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Manchester hotels see record numbers in February

The month of February saw record visitor numbers being driven into hotels in Manchester.

Room reservation rates across the month were the highest since records began in 2000, with a 79% average occupancy in comparison with 75% in February 2012.

Occupancy across the whole county of Greater Manchester also rose from 72% to 75% during the same period.

Manchester’s tourism board, Visit Manchester, said this rise could not be put down to one single event, however some particular dates saw especially high hotel occupancy.

At the beginning of February, singer-songwriter Plan B’s tour came to Manchester and coincided with the National Badminton Championships at the National Cycling Centre and the Wigan-Southampton football match at the DW Stadium.

Event convergence on the 16th and 18th of February also resulted in particularly high customer numbers for hotels across Greater Manchester.

Paul Simpson, managing director of Visit Manchester, commented: “It’s always fantastic to see growth in hotel occupancy levels, but achieving a record like this is particularly satisfying when you consider that we now have significantly more hotel rooms than we did when we started tracking occupancy 13 years ago.

“This best February follows what was actually the highest January average since pre-recession 2008 – and a powerful testimony for the strength of Manchester hotel offering, tourism industry and events calendar.

“The achievement is particularly timely given that last week we celebrated English Tourism Week 2013, where we recognised the wider benefits of tourism.

“Busy hotels create significant opportunities for our bars, restaurants, local businesses and transport providers, and this undoubtedly has a positive impact on the local economy.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .