Millions of visitors to the UK will be greeted on arrival by striking new artwork to encourage them to head to Coventry during their visit.
Destination Coventry, the city’s destination management organisation, has partnered with Birmingham Airport (BHX) to see artwork adorn the walls of the arrivals pier at the airport, depicting the heritage, history, culture and future of Coventry.
The airport serves 12.5 million customers each year and is the major gateway for international visitors to the region.
The wall artwork, which spans almost 22 metres, features imagery of popular visitor attractions and destinations including Coventry Cathedral, St Mary’s Guildhall, Coventry Building Society Arena, The Wave Waterpark, Warwick Conferences, Coventry Railway Station and the Friargate business district.
It also sees photographs of Lady Godiva, Sir Frank Whittle, who invented the turbojet engine, and Coventry’s revolutionary Very Light Rail transport project incorporated into the design to complete the picture.
Birmingham Airport now flies to 140 destinations and is back to around 85 per cent of its pre-Covid passenger levels – with targets to grow the airport to more than 18 million customers a year by 2033.
The airport has recently joined Destination Coventry as a Patron member – businesses that pledge to support the visitor economy in the city and efforts to raise the profile of Coventry to national and international audiences.
Councillor Jim O’Boyle, Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change, said: “It’s brilliant that people arriving at the airport from all over the globe will be greeted by these stunning images of our very impressive city.
“We have a lot to offer visitors and investors, and as the saying goes: a picture paints a thousand words – and these pictures are unmissable.
“I feel sure that they will prompt people to think about Coventry as a tourism destination or for investment, in turn supporting jobs and the economic prosperity of our city.”
Nick Barton, chief executive of Birmingham Airport (BHX), said: “We are thrilled to unveil these striking images showcasing the unique business and leisure appeal of Coventry.
“These include cultural gems dating back ten centuries and the gleaming Friargate business district, boasting rents 70 percent cheaper than those in London.
“All this is just ten minutes by road or rail from BHX and less than an hour from London by train."
Paul Jones, Managing Director at Destination Coventry, added: “The new Coventry artwork at Birmingham Airport looks incredible and we hope it will encourage even more visitors to our region to stop off to see what we have to offer in Coventry as part of their visit to the Midlands.
“We thought it was important to reflect the past, present and future of our city – highlighting not only the fantastic array of visitor attractions we have, but also the role Coventry has played in industry and how it is continuing to lead the way in innovation.
“The artwork will be one of the very first things that people arriving into Birmingham Airport see, whether that is those travelling from long-haul destinations like Delhi, Dubai and Qatar, or destinations closer to home.
“One of Destination Coventry’s core objectives is to promote our great city to a wider audience, both internationally and nationally, and this brilliant new image wall is one way of doing that. This will help to support our already thriving business and leisure tourism markets.”
Destination Coventry is a collaboration between Coventry City Council and Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce. Coventry City Council has contributed to the installation of the arrivals pier graphics.