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Tourism Sector in Birmingham

Published: November 2001

Tourism is a particularly buoyant sector of the economy both at a national and local level and part of Birmingham's renaissance has been due in part to the emergence of the City as a tourist destination, attracting both business and leisure visitors from home and abroad. This report provides an overview of the sector's development and prospects and the extent of its contribution to the local economy.

The report contains the results of a modelling exercise, commissioned through the Heart of England Tourist Board. The key findings form the basis of Chapter 3 in the 1999 Economic Review.

Latest estimates show Birmingham receives in the order of 22 million visitors a year. The majority are day visitors undertaking a wide range of activities, particularly sightseeing, shopping, eating out and business. The main overnight markets are business and visiting friends and relatives (VFR).

During their visits to Birmingham, tourists spent a total of £760 million in 1996/7. Tourism expenditure supported in the region of 19,550 jobs directly with a further 7,800 indirect jobs, making 27,350 jobs in the City dependent on the tourism economy.

Business tourism is very strong, although future growth may be constrained by increasing competition and the need for further investment in supporting services. The VFR market is also significant, with overall spend fairly high because of the large numbers involved.

Birmingham's retail sector is an important part of attracting visitors to Birmingham and new large-scale developments will help increase provision. Sport and leisure activities are increasingly attracting large numbers to the City and helping to raise Birmingham's profile, although as yet there are few unique events or attractions associated with Birmingham.

The City has a number of strengths on which it needs to build, particularly around existing infrastructure, such as the canal network, emerging quarters and new leisure and retail developments. But there are also weaknesses to overcome especially around Birmingham's image and lack of identity as a visitor destination. Threats are also likely to come from increasing competition, possible loss of funding and inadequate service delivery standards.

Overall the market looks very healthy with trends showing a growth in the short breaks market and more being spent on leisure. The tourism sector has considerable potential for employment growth in Birmingham given that employment in tourism is lower than the regional and national average.

Overall, outside of business tourism, Birmingham has less to offer than other major cities, which leaves it in a weak but improving competitive position. To some extent the weaknesses are offset by the availability of more traditional tourist sites within easy reach of the City and developments in the pipeline should go some way to fill the gaps.