Birmingham named top UK city for business tourism
The city was ranked ahead of Manchester, Edinburgh and Leeds in the annual British Meetings & Events Industry Survey (BMEIS) by sector professionals.
It follows a report by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) which named Birmingham as the UK’s fastest growing tourist destination outside London, with 619,000 business travellers visiting in 2015.
Tourism agency Meet Birmingham said the city would host 56 new national and international events in 2016, giving a £35m boost to the local economy.
“Birmingham has seen a 17 per cent growth in domestic leisure and business visitors since 2010...contributing to an overall tourism economy worth £6.2 billion," Stephanie Mynett, visitor economy business development manager at Meet Birmingham.
Evolving dining scene
The city is attracting increasing interest from hotel and restaurant groups due to its acclaimed dining scene and growing status as a tourist attraction.
It gained its fifth Michelin star for restaurant Carters of Mosley last year, and saw the opening of a £50m Park Regis hotel in March, six years after gaining its first five-star hotel.
Chef Tom Aikens is to open a restaurant at the city's Mailbox development in December, while the Birmingham Conference and Events Centre (BCEC) has been given a £1.8m refresh.
Mynett added that the city would continue to develop its international profile as new venues continued to open.
"We’ve been connecting with tour operators, conference organisers and travel agents at events across the globe to ensure Birmingham builds on its favourable reputation in this market," she said.
