Mini case study: Liverpool relaunched R ead the questions, then the case material, and then answer the questions. Questions 1 What problems did Liverpool face in attracting tourists? (Use the information in the case study. but you may also want to look up Liverpool, and rival cities. on the Internet.) 2 How could good marketing help to over- come these problems? 3 Write a short piece (approx. 200 words) on Liverpool for inclusion in a tourist guide. You should identify different aspects of the city that will appeal to different types of visitor. 4 How could relationship marketing help Liverpool to attract more visitors? In its heyday, as England's busiest port, Liv- erpool saw the launching of many fine ships but, with those glory days long gone. the city was in need of a relaunch itseif. For years Liverpool had suffered from jokes and abuse and for being more famous for its sense of humour than its work ethic. TV programmes such as Bread, Brookside and The Fast Show built a picture of Liverpool as a city of lazy benefit fraudsters and chanc- ers. As a result. most tourists, shoppers and business travellers avoided it. fearing for their wallets and their safety. Yet locals always claimed that the Northern city's poor image was invented by Londonbased media and that the truth was very different. A golden opportunity to put things rig ht came in 2008 when Liverpool became the Euro pean Capital of Culture. Over 22 billion was invested in the city to fund such ambitious plans as reinventing rundown Paradise Street as a suitable venue for a variety of entertain- ments, including street theatre and music. The rejuvenation of Liverpool was one of Europe's biggest regeneration projects. The impressive waterfront and the city's fabulous architecture were cleaned up and shown off. New facilities were provided. New hotels were built. This was Liverpool's chance to show the world what a great place it really was. Liverpool has always had a lot to boast about. As well as writers such as Beryl Bainbridge, Willy Russell, Alan Bleasdale, Catherine Cookson and Roger McGough, Liverpool has produced many pop-cultural icons. More artists with number-one hits were born in Liverpool than in any other British city. Its most famous sons are, of course, The Bea- tles. These symbols of the 1960s first played The Merseyside Partnership Liverpool's waterfront. at the Cavern club - now redeveloped as a Beatles museum. The National Trust now owns John Lennon's childhood home (a gift from his widow, Yoko Ono-Lennon) and home to thriving bars, restaurants and shops, opened it to public view. Liverpool Football upmarket apartments and the Tate art gallery Club has been one of the country's premier rather than ocean-going ships. clubs for decades. Comedians as diverse as Even with all these advantages, if the city Ken Dodd, Jimmy Tarbuck and Lily Savage was to make it on to every tourist's must- all hail from the city. Cilla Black started her see list, it had a lot of image rebuilding to days (as Priscilla White) singing in Liverpool, do. A spokesperson for the City Council said, and more recent music exports include Echo 'People just haven't been listening. Unemploy- and the Bunnymen, Atomic Kitten, Space, the ment is reducing and it is one of the safest Lightning Seeds, the Coral and Cast. cities in the country. Liverpool has art galler- Unusually for a city, Liverpool has been ies, shopping centres and trendy bars. We abroad itself. Its wealth of architectural styles are also close to becoming the film capital of and the grandeur of its buildings have made Britain with the number of films shot here. I it an ideal film double for a number of Euro- don't see why it should be a problem market- pean cities, including Moscow, Dublin, Paris ing ourselves to the UK and abroad. and, most surprisingly, Venice. The most dra- Liverpool was a smash hit as Capital of matic aspect of Liverpool has always been Culture in 2008 and has managed to build best viewed from the Mersey. It is, of course, on that success. It has been named in the the UNESCO listed waterfront with its 'three top three UK city break destinations for the graces': the Royal Liver Building, the Cunard second successive year by readers of travel Building and the Port of Liverpool Building, bible, Conde Nast Traveller Magazine, and which together form one of the world's most was recently voted the best loved of Britain's well-recognised skylines. Liverpool's docks non-capital cities. were once among the busiest anywhere and the Albert Dock remains so, though now it is SOURCES: BBCi, n.d.; Liverpool City Council, n.d.; Liverpool 08, n.d.; Singh, 2003; Visit Liverpool, n.d
