Cultural city is top destination for Bank Holiday

With excitement brewing and everything crossed for a sunny Bank Holiday weekend, it would seem whatever the weather people will be flocking to the former capital of culture, as Virgin Trains record Liverpool as having the highest increase (70%) in ticket sales compared to 2009.

With Saturday being recorded as the busiest day to travel so far, Virgin Trains is reporting a 28% increase overall on ticket sales year on year. It would also seem we are creatures of habits with Manchester and Scotland again proving to be popular destinations with thousands flocking up North for the long weekend.

Says Jim Rowe, Communications Manager at Virgin Trains: “The Bank Holiday is always a popular travel period, and it is great to see some of our other destinations such as Liverpool proving to be more popular this year than last. With various activities ranging from music street festivals to events at the popular shopping centre, people are looking to Liverpool to provide them with Bank Holiday entertainment.”

David Andrews, Director of Visitor Economy for The Mersey Partnership – Official Tourist Board for Liverpool City Region, adds: “The strong increase in ticket sales is fantastic news for Liverpool City Region. We’ve worked hard to increase visitor numbers to the City Region, and this is another extremely positive indication of how popular our destination has become. Critical for us will be continuing to work with all divisions of the industry to further transform our sector over the coming years.

“A big selling point for Liverpool is connectivity and the journey time. The South East is a key market for us and we’re delighted to welcome increasing numbers of visitors wanting to experience our world class culture, attractions and events, stylish hotels and award-winning restaurants. Almost 780,000 people came to Liverpool during 2009 using the Virgin Trains service, and this is something we are keen to build on.

“Visitors arriving this weekend will be spoilt for choice with the International Beatle Week Festival, Mathew Street Festival, the last weekend of Picasso: Peace and Freedom at Tate Liverpool, Creamfields and the Wirral Food & Drink Festival. Looking ahead, the high calibre of events continues in September with the Liverpool Biennial International Festival of Contemporary Art, the Southport Air Show and the John Lennon Tribute Season.”

For further information or to book Virgin Trains log on to www.virgintrains.com or telephone 0871 977 4222. For information on what to do in Liverpool visit www.VisitLiverpool.com.

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For further information please contact Suzanne Leggetter or Anna Butterworth on 020 7403 6900 or email anna.butterworth@thespaway.com.

Notes to Ed:
Some train services will be affected by engineering works over the Bank Holiday period. For details visit www.nationalrail.co.uk or call National Rail Enquiries on 08457 48 49 50.
Other information

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Virgin Trains is the brand name of Virgin Rail Group. We have operated the West Coast passenger train franchise since 1997; the current franchise runs to March 2012.


Virgin Rail Group is owned 51 percent by Virgin Group and 49 percent by Stagecoach

Virgin Trains has been recognised in numerous industry awards. On 19 January 2010 the company was named Best Rail Operator of the Year at the Travel Globe Awards, voted for by readers of the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday and Evening Standard. In 2009 Virgin Trains was voted Best UK Domestic Train Service by Business Traveller magazine for the second year running; and named Best Rail Operator in the 2009 Group Leisure Awards, run by Group Leisure, the magazine for group travel organisers.