The UK could earn an extra £4bn every year in music heritage tourism, according to a recent report from UK Music, the campaigning and lobbying group representing every part of the recorded and live music industry.

Titled Imagine, the study's findings take the example of Liverpool, where the heritage of The Beatles attracts millions of music tourists every year and generates £70 million for Liverpool’s local economy.

The impact that music heritage has on the region’s tourism economy will be discussed at our free The Business of The Beatles symposium, as part of Liverpool’s International Festival for Business (IFB).

The symposium, chaired by Liverpool’s business ambassador Mike Southon, will take place on the 26th and 27th June. The event will present both local and international specialist speakers discussing Liverpool’s popular music heritage tourism industry and the wider global industry of Beatles-related business.



The head speaker at the symposium will be Roag Best, brother of ex-Beatle Pete Best and Managing Director of the world-famous Casbah venue in Liverpool.
  Billy Kinsley, founding member of Liverpool band The Merseybeats, who appeared with The Beatles at Liverpool’s Cavern Club on many occasions, has also been confirmed as a speaker at the two day event.

Taking place at Liverpool Hope’s beautiful Capstone Theatre in the Creative Campus on Shaw Street in Everton, the symposium is aimed at those who wish to know more about how the legacy of The Beatles has been handled by entrepreneurs within the city of Liverpool. The event will also look at how the history of pop tourism has brought the city to this stage in its development.

Joining the event will be speakers from Cavern City Tours, the Beatles Story, and Marketing Liverpool, amongst other international experts. Issues raised will include the uses of The Beatles’ music in advertising, Beatles branding, the pitfalls of pop ‘museumification’, the mixed histories of Beatle City and Merseybeat-related vanity publishing, and more besides: all relating to The Beatles’ and popular music’s economic legacy.
Martin King of the Beatles Story says:

“As a vital and much-loved institution at the forefront of Liverpool’s cultural offering, the Beatles Story is well-placed to contribute to this fascinating symposium.”
 

Book your place on The Business of The Beatles symposium here, or email brockem@hope.ac.uk