A new support and recovery plan has been launched to help tourism, hospitality and leisure businesses endure and rebuild from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The plan has been developed by Greater Manchester’s destination management organisation, Marketing Manchester, part of the Growth Company, working alongside the Tourism Industry Economic Recovery (TIER) Group of leading voices in the sector.
The tourism, hospitality and leisure sector has been severely disrupted by Covid-19, with 61% of its £9 billion annual economic value estimated to be lost this year alone, with major consequences for businesses and the 100,000 people employed in the sector across Greater Manchester.
The plan outlines three areas being delivered by Marketing Manchester and partners during lockdown and ongoing coronavirus restrictions on the sector:
- providing a regular programme of business advice and information to support businesses across GM;
- lobbying for continued Government support;
- raising the profile of Greater Manchester’s tourism, hospitality and leisure sector at a national level to make sure its voice is heard.
A further five areas of support are planned when the sector is able to move more easily into recovery; these are:
- rebuilding consumer confidence in, and the profile of, Greater Manchester;
- rebuilding the region’s international profile and connectivity;
- building back the business visits and events (conferencing) sector;
- better demonstrating how the tourism, hospitality and leisure sector can support Greater Manchester’s wider strategic objectives;
- seeking consensus for a more sustainable structure for DMOs like Marketing Manchester, to ensure businesses continue to benefit from their support and activity.
The Covid-19 recovery plan was launched at a special webinar today featuring speakers from Marketing Manchester, including Managing Director Sheona Southern and Director of Tourism Nick Brooks-Sykes, as well as guests including Elise Wilson, leader of Stockport Council and Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s (GMCA’s) Economy portfolio lead, Hilary Centeleghe, Growth and Startup Lead at Business Growth Hub, and David Martin, Head of Tourism Sponsorship and Strategy at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.
Sheona Southern, Managing Director of Marketing Manchester, said:
As the UK emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic and faces a new global positioning outside the EU, in places like Greater Manchester there are still significant obstacles for the tourism, hospitality and leisure sector to overcome before we can work towards recovery.
“This support and recovery plan acknowledges the precarious situation that we continue to find ourselves in here in Greater Manchester. The plan therefore does not over promise, but rather sets out what we have been doing and will continue to do for the sector right now, as well as outlining a roadmap for how we can recover to previous levels and be best placed to compete globally for sustained growth, when the time is right.
Mike Blackburn, Chair of GM’s Internationalisation & Advisory Board and Chair at Marketing Manchester, added:
There has been a great deal of rhetoric about the importance of the tourism, hospitality and leisure sector in recent months, and rightly so – the sector is worth up to £9 billion to Greater Manchester’s economy in normal times and it is estimated that in excess of 60% of that value has been lost in 2020 due to Covid-19.
“The sector has been devastated and there is a great deal of work to do. It is therefore imperative that we work together in cross-sector partnership to get behind this plan in order to support businesses throughout the tough winter months so that they are in the best possible shape to recover quickly, efficiently and securely when that time comes. It is heartening to see businesses across Greater Manchester already beginning to add their support.”
The Covid-19 recovery and support plan for the tourism, hospitality and leisure sectors is available to read in full on the Marketing Manchester website.