Bumper Month For Sunderland Tourism

1 June 2013, 05:59 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

More than 15,000 people are expected to visit Sunderland during June - as the Stadium of Light plays host to huge stars.

June sees global superstar Rihanna (June 20th) and pop extravaganza North East Live, featuring JLS, Rita Ora, The Wanted and a host of other stars (June 22nd) come to the Stadium of Light.

Many hotels across Sunderland are booked full to capacity and the city's businesses could be set to share a windfall in excess of £10m from the extra visitors to the city.

Each concert is worth approximately £3.5m to Sunderland.

Leader of Sunderland City Council, Councillor Paul Watson, said:
"Sunderland has hosted some fantastic concerts at the Stadium of Light in recent years, and this year is no exception.

I am sure the impressive line up of international stars and home grown talent will continue that success this year. People from all over the country will be visiting Sunderland and it's a huge opportunity to showcase what the city has to offer.

Hotels, taxi companies, bars and restaurants are the obvious winners for major events like this, but every business can treat this as a unique opportunity to sell itself and benefit from the influx of visitors.

Day visitors spend an average of £25 during their stay in Sunderland, with overnight visitors spending £125.

The council, its partners and businesses across the city need to make sure they enjoy that visit and leave the city knowing that they want to return to it."

Gary Hutchinson, Commercial Director at Sunderland Football Club said:
"We are proud of the stadium's growing reputation for delivering world class concerts, but even more proud of the impact this has had on the city as a whole.

Sunderland is now firmly established as a leading destination on the music circuit and it?s great that businesses across the city can benefit from that.

However, the concerts market is extremely competitive and we must therefore ensure our partnership approach to delivering these events continue to grow and develop."