We meet Marketing Manchester’s Rebecca Abrahams and find out how she’s putting the city on the map and enticing visitors from around the world.
Hi Becky! Tell us about your role at Marketing Manchester!
We’re the official promotional agency for Greater Manchester and our job is to promote the city as a place to visit, study, live, work, and meet. I largely focus on the visitor economy, encouraging people to come to Greater Manchester as a destination for city breaks and longer stays. Within our team, we have people working on the UK and Ireland markets. I focus on long-haul destinations such as the US, China, and India. In Europe, we’re active in Spain, Italy, Germany, and Ireland. We work closely with Manchester Airport as one of our key stakeholders.
So how did the role come about?
I grew up in north Leeds before studying Tourism Management at Manchester Metropolitan University, I loved the city and stayed, landing the role with Marketing Manchester six years ago as a marketing assistant. I’ve progressed through the organisation, to the position of marketing manager, which I’ve been doing for two years. I handle project management, consumer campaigns, and work with travel agents and tour operators from around the world. I get to travel to those markets and speak to them directly, which is quite exciting.
That must be the best perk of the job!
It’s a massive benefit of course, and I love working in travel which I’m passionate about. I just got back from Spain last week from a VisitBritain roadshow. We work very closely with VisitBritain because they’re promoting Britain overall, and as part of that, we talk about Greater Manchester.
How important is fostering local relationships with key city stakeholders?
We have a close relationship with Manchester City Council and work with MIDAS on the investment side, bringing medium-sized businesses and foreign investment to the city-region. We help promote major events – the family-friendly ones and large-scale events like Halloween in the City, the Christmas Markets, Chinese New Year, Manchester Flower Festival, and Manchester International Festival. These events attract both domestic and international visitors. We also have strong relationships with all our partners – accommodation providers, attractions, experiences, and venues throughout the city-region work with us on a partnership basis.
2025 must have been a busy year with Oasis reuniting?
Absolutely! Last year was really exciting. We did a lot on social media around the Oasis gigs, and the city was buzzing. We’ve been promoting Manchester’s music heritage more broadly – we had the MTV EMAs last year, and the Manchester International Festival took place in the summer, too. The opening of the Co-op Live arena in 2024 has brought in world-class gigs as well. With the announcements of the MOBO and BRIT Awards at the beginning of the year, it really helps push Manchester as a music city.
What exciting developments in the city will you be promoting in the year ahead?
Manchester City Football Club is a big story – they’re expanding their stadium and improving their tour. The stadium tour is already very immersive, but they’re adding a VR experience and a rooftop walk. They’re building a 401-bed hotel, creating a fan zone area, a new club shop, and a museum. That whole area is transforming into more of a destination experience rather than just going to a match.
The AO Arena has also had a refurbishment, increasing capacity from 21,000 to 23,000, with new bars and a new VIP suite. We’re always getting exciting new hotels – Treehouse Hotel opened last year, and Mollie’s Motel, which is part of Soho House opened recently on the site of the former Granada TV Studios.
There seems to be lots happening around Trafford Park and other areas?
We had a company-wide meeting where the people who look after the whole Trafford Park area shared their plans about how that district is developing. Therme, the UK’s first wellbeing resort, has broken ground now and started building, so we’ll be promoting it. We’ve been talking about it for years, so it’s exciting that construction has finally begun. I can’t wait for it! Manchester is definitely in a growth phase, and it’s really exciting to be part of it. We’re working closely with all the boroughs and supporting accommodation providers, experiences, attractions, and other partners to help enhance what they’re doing.
In terms of promoting Manchester internationally, you certainly don’t have a shortage of selling points!
I know! There are so many different themes we can talk about. Sport is always key – everyone already knows about that. But there’s also our heritage – we were the heart of the Industrial Revolution. Our music heritage is incredible. The food and drink scene is really thriving. And the culture – the museums and galleries we have to offer, many of them are free, which is a great selling point. The accessibility and connectivity across the city-region is fantastic with the tram network. People really appreciate that – you can get around and see a lot of the city-region quite quickly.
