Facts & Figures

Fascinating facts

Manchester’s celebrated Midland Hotel was said to be Adolf Hitler’s choice for his British HQ if Germany had won World War II!
Charles Rolls met Frederick Royce for the first time at The Midland Hotel in 1904. They set up their legendary luxury car company 2 years later
In the last year, clean-living guests at the Hilton Hotel have got through 43,000 bars of soap
Manchester Central, at the heart of the city, was once a major railway station
Manchester’s many ‘firsts’ include the first commercial computer, the first splitting of the atom, the first working canal, the first intercity railway, the first free lending library, the first full Marks and Spencer store and the first test tube baby
Manchester has always been a hotbed for social change – it was the birthplace of the industrial revolution, the suffragette movement, and vegetarianism

…amazing figures

Manchester Central offers exhibition space of up to 12250 square metres, with around 2000 parking spaces in and around the venue
The Manchester Evening News Arena is Europe’s largest indoor concert venue, and sells more tickets than any other venue in the world
There are over 5,500 hotel rooms in the city centre, with over 19,000 across Greater Manchester
Manchester city centre offers over 15,000 secure car parking spaces
Greater Manchester’s theatres and cultural venues have 43,593 seats, and there are 348,636 seats in professional sports stadia
There are around 500 licensed premises in central Manchester, and every day, a total of more than 500,000 meals are eaten at more than 5,000 venues across the city
Manchester attracts 94 million visitors a year - including 824,000 overseas visitors - who spend an estimated total of £3.92 billion
Manchester is the UK’s most popular tourist destination after London and Edinburgh
Within Greater Manchester there are 170 tourist attractions including 61 galleries and museums, 34 historic houses, country parks, moors, plains, hills and eight theme parks

Greater Manchester’s major tourist attractions