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Voyage Edge deskVoyage Edge · Huang GoodmanSource: The Drum ↗
In plain words
Manchester's BID appointed local shop Dinosaur for destination work, testing whether pooled private levies can replace collapsed council tourism budgets.
1,500
city-centre businesses
2020
Local authority budgets for tourism promotion fell an average
38%
between 2019 and 2023
2025
likely timed to the summer travel booking window
Manchester's Cityco appointed Dinosaur Creative to handle destination marketing for the city following a competitive pitch. The contract value remains undisclosed. The Manchester-based agency will work with the not-for-profit organisation to reposition the city as a leisure and business travel destination.
Cityco operates as the business improvement district vehicle for Manchester's commercial core, funded by levies on 1,500 city-centre businesses. The organisation manages public realm improvements, events programming, and now destination marketing—functions typically reserved for municipal tourism boards in other UK cities. Dinosaur's appointment marks Cityco's first external creative hire for destination work at this scale.
The move matters because regional destination marketing in the UK has fractured since 2020. Local authority budgets for tourism promotion fell an average 38% between 2019 and 2023, according to VisitBritain data. Business improvement districts stepped into the gap, but most lack the commercial muscle to run sustained campaigns. Manchester's model—pooling private-sector levies through Cityco—creates a recurring budget independent of council cuts. If Dinosaur's work drives measurable visitor spend, expect Birmingham, Leeds, and Glasgow to replicate the structure.
The competitive pitch process suggests Cityco ran a proper brief, not a roster selection. Dinosaur competed against undisclosed agencies, meaning London shops likely participated. The local winner signals two things: Manchester's creative infrastructure now competes at national pitch level, and clients value proximity for destination work that requires street-level insight. Heritage hospitality groups with UK expansion plans should note that regional agencies with demonstrable local knowledge are taking share from London consultancies on place-branding mandates.
Watch for campaign launch in Q2 2025, likely timed to the summer travel booking window. Cityco will need to report visitor metrics to its 1,500 levy-paying members by year-end, creating pressure for fast creative turnaround. If the campaign drives 10% year-on-year growth in overnight visitors—the threshold most BIDs use to justify marketing spend—expect Cityco to expand the brief into international markets by 2026. Dinosaur's contract likely includes performance clauses tied to those numbers.
The appointment arrives as Manchester's hotel pipeline reaches a decade high, with 2,400 rooms opening between now and 2026. Those operators need heads in beds.
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