Liverpool now has the proven ability to deliver major projects. Our year as European Capital of Culture saw the city's partners work together to manage global events such as the MTV Europe Music Awards, La Machine and the Tall Ships, creating massive local excitement and delivering mass audiences and worldwide exposure.

Jim Gill, Chief Executive, Liverpool Vision

The Liverpool Boat Show 2011 will be a show like no other.

LBS 2011 will take place in the historic surroundings of the Albert Dock, the largest collection of Grade 1 listed buildings in Britain, in the midst of a World Heritage Site and on one of the most architecturally stunning waterfronts in the world.

It is a location only minutes' walk from the heart of a city which has undergone a remarkable renaissance and is now one of the UK's top five shopping and tourist destinations.

It is a location which is home to scores of high quality bars and restaurants, with world-class art galleries, museums and shops nearby, and a venue which already attracts some 10,000 visitors a day.

Liverpool is a focal point for the North West and North Wales boating communities and at the centre of a coastline rich with yacht clubs. It is at the heart of a vast sailing region, encompassing Scotland, Wales, the North West, the Lake District and Ireland, where new marinas and boat sales are growing faster than any other area in the UK.

Uniquely for a show of this type, LBS 2011 will attract two distinct audiences - not only committed boating enthusiasts, but also huge numbers of potential new recruits to the sport.

The historic Albert Dock has already played host to the Clipper Race and the Tall Ships. Traditional paying show visitors will have exclusive access to the Main Marina and the majority of the exhibitor marquees, plus the 'have-a-go' experiences, practical workshops and demonstrations.

Non-paying spectators will enjoy free entrance to the Boat Show site where they can be part of the overall spectacle, enjoy the water-based entertainments and visit a selection of the landbased exhibitors and feature boats.

A programme of water-based entertainment and demonstrations throughout the show, including wake-boarding, power boat racing, water-skiing, championship sailing and cultural and family events, will act as a powerful generic campaign to introduce and enthuse a whole new generation of would-be participants to the pleasures of boating.

The much-loved Guinness Bar, for decades the sailor's traditional show meeting point, makes an exclusive return to the Liverpool Boat Show in a stunning location on the Canning Dock.

Along with our partners, the Northwest Regional Development Agency and Liverpool City Council, we confidently predict over 100,000 paying visitors and a further audience of upwards of 300,000 spectators - a potent mix of dedicated sailors and watersports enthusiasts, together with affluent spenders from Merseyside, Cheshire, the wider North West and the rest of the UK.