A record attendance at this year’s CTA Workshop & Conference in Liverpool signalled a strong desire by CTA members to get back to business at our first in-person event for two years. The final tally of delegates for the event, which was generously sponsored by CTA Partner member Tourism Ireland, reached 200 with new registrations right up to the last minute, including one new member signing up and paying their membership fee on the day before the Conference opened.

The Workshop proved as popular as ever with more than 850 one-to-one meetings between CTA operators, wholesalers and suppliers taking place in the four-hour session held at the Maritime Museum on Albert Dock. Members were clearly hungry to do business face-to-face after a two-year break, and there were numerous reports of deals being signed and sealed on the day.

Delegates were based at the splendid Hilton Liverpool City Centre but CTA member attractions in Liverpool played a key role in the success of the event with The Beatles Story hosting a dinner on the opening night with some fabulous entertainment, supported by Liverpool FC who generously sponsored the drinks. This was preceded by a reception at the nearby British Music Experience that enabled delegates to recapture their musical youth and ‘have a go’ with the instruments and on the dance floor in the Gibson interactive studio.

The Beatles Story pulled off an extraordinary coup by not only hosting the evening dinner, but also in arranging an exclusive concert for CTA members by renowned Liverpool band The Farm in their replica Cavern Club. The Farm performed well-known hits including ‘Groovy Train’ and ‘All Together Now’ – the latter was originally released in 1990 and peaked at No.4 on the UK Singles Chart and No.7 on the U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.

Other CTA members arranged fam visits for delegates including a trip to Strawberry Field, where Julia Baird, John Lennon’s sister, gave a presentation and spent a long time with members. And trips were also arranged to Liverpool FC, Royal Liver Building and Liverpool Beatles Museum – who incorporated a special ‘reveal’ for members featuring original Beatle, Pete Best – and Mersey Ferries put on a special Farewell Cruise for delegates on the final morning.

The Conference session, also held at the Maritime Museum, featured a keynote address by well-known travel journalist and broadcaster Simon Calder. He spent two days at the event meeting coach tour operators and suppliers to get an in-depth picture of what makes the industry tick. Simon’s conference presentation featured strong messages for government to recognise the environmental value of coach tourism. And he clearly enjoyed engaging with so many operators at the event, and reported being moved by the visit to Strawberry Field and hearing Julia Baird talking about the great work that they do with local young people.

The high profile conference also featured Tourism Ireland head of GB Julie Wakley who presented the new campaigns to boost UK visitors to the island of Ireland, and Visit Britain deputy CEO Patricia Yates gave an update on her organisation’s plans and invited members to provide good images of coach holidays for the VB image database. The presentations were followed by a lively panel discussion chaired by the Tourism Alliance’s Kurt Janson.

The final evening included a Liverpool Showcase which featured all the attractions and hotels in the city represented by members, and a gala dinner with table magic by Sonny Pennington and a performance by John Lennon tribute artist Jimmy Coburn. Some amazing prizes, including a Whisky masterclass donated by new CTA member Penderyn Distillery, were on offer in the raffle which raised a total of more than £1,700.

CTA chair Robert Shaw said: “We had a fantastic reception from the city of Liverpool for our first Conference after the challenges of the past two years. The city has so much to offer for coach groups with some world-class attractions and a fantastic cityscape. Our members really enjoyed getting together for the first time in two years, and I can’t think of a better place to have done that than in Liverpool.”

A feedback form will be circulated to delegates to see how we can make the event even better, and plans are already underway for the 2023 Conference.

There are also other CTA events to look forward to this year, kicking off with a Networking event and AGM in partnership with Visit Wales which will take place in Southern Wales on 21-23 May. Full details and booking links will be available shortly.

Photos: Stuart Render Tourism