We’re excited to be joining a high-level Greater Manchester delegation that will this month visit India to explore the mutual benefits of collaboration resulting from the creation of the Manchester India Partnership, a bilateral trade organisation established in February 2018.
It’s a great privilege for our managing director, Sheona Southern to serve as a MIP board member, supporting efforts to build and strengthen trade, boost tourism, encourage investment and forge greater academic links.
Led by Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, the MIP delegation is travelling to Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi, as well as Bangladesh, joined by local and national partners including the Department for International Trade and VisitBritain. Alongside a schedule of events showcasing the city-region’s key sector strengths across advanced materials, health innovation, digital, creative and tech, we’ll also be helping to emphasise opportunities for tourism, culture and sport. This will include high-level meetings with tour operators and travel trade association heads; interviews with B2B and consumer media; and working with our colleagues at VisitBritain to announce key partnerships.
The delegation’s main tourism objectives are to increase Manchester’s profile in India as the Gateway to the North of England, to champion improved connectivity between the regions, and support GM-India cultural assets. For example, more than £5 million is being invested to co-curate a new South Asia Gallery that will form the centrepiece of an £11.5 million investment at Manchester Museum, due to open in 2021.
We’ve been working hard to maximise this opportunity to promote Greater Manchester and are currently finalising a new video that will be shown throughout the visit. The video is a celebration of Manchester’s modern partnership with India and contains key messages and statistics to support trade, investment, academic partnership and tourism. Presented as a journey through the city-region led by a leading second-generation Indian clinician, Dr Binita Kane, and cut to an upbeat South Asian and Manchester themed soundtrack, I think it’s going to do a fantastic job of making our arrival in each city a memorable one and we look forward to sharing it with you next month.
India is a key market in Greater Manchester’s internationalisation strategy and presents significant opportunities for mutual economic growth. This visit to India is a fantastic initiative that will provide a platform to showcase our relationships and capacity for collaboration.
News in brief
Manchester at MIPIM 2020 Partnership launch
The Manchester at MIPIM Partnership held a launch event for 2020 on 25 September, celebrating what will be the city’s 21st year at the Cannes property conference. Introducing the event at the brand-new Spirit of Manchester Distillery, Sir Richard Leese used the launch to reflect on the success and growth of Manchester’s presence at MIPIM, which is reliant wholly on the continued support of its private sector partners.
It was also a chance to reveal the theme for this year – Everything is Connected – which aims to celebrate a very Mancunian way of doing things and explore surprising partnerships – where science becomes art, technology drives sustainability or culture influences health for example. See our trailer for a preview of what to expect from the theme.
The launch also saw the announcement of a brand new initiative for 2020 which gives partners the chance to involve the new generation from the property world – the bright minds and rising stars who will need to be a part of MIPIM in the future, but who perhaps need a bit of steering to get them to the point where they can represent their company autonomously. The ‘Next Generation Leaders’ initiative will allow companies to bring a young first-time delegate over to MIPIM through a discounted delegate rate that can be accessed when signing up to a package.
Manchester at MIPIM is a private sector focused partnership, strategically led by Manchester City Council and coordinated by Marketing Manchester, with the aim of promoting the Greater Manchester city-region to an international audience of property professionals.
To find out more, contact Richard.Fowler@marketingmanchester.com
Manchester returns to IMEX America
After a four-year break, Manchester Convention Bureau (MCB) returned to IMEX America – which brought together 13,500 key players from the worldwide incentive travel, meetings and events industry in Las Vegas – from 10-12 September, exhibiting on the VisitBritain stand alongside the city’s flagship conference venue Manchester Central and The Lowry Hotel.
The Bureau last attended the event in 2015 using a special Northern Tourism Growth Fund; however, given the political landscape and having already delivered bespoke on-territory activity in the US this year, the Bureau decided it needed to further raise its profile with a presence at the show – the biggest of its kind in the US.
Collectively, Team Manchester hosted 35 appointments with conference buyers and attended a busy hosted buyer breakfast sponsored by VisitBritain which resulted in 25 additional meetings.
The Bureau also partnered with VisitBritain and Virgin Atlantic to host a competition on the stand whereby delegates could win a trip to the UK, starting in Manchester with a two night stay at the Principal Hotel and also including a visit to London and Highclere Castle, where Downton Abbey is filmed – capitalising on the release of the movie that week. The competition received over 100 entries.
To find out more, contact Anthony.Cassidy@marketingmanchester.com
New welcome posters greet visitors at Manchester Airport
The team from Marketing Manchester recently worked with Manchester Airport to enhance the visitor welcome and give a greater sense of place when arriving at the airport, through the installation of large format graphics across T1 and T2, with T3 to follow. The graphics showcase highlights of the visitor offer across Manchester, Greater Manchester and the North. The initiative is part of the Discover England Project, Growing Manchester as the Gateway to the North, funded by Visit England.
