Marketing Manchester announces a suite of new tours and products that have been developed during lockdown as part of the Discover England Fund, and that can now be booked for this summer.
Working with tourism businesses and individuals throughout lockdown, Marketing Manchester has helped to develop tours that offer new ways to discover and explore Greater Manchester, as well as a convenient way to visit one of Greater Manchester’s most exciting new attractions for 2021, RHS Garden Bridgewater.
Tours include a brand new offering from Scranchester who have delivered food and drink tours in and around Manchester city centre since 2017. Scranchester’s new Explore Ancoats tour tells the story of one of Manchester’s most popular neighbourhoods, its incredible industrial history and its current status as the city’s premier foodie hotspot. The new multi-stop food tour runs weekly on Fridays and costs £55 per person.
Sticking with the foodie theme, the team behind Craft Beer Tour Manchester have diversified their offering to create the new Brunch Tour Manchester; a three hour guided walk around the city with stops at some of the city’s best independent brunch spots. The tour runs every Friday and Saturday and costs £35 per person.
The award-winning Manchester Taxi Tours has two new tours that can be booked privately any time with pricing starting from £150. Guide John Consterdine’s bespoke taxi tour is based on visitors’ own interests and is delivered in a state-of-the-art, glass-roofed electric vehicle. A new addition allows visitors to book a special Afternoon Tea Taxi Tour with food and treats supplied by Bury’s iconic Slattery Pâtissier and Chocolatier. A second new tour, focused on some of John’s most-requested tour locations, is the Manchester United Taxi Tour, which includes a trip to Old Trafford as well as visits to iconic landmarks and locations associated with the club.
In preparation for the return of international travel and building on the significant Chinese community already based in the city, RobinGo has launched a Mandarin-language Urban Buddies Walking Tour of Manchester. The two-hour tour is now up and running every Saturday covering key locations, landmarks, and attractions within Manchester city centre for £25 per person. A further Mandarin-language tour specifically focused on Manchester Christmas Markets is also live and can be booked for Saturdays and Sundays throughout November and December.
One of Greater Manchester’s tourism highlights for 2021 has been the 154-acre RHS Garden Bridgewater, which is now open after the herculean task of restoring, regenerating and replanting over several years. Building on the increased interest in the area around the Garden and the Bridgewater Canal which is RHS Garden Bridgewater’s namesake, a new Coal, Canal and Cake walking tour has been launched by Bridgewater Canal Guided Tours. Priced at £16 per person and now running every Saturday, the tour takes a deep dive into Worsley Village, once the hub of a thriving industry built upon the coal belonging to the Duke of Bridgewater.
Also building on the popularity of the new Garden and offering a convenient way to travel there from Manchester city centre, Swans Travel in partnership with Manchester Sightseeing have launched a daily Express Bus Service. Departing from and returning to Piccadilly and Victoria Train Stations, prices start from £6 for just the transfer, with combo bus and entry ticket available for £14.
All of the new tours have been developed as part of the Discover England Fund, managed by VisitEngland, which provided financial and advisory support to help Marketing Manchester work with businesses and individuals to get new tours and products off the ground.
The activity forms part of to the Marketing Manchester led project ‘Growing Manchester as the International Gateway to the North’, which pivoted to domestic activity in light of the pandemic. The project has previously delivered products aimed at growing visitation from international markets into the north of England, including day tours and trips to Liverpool, Chester, York, Wales, Lake District and the Peak District as well as the Sightseeing Manchester open top Bus Tour.
Commenting on the new tours for summer, Nick Brooks-Sykes, Director of Tourism at Marketing Manchester, said: “Whilst it has been a very difficult year for tourism, I’m delighted that we were able to make use of the Discover England Fund to develop these brand new products and help to bring them to market. We know that people visiting Greater Manchester are always on the lookout for new experiences and things to do, and joining a tour is one of the best ways to get under the skin of a city-region like Greater Manchester, whose stories are often better told than seen. These fantastic new tours are launching at the perfect time to capture some late summer bookings as tourism begins to return following the easing of restrictions later this month.”
VisitEngland Director, Andrew Stokes, added: “Our priority is to support the industry through crisis to recovery and beyond and it is great to see these new products and tours come to fruition, as part of the Discover England Fund, giving visitors a raft of exciting new reasons to explore Manchester and boosting local businesses who have been working so hard to welcome visitors back, adapting and innovating and providing an outstanding experience.”
Rob Kelly, Owner of Scranchester Tours, added: “The grant that I received through the Discover England Fund gave me the impetus to realise an idea for a tour that I already had, but did not have money for, and has allowed me to put together a marketing plan to help grow awareness and help get it off the ground. I’m looking forward to delivering my new Explore Ancoats tour and showcasing the area to both domestic and international visitors over the coming months and years”.
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