More than a million gig and festival going tourists boosted the North West economy to the tune of £168 million last year.

The report, compiled by UK Music and VisitBritain, showed that £1.3 billion was pumped into the UK economy through ticket sales, hospitality, public transport and other sectors.

More than a third of the average live music crowd in Manchester last year was made up of domestic or international tourists.

While 35% were visitors from elsewhere in the UK, nearly 2% were from abroad.

Sandra Waterhouse, 23, is from Brisbane, Austrailia, studying in Glasgow, and currently visiting Manchester. She said: “There are so many gigs and big club nights in Manchester I could probably go to something different every night if I had the money…”

From mancunianmatters (7th November, 2013). To read the full story go to North West economy given huge boost by music tourism.