Mayor of Liverpool Joanne Anderson and Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor, Steve Rotheram, have written to the Minister of Arts, Rt. Hon. Stuart Andrew MP, to emphasise how passionate the city is about hosting the Eurovision Song Contest in 2023 on behalf of Ukraine.
In the letter, they explain how important the visitor economy is to the city and why Liverpool should be given the chance to host this unforgettable event.
The letter in full:
Dear Minister
Congratulations on your new role. We look forward to working with you on this agenda which is of utmost importance to the City and City Region.
Pre-pandemic, Liverpool City Region’s visitor economy was worth over £4.7bn, welcoming 67.3m visitors and supporting over 57,000 jobs. As a direct result of the pandemic, overall expenditure fell by £3bn.
We wanted to write in the final two days of the Eurovision competition to reiterate how Liverpool and the region would deliver for the Ukraine and for the wider UK.
We are resolute in our ambition for the event to showcase our great country and City Region on the world stage.
We will show great compassion and humour and be the very best ambassador you could wish for to work alongside the BBC and EBU in this glorious celebration of unity.
We know we are up against a brilliant city in Glasgow, but we believe that Liverpool, with its music, its people, its humour, and its compassion, will work with your teams collegiately, and in the best interests of the country, to deliver something remarkable.
We know this is not a political decision, but in the last days of decision-making, we wanted to reaffirm our commitment to the competition and to our ability to deliver this great, once in a generation opportunity which has the potential to be so much more than an event in an arena.
Best wishes
Joanne Anderson Steve Rotheram
Mayor of Liverpool Metro Mayor Liverpool City Region