To find out more, contact Victoria.Braddock@marketingmanchester.com
India Super-Seller familiarisation trip
Last month Marketing Manchester hosted 13 Indian travel agents, brought to the city in partnership with Etihad Airlines as part of a Super-Seller familiarisation trip reserved for some of the best agents in the country. The group enjoyed attractions and food across the city with the trip culminating with the record-breaking 8-0 Man City win against Watford at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday 21 September.
To find out more, contact Tim.Manley@marketingmanchester.com
Manchester on show at on-territory events in Detroit
In March 2019 we hosted Detroit based travel agency Your Premier Travel on a familiarisation trip to Manchester. As a follow up piece of activity we worked with the agency and Virgin Atlantic to host a Royal Tea event on Friday 20 September that brought together a mix of travel agents and customers to learn more about Manchester, the North of England and two newly developed programs for April 2020.
Following this event Marketing Manchester and partner VisitBritain then collaborated at the annual Delta Vacations University event, also in Detroit, on 20-21 September. The event saw over 2,000 travel agents in attendance for a series of educational sessions, including destination seminars on Manchester and the North of England. During the event Marketing Manchester and VisitBritain hosted a joint booth where agents were able to meet the team, ask questions and learn more about our online educational programme Manchester Masters.
To find out more, contact Emma.Gordon@marketingmanchester.com
Welcoming the Ashes to Old Trafford
The Ashes came to Emirates Old Trafford in early September for five days of cricket, rounding off a fantastic summer of sport in Greater Manchester. To mark the arrival of an estimated 117,500 fans, Marketing Manchester, in partnership with Emirates Old Trafford produced fencing around the perimeter of the ground prompting visitors to find out more about what to do whilst visiting via our Unmissable Days Out in Greater Manchester creative.
To find out more, contact Kate.Trasler@marketingmanchester.com
Last chance to join us at the Greater Manchester Tourism Conference
The fourth annual Greater Manchester Tourism Conference will be held in just over two weeks – on Thursday 17 October 2019 – and is a must for anyone working within the tourism and hospitality sector in Greater Manchester and the North of England. It will return to Crowne Plaza & Staybridge Suites Manchester – Oxford Road, following fantastic feedback from delegates last year.
Tickets are now on sale, priced at £75 for Marketing Manchester members (£95 for non-members) and are available here. The format for the day is now finalised and as in previous years you can expect a full programme of high-profile speakers, films, workshops, interviews, Q&A and panel sessions plus short soap box sessions. The event sells out each year so please make sure that you book now to avoid disappointment.
To find out more, contact Jane.Randall@marketingmanchester.com
GG Business Growth Hub hosts Brexit planning events for SMEs
SME businesses are invited to a series of Brexit support events being held across Greater Manchester this month. Organised by GC Business Growth Hub and participating local authorities, the events have been designed for SME business owners who are seeking Brexit business support and advice.
The fully funded events will cover different topic areas relevant for businesses. GC Business Growth Hub advisers and partners will deliver a key note address and be on hand for business owners to ask questions and receive advice on a range of areas where they may need to make changes ahead of Brexit on 31 October.
GC Business Growth Hub, part of The Growth Company, is organising the events in conjunction with each local authority areas. Event partners include: Department of International Trade, North West; Squire Patton Boggs; and Moneycorp.
To find out more or to register attendance, please visit www.businessgrowthhub.com/brexit
Recent press coverage wins
Marketing Manchester’s press team carry out a year-round programme of press visits and media engagement to win national and international coverage for Greater Manchester. Below are a few recent highlights that you may like to read and share:
Manchester, England, bounces back – Travel Weekly (USA)
48 Foodie Hours in: Manchester – The Wardrobe (UK)
Vegan Advegtures: Manchester, UK – The Little London Vegan blog (UK)
Manchester: authentic England – El Economista (Spain)
Manchester Pride 2019: vindication and party to fight for a future of LGBT equality – Shangay (Spain)
What do do in Manchester: Chethams Library – Emotionrit blog (Italy)
Manchester’s most famous people – Emotionrit blog (Italy)
First stop: Manchester – LouiseJohannessons.com blog (Sweden)
Manchester – JoannaSwica.se blog (Sweden)
Top things to see in Manchester in a day – Little Sherpa Travels (Singapore)
Nine things you should do in Manchester, England – Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
To find out more, contact Andy.Parkinson@marketingmanchester.com
What’s new in Greater Manchester: October 2019
Distributed to consumer travel and leisure media contacts, Marketing Manchester’s monthly What’s New update is an important piece of media relations work to keep journalists and influencers from around the world up to date on the latest developments, openings and trends across the city-region. To view this month’s newsletter, click here.
To find out more, contact Andy.Parkinson@marketingmanchester.com