event possible.
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.”
Special thanks must go to:
- Our 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.
READ MORE: Eurovision 2023 becomes the most watched Grand Final ever!
