The future's bright for Merseyside

The proposed "Fourth Grace" is seen as a sign of the city's growth

Merseyside's tourism industry can look forward to a decade of boom, a new report claims.

The Mersey Partnership was due to unveil its strategy for tourism at a conference to be held in Liverpool on Tuesday.

It claims that by 2015 more than 40,000 local jobs will be supported by the tourism industry and it will be worth £1.8bn.

The group sees Liverpool in 2015 as a major retail centre and among the top 20 European destinations for travellers.

Much of this will be down to the impact of the city winning the Capital of Culture title for 2008.

But the partnership identifies seven other key factors which is helping to boost Merseyside's popularity with visitors to the UK.

These factors include the legacy of The Beatles, sport and the area's cultural heritage.

The vision was due to be launched in front of 100 business and tourism leaders from across Merseyside.

The Mersey Partnership represents an alliance of more than 350 companies from across Merseyside.