CBS Arena saw 'record growth' as over 1 million people visited in 2024
Over one million people visited Coventry Building Society Arena in 2024, driven by the venue's growth in live entertainment, business events, and sports. The city venue reached 1.2 million visitors in 2024, bringing 50,000 new visitors to the venue.
The venue hosted live acts, including Grammy Award winners Sean Paul and Bryan Adams. It welcomed the world's largest inflatable obstacle course, The Monster, and saw a growth in the sport with Coventry City fixtures, with a 14% increase in fans attending and 20,228 fans welcoming England's Lionesses to play South Africa in October.
Conferences, exhibitions, and meetings provided the venue's foundation, with nearly £2.8 million of new businesses brought into it. This was driven by a 48% increase in large conferences, with 83 taking place, compared to 56 in 2023.
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The venue also hosted 573 exhibitions, large conferences, small meetings, gala dinners, and awards events and also enjoyed a strong Christmas period, which covered up 29% of the previous year. The arena's success has also been reflected in its on-site Doubletree by Hilton Hotel, which is set to build on its growth by completing a full hotel refurbishment in 2025.
The year also saw CBS Arena increase its work within the local community, including hosting 55 community tours for 1,429 people. The Arena also hosted five school visits and supported seven local charities in the calendar year, including hosting One Day at Christmas for 200 guests in December.
Managing Director at CBS Arena, Paul Michael, said: "This was an important year for our business as we aimed to maintain growth, diversify our proposition, and introduce new strategic priorities. We’re excited about the future of our live events business, and CBS Live has enjoyed a strong start, but now our goal is to bring more major events to the venue, which will, in turn, have a positive impact on the wider visitor economy in Coventry.
"Our team has worked tirelessly to build customer confidence in the business over the last three years and that work is bearing fruit, reflected by the impressive growth in our conference and exhibition business."
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