For a long time now IPC Marine Media has recognised the strategic importance of the North as its boating communities continue to grow and prosper. The sheer vastness of the catchment area makes Liverpool a valuable location in terms of the potential for marketing to customers who previously have been less well served than their more southerly counterparts.

Simon Owen,
Publishing Director, IPC Marine Media

Liverpool is at the heart of a coastline rich in yachting tradition which is as yet untapped for an event such as this. It is the fastest growing region in terms of new marinas and sailing centres anywhere in the UK.

We will be mobilising the entire yachting and watersports community of the North of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland to ensure their support and engagement with the Liverpool Boat Show.

Liverpool itself has undergone one of the most dramatic and transformational periods of renaissance of any city in post-war Britain and is now the fastest growing economy in the UK outside London.

Retail spend and income are on the rise and the city is surrounded by an affluent stockbroker belt comprising parts of the Wirral peninsular, Cheshire and Lancashire.

Almost 2 million people live within half an hour's drive of the city centre, where investment in Grade A commercial office space has attracted increasing numbers of high value professional services companies.

Liverpool is also the third most important wealth management centre in the UK (Financial Times) and is the economic hub of the Liverpool city region - a £35bn economy, with 2.3m people, 1.1m jobs, 90,000 businesses and a 1.46m workforce.

Thanks in part to the city's phenomenally successful Capital of Culture, as well as its football and music heritage, the city's brand awareness overseas is second only to London's. Overnight visits are estimated to be in the region of 9.1m a year, with day visits running at some 62m.

Just three attractions in the Albert Dock - the Maritime Museum, Tate Liverpool and the International Slavery Museum - between them attract more than 2.5 million visitors every year.