The Birmingham 2022 Business and Tourism Programme successfully leveraged the economic opportunity of the Commonwealth Games to elevate the region’s profile on the international stage.

The Programme delivered over 2,000 jobs, landed 55 international investment projects, and generated over 600 leads to continue building on the Games’ legacy.
 

The Business and Tourism Programme (BATP) was developed to leverage the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games to embed positive perceptions of the West Midlands into the international imagination. It leveraged the significant opportunities of the Games to drive long-term economic benefits across the region and nation, while fostering civic pride.

The BATP is the first accredited Commonwealth Games programme of its kind and was delivered by the West Midlands Growth Company on behalf of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), alongside the Department for International Trade (DIT) and Visit Britain. The programme partnership worked closely with the Organising Committee (OC) for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, Birmingham City Council, the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) and others as a key component of the broader Commonwealth Games programme.

The Business and Tourism Programme was built around a set of objectives and targeted at the international markets with the most significant economic potential for the West Midlands and the UK.

In addition to the Commonwealth nations and domestic UK markets, there was a particular focus on audiences in India, Canada, Australia, Singapore, and Malaysia.

The objectives were:

• Legacy: To turbocharge the region’s investment and tourism landscape, creating a meaningful, transformational economic legacy, rooted in employment creation, far beyond the Games.
• Leisure tourism: To attract more international visitors from the BATP’s target markets and more domestic visitors, in turn boosting the expenditure and jobs supported by the visitor economy.
• MICE and sporting events: To boost the UK’s and the region’s profile as a key international conference and event destination, attracting a range of additional major events.
• Inward Investment and Capital Attraction: To attract more inward and capital investment from Commonwealth sources to the UK and the West Midlands.
• Trade: To build capacity and capability among businesses to export to the Commonwealth, particularly the BATP’s target markets.
• Profile and reputation: To put the West Midlands on the global map, positively shifting perceptions towards the region nationally and overseas, invigorating local pride.

The BATP will operate until late 2023, but the benefits of the Programme are expected to last long-term, until 2027 and beyond.

The £24m programme worked to create a long-term legacy by boosting perceptions of Birmingham, the West Midlands and the UK as world-class destinations for trade, investment, and tourism. It targeted domestic and overseas visitors, investors, businesses, and event organisers during a three-year campaign of promotional activity. This strengthened relationships with important overseas markets at a national and local level.

The BATP focussed on nations and territories across the Commonwealth. Its trade and investment activities were closely aligned with the West Midlands’ and UK’s priorities for growth in sectors including future mobility, data-driven healthcare, creative technologies, modern business services, the sports economy, e-commerce, and tourism.

12 months after the Commonwealth Games took the nation by storm, we caught up with some of the people who were at the heart of the events, including Councillor Sharon Thompson and Deborah Cadman of Birmingham City Council, Tim Davie of the BBC, and Andy Street, Mayow of the West Midlands.

During the Commonwealth Games, the BATP succeeded at bringing new overseas investments into the UK and vitalising the economy. The efforts of the BATP saw:

• 55 investment projects land in the UK
• 2,258 jobs created
• Over 600 new leads generated during the Commonwealth Games
• 7 sponsors secured
• 19 MICE/Sporting events landed*

The international sentiment regarding the West Midlands region was improved as a direct result of the work done through the Business and Tourism Programme.

Surveys carried out across audiences before, during and after the Commonwealth Games charted the international audience’s sentiment towards the West Midlands.

• 66% of travellers from India recognised the BATP campaign
• 32% of all Leisure travellers claimed to see BATP communications and the majority say it succeeded in improving awareness, sentiment and consideration of the West Midlands
  • 86% agreed that the campaigns improved their awareness of what the West Midlands has to offer
  • 85% agreed that the campaigns made them feel more positive about the West Midlands
  • 83% agreed that the campaigns made them more likely to consider visiting the West Midlands

Participants in the survey were asked “How positive or negative do you feel about the following places in the West Midlands as a tourist destination?” and it became clear that the BATP communications and campaign have had a significantly positive impact.

Consideration of the West Midlands as a location to visit for leisure travellers is significantly higher among those exposed to the BATP campaign than those who weren’t.

Those surveyed were asked “How likely or unlikely are you to visit the following places in the next three years?”