New research shows that Liverpool City Region’s “visitor economy” is now worth more than £4.5 billion, last year welcomed 64 million visitors to the region and supports about 53,500 jobs.

Liverpool remains the fifth most visited destination in the UK for overseas visitors.

The research is supported by hotel occupancy data which shows a 2.2% increase for overnight staying trips.

These findings are contained in the latest independent research for 2017 commissioned by the Visitor Economy Team at Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

The figures are published by the STEAM (Scarborough Tourism Economic Activity) model, used throughout the UK tourism industry to measure economic impact of the visitor economy, and International Passenger Survey.

The results are calculated using a range of tourism inputs including hotel occupancy, transport figures, attractions attendance figures and event figures.

Long term trends show that from 2009 to 2017, there has been 66% growth in the economic value of the visitor economy to the Liverpool City Region, rising from £2.73 billion to £4.53 billion — equivalent to an average growth of around 6.5% per year.

Peter Sandman, Head of Visitor Economy for the LEP, said: “In the 10 years since Liverpool became European Capital of Culture, the city, and region as a whole has seen the visitor economy experience a healthy growth and the sector continues to contribute significantly to the region’s economy.

“It is particularly encouraging to see our overseas visitors staying longer, as well as the number of jobs supported by the sector continuing to grow – which covers a wide range of employment options across accommodation, food and drink, recreation and retail.”