We Shelby visiting

More people are flocking to Birmingham... by order of the Peaky Blinders. The hit BBC drama about the Shelby gangster family is credited for pulling in a record 131 million tourists to the West Midlands last year.

So-called screen tourism helped pump £16.7million into the region, according to the West Midlands Growth Company and research body Global Tourism Solutions.

Peaky Blinders is on BBC1 on Sunday nights – in its fifth series, with 43- year- old Cillian Murphy starring as 1920s gang boss and fledgling politician Tommy Shelby.

Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, said: “The show has helped to introduce the West Midlands to a new global audience, with the Peaky effect in full swing.

“Tours and events associated with the show are selling out months in advance.”

More than 76,000 fans from as far afield as New Zealand applied for tickets to the BBC’s world premiere of series five, shown at Birmingham Town Hall. Peaky has also become an advert for the Black Country

Living Museum in Dudley, one of the filming locations, where attendance reached record levels last year.

Museum chief executive Andrew Lovett said: “In 2018 we saw our fifth successive year of growth, achieving record visitor attendance of 355,000.”

The series’ soaring popularity has also sparked a fans’ weekend in the city.

The Legitimate Peaky Blinders Festival takes place on September 14 and 15 (ticketmaster.co.uk).

A new Peaky-themed escape room is set to open at Birmingham’s Escape Live (escapelive.co.uk). And fans of the show can explore Brum’s dark past on special Peaky Tours (brumtours.com).

While Peaky has played a blinder in boosting popularity, the area has much more to offer – Brumthing for everyone, you could say.

Neil Rami, chief executive of the West Midlands Growth Company, said: “With an events calendar boasting the British Science Festival in September, the 2021 UK City of Culture in Coventry and the 2022 Commonwealth Games, the spotlight is on the West Midlands more than ever.”

■For more info go to makeitwm.com and visitbirmingham.com

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