Peel’s EventCity says it has had its busiest 6 months to date, with 217,000 visiting the exhibition space.
Neighbouring The Trafford Centre, the venue was chosen as the only one outside of London to host the X Factor auditions, bringing in 15,000 fans of the ITV show.
It attracted a further 37,000 people with the Ideal Home Show last month, spending almost £10m across the 300 exhibition stands.
Andy Orr, managing director at EventCity said that it was generating a further £11.9m in visitor spend for nearby shops, hotels and attractions:
“Anecdotally we knew that there was a direct correlation between a major event here and higher footfall and increased spend in stores including Asda and within intu Trafford Centre, as well as within our neighbouring hotels.
“The fact our visitors can build in retail and leisure time into their trip is part of the attraction. Equally, our exhibitors recognise the advantages of hosting their events in such a unique location that is easily accessible via the motorway network.”
With further events and conferences scheduled for the next 6 months, EventCity is predicting a total annual visitor number of 598k, which would be a 32% increase year-on-year.
“We’re starting to turn heads on a national level and to be the only venue outside London to host the X Factor judges’ auditions has given us huge kudos. We want to keep attracting more ‘firsts’ outside the Capital, as well as appealing to a variety of market sectors,” added Orr.
