Member Article

Sunderland International Airshow brings millions to North East economy

Sunderland Live, who organised the event on behalf of Sunderland City Council, have announced the Airshow’s highest attendance figure to date.

An estimated 950,000 people visited the Sunderland seafront to witness the 26th year of the landmark event.

The event organisers believe this growth is the result of a number of new elements that were introduced this year as well as the increasingly popular Friday evening launch event.

Figures indicate that 61% of visitors over the weekend attended in a group of three or more people and, taking in to account an average individual daily spend of almost £13, the total benefit to the local economy reached a staggering £12,217,000 (excluding accommodation).

A significant increase in family-friendly activity within the programme saw household names such as Disney, Haribo and FremantleMedia helping to attract record numbers of visitors from both inside and outside the North East.

Data collected over the weekend shows that new elements such as the Roker Park Family Kingdom and the BBC World War One at Home exhibition proved extremely popular with the event’s primarily family audience.

Chris Alexander, Chief Operating Officer at Sunderland Live said “We are thrilled with the attendance at this year’s Sunderland International Airshow. It’s such a great feeling to see all of those visitors enjoying the weekend and with a regional economic impact of over 12 million pounds there is a huge sense of pride regarding what the event does for the city”.

Event goers wanting to keep up to date with their favourite Sunderland Live events can visit www.sunderlandlive.co.uk for the latest information.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .