Warm weather boosts Blackpool tourism

A sunnier than usual start to the year has seen Blackpool benefit from increased visitor numbers and overnight stays.

The seaside resort recorded 1.8m visitors between January and April, up 400,000 over the same period in 2018. The number of overnight stays over the four months almost doubled – from 550,000 in 2018 to just over a million in 2019.

The bulk of the growth was seen in February half-term and in April, when exceptional weather gave the resort one of its busiest Easter weekends on record. All of the main visitor attractions showed significant growth in April, with one reporting its highest ever visitor numbers for the period.

The figures were revealed by the Omnibus household survey, which found that the primary reasons for visiting the resort were the Pleasure Beach, the range of family-friendly attractions and the coastal location.

Cllr Gillian Campbell, deputy leader of Blackpool Council, said: “It is good to see our tourism industry going into a new season on the back of some outstanding growth in visitor numbers.

“The later Easter and the exceptional weather over both Bank Holidays clearly gave a big boost, but it is encouraging that when the sun comes out Blackpool is so often the destination of choice.

“It is also great to see such positive growth in the number of overnight stays, particularly when there is so much investment being made in the accommodation sector.”

This year, the resort will again be investing heavily in marketing and events with a huge programme of entertainment throughout the year including the opening of the new four-star Boulevard Hotel at Pleasure Beach, the inaugural British Country Music Festival, and a year-long programme of events to celebrate the 125th birthday of Blackpool Tower and the Grand Theatre.