CBS Arena welcomes 1.2 million visitors in 2024 across business, entertainment and sport events

More than one million people visited Coventry Building Society Arena last year driven by the venue's sustained growth in business events, live entertainment and sport.

The leading Midlands venue hit 1.2 million visitors for 2024, supported by its new live events proposition driving 50,000 new visitors to the venue.

CBS Live, which launched as part of the venue’s business growth strategy in 2024, saw the venue host live acts including Sean Paul and Bryan Adams, and welcome the world’s largest inflatable obstacle course The Monster, with the venue also hosting a string of smaller live entertainment shows in its auditorium.

The year also saw growth in sport, with attendances at Coventry City fixtures continuing to rise and a 14 per cent increase in the fans attending game and welcoming 20,228 fans to see England’s Lionesses play South Africa in October.

Conference, exhibitions and meetings provided the foundations for the venue’s strong year, with nearly £2.8 million of new business being brought into the venue.

This was driven by a 48 per cent increase in the number of large conferences held at the venue, with 83 taking place compared to 56 in 2023.

The venue hosted 573 exhibitions, large conferences, small meetings, awards events and gala dinners– with exhibitions also up 4 per cent.

Indicators are positive for the continued growth, with enquiry levels up 50 per cent on 2023, equivalent to £41.5 million, reflecting confidence in the Arena and its profile in the conference and exhibitions market.

The venue also enjoyed a strong Christmas period, with covers up 29 per cent on the previous year.

Coventry Building Society Arena’s success has been reflected in its flourishing on-site Doubletree by Hilton Hotel, which saw an increase in occupancy rates, average room rates and revenue per available room.

The hotel is set to build on this growth by completing a full hotel refurbishment in 2025.

The excellent calendar year for Coventry Building Society Arena has been underpinned by investment, new partnerships, an expanded ESG and sustainability strategy and an increase in marketing reach.

Through its regional partner programme, the venue has sealed partnerships with Purple Planet Packaging and No Ordinary Hospitality Management. Other sponsorship successes have included opening premium dining lounge, The Mahou Experience.

Its digital marketing has continued to evolve, bringing benefits to events being hosted at the venue, with a 38 per cent increase in social media reach and recording 33 million impressions.

Sustainability continues to be a major focus for the venue and as part of its carbon offsetting strategy it has planted 18,992 trees and removed 38,421 plastic bottles from the ocean.

Through energy-saving measures, the venue has saved 54 tonnes of Co2 which is equivalent to the energy required to power 12,362 homes on average energy consumption.

The year also saw the venue ramp up its work in 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.

Customer satisfaction remained steady with 4.4 out of 5 Google ranking, while the Arena’s operations team received national recognition at the Stadium Events & Hospitality Awards 2024.

Paul Michael, Managing Director at Coventry Building Society Arena, said: “This was an important year for our business as we aimed to maintain growth, but also 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.”