Pubs and hotels report 100% occupancy during ‘Other Voices’

Other Voices Executive Producer Philip King said: “Other Voices received a great warm welcome from the people of Derry the question I have been asked most over the last 24 hours by musicians, fans, concert goers our crew of almost 100 and by the business community of the city is, ‘please, can we do this all over again?’

“The economic value to the city is very significant with 100 per cent occupancy rates in the usually very slow month of February. The city was made visible to the world over the weekend on many platforms.

“There is a message going out to the world that this is indeed a considerable place and a place worth considering. As for doing it again well it’s sort of a no brainer really...”

Culture Company 2013 Chief Executive Shona McCarthy said: “It was such a thrill to see the city centre thriving with the pubs and clubs packed with music lovers all out having a wonderful time.

“City of Culture is about providing amazing entertainment, but there is a wider economic benefit which stems from that and I think that is now evident to anyone who was out and about in Derry~Londonderry city centre over the past few days.”

Odhran Dunne, Interim Chief Executive of the Derry Visitor and Convention Bureau, said: “Even though Other Voices is all about an intimate venue, the weekend did have strong hotel occupancy for Friday and in particular Sunday night.

“Other Voices was a fantastic opportunity to increase the profile of the city in the music scene across the island and in Great Britain. “It provided a unique platform for the city to showcase a mix of local, national and international artists and will undoubtedly resonate with some of the artists’ strong global fanbases and hopefully it will generate a legacy beyond 2013.”