this is good news
City among Britain’s top breaks
Sep 4 2008 by Ben Schofield, Liverpool Daily Post
LIVERPOOL has fought off tough competition to be rated the UK’s third favourite city for holidays.
It beats Cambridge, Durham and Manchester in a run-down of the top city break destinations, compiled by Conde Nast Traveller readers.
In what is thought to be a surge linked to the Capital of Culture celebrations, Liverpool jumped four places – from seventh to third – since the last survey.
With a score of 86.78 out of a possible 100, it was narrowly beaten by London, with 90.22, and Edinburgh, which scored 88.15.
City leaders said yesterday they are designing 2009’s events calendar with the aim of challenging Edinburgh for a place in the top two.
Conde Nast Traveller’s editor-in-chief Sarah Miller said: “A lot of readers seem to have experienced Liverpool for the first time and thought ‘wow’.
“Liverpool’s very much in people’s minds. They are reading about it, seeing it on telly, they hear about it and want to know about it.”
According to Culture Company figures, Liverpool has enjoyed media coverage worth £70m, which includes 7,500 national and international newspaper articles up to the end of July.
Ms Miller added: “It didn’t surprise me that it scored high for culture.
“I think Liverpool’s image has come a long way from how our readers perceived it a few years ago.”
Around 40,000 readers completed the survey during April and May.
The list is printed in the edition of the magazine published today. Readers were asked to rate cities on aesthetics and architecture, culture, environmental friendliness, food and restaurants, nightlife and entertainment, people and hospitality, accommodation, safety and value for money.
Ms Miller said the city excelled at aesthetics and architecture, people and hospitality, and accommodation, which all scored more than 90 out of a possible 100.
Its lowest score was for safety, which was in the 70s.