How much does tourism contribute to Blackpool's economy?

Blackpool received more than 20 million visitors in 2022, up 1.5 million on the previous year and 12 per cent higher than the pre-pandemic year of 2019. This values the resort’s tourism economy at more than £1.7bn compared to £1.4bn in 2021, supporting in excess of 22,000 jobs. The gains made in Blackpool during 2022 were fuelled by the return of large-scale events such as the Air Show Weekend, another two-month extension of the autumn Illuminations season and an expansion of the successful Christmas By The Sea village. There was also a £1m investment in a multi-media marketing campaign featuring a new TV ad starring “resort ambassador”, Nigel C Gull, a lovable seagull puppet voiced by actor and comedian Johnny Vegas. The number of people visiting and staying in Lancashire rose significantly in 2022, with the economic impact increasing by more than £1.2bn. The latest Scarborough Tourism Economic Activity Monitor (STEAM) shows that visitor numbers for the county as a whole grew from 51.5m in 2021 to 64.8m in 2022 and the economic impact generated in 2022 increased to £4.8bn from £3.5bn in 2021. This puts the numbers at almost 95 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

Blackpool is dominated by the tourist industry. The vast majority of activity within the service sector is tourism related, 31.4% of economically active people in 2006 worked in the distribution, hotels and restaurant sector. The town caters for more visitors than any other UK resort. There are nearly 91,000 bed spaces with the majority in small guesthouses. Many of the visitors to Blackpool have limited disposable income and the jobs generated are typified by low pay and short term contracts. The service sector is 87% of Blackpool’s economic sectors. Manufacturing is 10% and Construction & Other is 3%.

Blackpool is the most popular tourist destination in the UK with 18 million visitors generating £1.5b. Yet the number of overnight stays and average spend has been falling against a backdrop of enhanced competition, a tourism offer in need of refreshing and the core challenges of identifying a sustainable model for funding the illuminations and other events and the quality and maintenance of the public space in the town centre. £1m investment in Blackpool’s tourist economy. £1m of investment in Blackpool’s tourist economy over five years. Blackpool continues to retain a unique place in the nation’s imagination, and as one of the most densely developed boroughs in Britain with 140,000 residents, Blackpool’s past and present are inextricably linked with the tourist industry. Blackpool continues to retain a unique place in the nation’s imagination, its past and present inextricably linked with the tourist industry.

Coach travel is essential in providing tourists access to Blackpool, and it is estimated that at least 90 coaches can enter Blackpool on a typical day, capable of delivering 4,500 tourists spending £200,000 on average per day in the local economy. This new research shows that towns or destinations that can welcome one extra coach every day could bring up to £1m a year into their local economy. The research reveals that across Britain coaches facilitate 450 million journeys each year and coach passengers spend £8.3bn every year in local economies. Thousands of tourists arrive daily in Blackpool by coach – boosting the resort’s tourism economy by hundreds of thousands of pounds each day, new research has shown.