Merseyside has 100's of destinations worldwide, for the 1st time in 70 years

LIVERPOOL John Lennon Airport this week played host to guests and passengers celebrating the start of the new KLM service to Amsterdam Schiphol which now links Liverpool with hundreds of destinations across the world, for the first time in almost 70 years. The Dutch Airline KLM is to start daily flights between Liverpool John Lennon Airport and Amsterdam's Schiphol airport and the regions top attraction, Beatles Story is working closely with them to encourage tourism to Liverpool and other areas on Merseyside.

Liverpool's new 'KLM Cityhopper' will operate the new scheduled service three times daily, using Fokker 70 jet aircraft carrying up to 80 passengers. This will open up the region to over 100 worldwide destinations on KLM's own intercontinental network and with over 650 destinations across KLM's Skyteam partner networks.

Neil Pakey, Deputy CEO of Peel Airports said:- “Passengers can now travel between Liverpool John Lennon Airport and hundreds of worldwide destinations for the first time in many many years. Bookings have already been made to or from cities across all five continents and this important new route will be a tremendous asset for the city region improving its competitiveness going forward. Everyone at the Airport is tremendously excited by the prospect of being able to welcome travellers from across the world to this great City.”

For local business, this is good news and the Beatles Story are leading the way among the region’s tourism attractions in working with KLM. The first fruits of this partnership will be seen with the opening of a new KLM sponsored photographic exhibition to be staged in Tel Aviv, Israel, throughout April.

The exhibition called ‘Imagine Liverpool’ will display rare photographs of The Beatles taken in India in 1968 along with images of Liverpool Football Club from the archives of local newspapers.

Visitors to the exhibition will sign up for a special ‘Imagine Liverpool’ card granting discounts and offers in restaurants, hotels and bars throughout Liverpool. This initiative along with the increased awareness of KLM’s new Liverpool route will encourage tourists to visit Liverpool and promote the City’s emergence as a premier European city destination.

The Beatles Story already leads the way in providing a quality experience for overseas guests. The ‘Living History’ audio guide, narrated by John Lennon’s sister Julia Baird, offers English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Polish, Russian and Japanese audio guide translations. A Chinese version will be launched in late 2009.

Christine Ourmières, General Manager, Air France KLM, UK and Ireland commented that:- "KLM is delighted with the level of support received from the Liverpool region. It's an exciting new territory and a positive addition to our extensive UK network. Forward bookings on the route are growing strongly and we expect this to increase further as KLM becomes established within the area."

Jerry Goldman, Managing Director of the Beatles Story said:- “The new KLM route opens Liverpool up to the world. I sincerely hope that the City will take full advantage of this golden opportunity to increase tourism to the region. Using Liverpool’s priceless attack brands – Liverpool Football Club and the Beatles – together with KLM’s partnership is certain to produce significant results.”

Neil Scales, Chief Executive of Merseytravel said:- “We already welcome large numbers of overseas tourists to local attractions like the Mersey Ferries and the new U-boat Story. We hope to develop this further with the Beatles Story’s development at Pier Head and we look forward to KLM’s new services bringing more global interest in our region’s attractions.”

Are you a Merseyside Business Hero?

THIS week Barclays Bank launches a unique search for men and women who are turning their lives around by choosing to start up a business.

The Government backed Barclays Trading Places Awards recognise business heroes who are no strangers to overcoming adversity, whether it’s dealing with illness or disability, facing challenging family responsibilities head-on, or turning their back on benefits.

The awards are open to everyone who has been trading for a minimum of three months and a maximum of three years, with an
annual turnover of less than £1 million and a story to tell.

Barclays Marketing Director for Local Business, John Davis, said:- “Trading Places is a celebration of inspiring people who have struggled through adversity to get their businesses up and running – and that's even more relevant in today’s turbulent times.

We know it’s tough out there at the moment, but we want to tell entrepreneurs they don’t have to make the journey alone. We are committed to doing everything we can to help, and the fact is we’re supporting more businesses, and with greater lending commitments, than ever before."

This year’s national finalists will be competing in three new categories – Triumph over Disability, Success after Unemployment and the Spirit of Inspiration Award – before hoping to be named the 2009 Barclays Trading Places Winner.

Each category winner will also walk away with £5,000 for their business, courtesy of Barclays, and all national finalists will receive £2,000 worth of computer software from awards supporter Microsoft.

Another new addition for 2009 will see the awards partners coming together to offer everyone who enters a range of business
support and mentoring packages.

Helping to launch Trading Places this week Lord Mandelson, Secretary of State for Business, said:- “An enterprising culture can create jobs and transform communities; all of which is vital during these uncertain economic times.

Through initiatives such as Barclays Trading Places Awards we can honour the next wave of entrepreneurs who have overcome personal barriers, driven change and made their ideas a reality.”

Other award partners are Jobcentre Plus, The Prince’s Trust, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), the NFEA and Leonard Cheshire.

Entries for the Barclays Trading Places Awards, now in their fifth year, must be in by 22 May 2009.

Nomination leaflets are available by calling them on:- 0800 085 3203 or visiting:- barclays.co.uk/tradingplaces.

The European Market To Come To Ormskirk

THE European Market will be held in Ormskirk Town Centre on 7 May 2009 to 9 May 2009. The traders will come from France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Poland, Holland and Turkey to sell authentic food and non food produce, wearing traditional costumes.

For more information go to:- traditionalmarket.co.uk.