Hosting next year’s Eurovision Song Contest could boost Liverpool’s economy by between £15-£30 million, according to the city council.

It was announced on 12 August that Liverpool – along with Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield – had made the shortlist as a potential host city for next year’s flagship event.

The BBC and the European Broadcast Union (EBU) confirmed Liverpool had met the essential criteria regarding the suitability of the venue, transport links and past experience of hosting major events.

A motion set to be tabled at next Wednesday’s city council meeting (21 September) states that “conservative projections” for the impact of hosting Eurovision 2023 on Liverpool suggest a “direct economic impact of between £15-£30m for the local economy, an equivalent publicity value in the region of £100m and a multi-year impact on tourism numbers of anywhere from 5 – 15%”.

The motion adds that whilst the council “feels strongly that Liverpool is the perfect fit for Eurovision, it believes wholeheartedly that the event should be taking place in Ukraine” – therefore a central part of the bid is the city’s “strong links” with Ukraine and its “desire for social justice”.

The local authority says it has support from Mayor Trukhanov of Liverpool’s twin city, Odesa, and believes Liverpool can give Odesa a platform “like no other” – celebrating Ukrainian identity and culture here in Liverpool.

Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra won the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin with the song “Stefania”. Traditionally, the winning country hosts the following year’s contest, however, due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, the EBU has determined that Ukraine will not host the 2023 contest.

A final decision from the BBC and EBU on which UK city will host Eurovision 2023 is expected later this month or in early October.

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