Heritage tourism is big business and the number of visitors to Liverpool has increased since it was made a World Heritage Site in 2004.

Between 2005 and 2010, the number of day visitors rose from 44,193 to 50,088. These figures suggest that World Heritage Site status has stimulated tourism and benefited the local economy

UNESCO has threatened to deprive Liverpool of its World Heritage Site status if the controversial Liverpool Waters development goes ahead.

The city council has called UNESCO’s bluff and approved the scheme.

Liverpool’s mayor, Joe Anderson, is reported as saying people visit the city because of its iconic pop history, its sporting heritage and its buildings, not because it is a World Heritage Site.

A lot of people whose livelihoods depend on Merseyside’s tourist industry hope he’s right.

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UNESCO is getting ready to deprive Liverpool of its World Heritage Site status after the city council told Peel Holdings to go ahead with Liverpool Waters, a  £5.5bn skyscraper scheme that will dominate the waterfront.

The impact of  the development on Liverpool’s World Heritage Site status will be discussed by UNESCO when it holds it annual meeting in St. Petersburg next week.

UNESCO inspectors who visited Liverpool said the scheme would damage the World Heritage Site beyond repair. The city is likely to be deprived of World Heritage Site status if the project goes ahead.