Our visitor engine has been stalled

The tourist and visitor economy is under pressure, and that is bad news for Lancashire.

The county needs its hospitality sector firing on all cylinders because the numbers really matter.

Last year the county’s visitor economy generated around £5.4bn in economic value and supported more than 57,000 full-time equivalent jobs. That’s not a side hustle.

That’s a pillar of the regional economy.

From Preston to Blackpool, through every market town and coastal community, hospitality is infrastructure.

Pubs, hotels, restaurants and venues drive footfall, sustain supply chains and create first-job opportunities for thousands of young people.

Take Blackpool alone: nearly £2bn in annual economic impact and more than 23,000 jobs supported by tourism and hospitality.

When businesses struggle there, the shockwaves travel across Lancashire.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth: operators are being squeezed by policy as much as by market forces.

Rising wage costs, sky-high energy bills, business rates that feel detached from commercial reality, and a tax burden that treats hospitality like a cash cow rather than a growth engine. All of it adds up.

If central government is serious about levelling up and regional growth, it needs to change direction.

That means meaningful business rates reform, a more competitive VAT regime for hospitality, and a regulatory environment that backs enterprise instead of boxing it in.

The knock-on effect of inaction is obvious: closures, lost jobs, declining high streets and fewer reasons for investors to back Lancashire.

If we want vibrant town centres and a confident visitor economy, we need national policy that matches local ambition.

Otherwise, the £5.4bn question becomes: how much are we prepared to lose?