Number of visitors for culture revealed

MORE THAN 3.5million visitors were attracted to events in Hull as part of its UK City of Culture year and more than 1,400 jobs were created through investments in projects, according to the city council.

More than 1.2million people visited the Ferens art gallery and museums, more than twice the previous year, a round-up of the year’s figures suggests.

The Freedom Festival doubled numbers to 140,000 while 30,000 attended the Sesh festival, up from 25,000. During the year, 42 businesses opened in the city centre, of which two thirds were restaurants, cafes and bars.

The figures also show a dramatic upswing in the number of beds and rooms available for visitors, including the 165-room Hilton Double Tree on Ferensway which has a Marco Pierre White roof-top restaurant and 900-seat conference centre.

Airbnb also quintupled the number of properties on its books from 63 in 2016 to 306. A £2.56m Weatherspoons Hotel is due to open on Anlaby Road next year, as well as a £6m 100-bed hotel on Bond Street.

In the third quarter hotel occupancy was 88 per cent, with average occupancy up nine per cent on the same period in 2016.

Investment by the city council included the £15.9m makeover of the New Theatre and the £5.4m revamp of the Ferens gallery. However, the number of shop vacancies remain broadly similar to last year at 11.3 per cent, when taking the city “hippest” and newest street, Humber Street, into account.

A report said the centre has avoided the “doughnut effect” some towns have seen.

It added: “New consumer experiences will, over time, replace some of the retail activity, as will increasing the use of existing and new buildings to attract people to live in the city.”