English Tourism Week: Putting Blackpool on the National Stage

Us Sandgown’uns know there’s more to Blackpool than the Promenade and many locals are frustrated by feeling that investment always goes to the tourist areas rather than a few streets back. It’s hard to disagree that parts of the town feel forgotten about and it’s my job as your MP to fight for those areas.

My priority will always be you, my constituents, but the reality is that tourism is vital to all of us in Blackpool. Our visitor economy supports 23,419 full-time jobs and brings £1.98 billion into our local economy every year. We account for 32% of Lancashire’s entire visitor economy.

And the sector is growing. So when we talk about tourism policy in Westminster, I’m talking about Blackpool residents’ jobs, businesses and the future of our town itself.

“Blackpool is finally beginning to get the attention and recognition it deserves.”

I’ve worked hard to make sure Blackpool’s voice is heard on the national stage for tourism. I have twice been elected Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Hospitality and Tourism. That role brings MPs, businesses and industry leaders together to push government to back the visitor economy. It also allows me to make the case for Blackpool. We are proof of the power of tourism to support jobs and keep businesses going even when previous government’s have neglected us.

Today marks the start of English Tourism Week and from Monday in Parliament I’ll be representing our town at every opportunity. As Chair of the APPG I will attend and host several events that bring the industry directly into Westminster including the Tourism Alliance and the Family Holiday Charity’s annual parliamentary reception.

Events like this put the voices of hospitality workers, hotel owners, attractions and charities in front of ministers and MPs and ensure that tourism stays on the political agenda.

I’m confident that Blackpool is finally beginning to get the attention and recognition it deserves. In February I welcomed Visit England to Blackpool. Alongside Kate Shane from Blackpool Tourism Ltd (below, right), and Visit Lancashire, we showed them what our town offers visitors.

In the famous Tower ballroom with Visit England

We visited some of Blackpool’s best tourism assets and filmed part of a new campaign for Visit England, in which I got to speak about my own memories of growing up by the seaside and why this town matters so much to millions of people across Britain.

That filming forms part of a £1 million national marketing campaign promoting England’s North West coast. The campaign highlights destinations across the coastline including Blackpool, Fleetwood, Morecambe and Southport, runnings across digital platforms, radio and travel websites, with new films, guides and online booking tools encouraging people to plan overnight trips.

Blackpool is already bucking a trend which has seen visitors to England’s coastal towns fall in recent years, with seaside breaks down 11% year on year. But while we are popular for day trips we struggle to keep our visitors overnight. More overnight visitors mean more bookings for hotels and B&Bs, more people eating in our restaurants and more families visiting our attractions. That would make a huge difference. If just 10% of the money British travellers spend abroad was spent on holidays here in the UK, it would deliver an £8 billion boost to our national economy every year.

Blackpool has always been Britain’s favourite seaside resort but our motto is ‘Progress’ and we won’t stand still.