The West Midlands has recorded record visitor numbers and spending. But much of that growth centres on Birmingham’s core. We ask whether the city’s creative sector — the very thing drawing those visitors — is being supported or sidelined.
00:01New figures show a strong ear for the visitor economy.
00:04Birmingham, Coventry and the Black Country all drew crowds through major events, sport and live entertainment.
00:11Yet while the numbers look healthy, the picture on the ground can be more mixed.
00:15Some operators describe tight budgets, high costs and unstable funding streams.
00:20Growth is clear, but the benefits aren't always evenly spread.
00:25There are parts of our regional infrastructure that are desperately in need of financial intervention and policy change.
00:35And certainly the numbers highlight that there's a demand for that.
00:41So we hope that the figures will demonstrate to our political leaders and those in charge of policy making that this is a growth area.
00:57It's an area that needs a lot of care and attention.
01:00Much of the spending still concentrates in the city centre.
01:04That's where most of the events, hotels and transport links are based.
01:08But it raises questions about balance.
01:10Many creative spices outside Birmingham in Warsaw, Dudley or Wolverhampton say they struggle to attract the same visibility or long term support.
01:19Birmingham's position at the heart of the country is really well established.
01:24We're a transport hub for international and national visitors and certainly all of the towns and cities that are our neighbouring conurbations benefit from that position.
01:37But like a lot of metropolitan areas across the UK, cities tend to swallow up a lot of resource and funding and policy making.
01:46So I think it's certainly important for local authority leaders in the Westmillaners to work together and find better solutions and strategies that serve our businesses and residents across the board.
02:04The wider issue is how culture fits into panning and policy.
02:08For years the creative industries have been credited with driving regeneration and drawing visitors.
02:14Yet they often operate on short funding cycles and fragile margins.
02:18The conversation now is about whether culture should be seen as a vital part of local infrastructure.
02:24Something planned and protected, not left to chance.
02:27We feel it's the job of the West Midlands Combined Authority and Mayor of the West Midlands to bring together people from all of those communities in order to present a united approach to growing our economy.
02:44And that does mean looking at it in very bold, brutal terms as an infrastructure, which might also determine where funding and policies actually serve, which appears to be how it is at the moment.
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