Liverpool Vision has awarded the contract to design, develop, commercialise and market the inaugural international Festival for Business festival to be staged in the city for 61 days starting 1 June 2014.
Clarion Events, based in London, won the contract following a tender issued by Liverpool Vision, the body tasked with overseeing the Festival. Further tenders covering a variety of marketing and related services will be issued in the coming months.
The decision to host the Festival in Liverpool was announced by David Cameron in early January this year.
The event, which is being organised by Liverpool Vision, is expected to cost £15 million for which its investment is forecast to return £100 million of economic to the city.
Speaking at the launch, Mr Cameron said: “We are in a global race in our world today, a race in which Liverpool is not just competing with Barcelona and Hamburg, but also with Beijing and Jakarta.
“Some countries will make it and others will fall behind, and I am determined that Britain, and cities like Liverpool, will make it.”
The 61-day festival hopes to attract over one million visitors to the city for hundreds of events. It is planned to be an urban festival of commerce, bringing together cities from across the world, spanning 61 days of events, exhibitions, showcases and celebrations.
Max Steinberg, chief executive of Liverpool Vision, said: “It was essential that we appointed a first class event partner and Clarion fulfilled all of our criteria.
“They have a worldwide reputation for delivering high quality, targeted business-to-business exhibitions, consumer events, and conferences, serving a diverse range of markets, across the globe.”
