News

£200,000 to boost Coventry’s tourist economy

12 January 2017

Arts Council England is investing £200,000 to put arts and culture at the heart of new plans to attract more tourists to Coventry

Culture Coventry, the charitable trust that manages the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry Transport Museum and the Lunt Roman Fort, will lead a consortium of local arts and cultural venues teaming up with private sector businesses to attract more tourists.

The trust will be joined by Coventry Cathedral, Belgrade Theatre, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry 2021 Trust, Coventry City Council, and Visit Coventry and Warwickshire, who will work alongside local businesses to develop a strong cultural strategy for the city to increase tourism and economic growth.

The investment comes from the Arts Council’s Cultural Destinations programme which gives arts and cultural organisations the opportunity to work on projects to increase their visitors through tourism. As momentum builds for the UK City of Culture 2021 bid, the city is shining a light on its rich and dynamic cultural experiences and how they can help to increase the economic growth of the city.

Inspired by the work of the bid to be UK City of Culture 2021, the city has been looking at new ways of working together to support the growth of the cultural and tourism economy to build the reputation of the city as a top place to visit. The Arts Council's £200,000 investment will support the creation of a new strategy to capitalise on Coventry's artistic and cultural heritage to encourage growth in the visitor economy.

Gary Hall, Chief Executive of Culture Coventry said: “For many years the cultural organisations of Coventry have produced great work on an individual basis. This funding gives us the opportunity to work together, strengthening the vibrant cultural offer of the city and growing the national profile of Coventry.”

Peter Knott, Midlands Area Director, Arts Council England said: “International visits to Coventry are already on the rise, and by capitalising on the rich artistic and cultural offer the city boasts it will be great to see this investment supporting a joined-up approach to encouraging further growth.”

Councillor Linda Bigham, Cabinet Member for Community Development said: “This is fantastic news for Coventry. This is a marvellous city, with wonderful venues and attractions, but we know that by working together we can create an even better cultural offer that can be enjoyed by residents and visitors and help the local economy at the same time. This grant will help us to promote the city’s fantastic cultural offer and show the rest of the country why Coventry is such a great place to visit.”

The Arts Council is investing a total of £800,000 in four projects across the Midlands.

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