Blackpool's business tourism offer is put in the shop window

A team from Blackpool’s visitor economy is at the UK’s biggest conference expo to promote the resort’s business tourism credentials.

VisitBlackpool has joined forces with the resort’s Winter Gardens complex and a range of hotel partners to exhibit at the International Confex to be staged at London’s Excel Arena.

The resort’s message to the exhibition, which attracts thousands of visitors, is aimed at showcasing the £500m transformation of the resort and its conference facilities.

The main attraction is the new £28m conference centre under construction next to the historic Winter Gardens, increasing capacity to almost 8,000 delegates when it opens for business early next year.

Also on show are the resort’s new “next generation” hotels at three, four and five star, which are either open or under construction.

And delegates will be told about how the completion of electrification of the Blackpool to Preston line opens up the resort to direct daily services with major cities including London, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool.

The hundreds of millions of pounds worth of investment in resort infrastructure including a remodelled seafront, new European-style trams and the development of the biggest range of branded visitor attractions outside London will also be in the spotlight.

Partners at International Confex include representatives from two of the resort’s new hotels, The Boulevard and Hampton By Hilton, as well as existing hotels including The Imperial, Best Western Carlton, Royal Hotels Group and The Grand.

Mandy Tythe-McCallum, business tourism manager, for VisitBlackpool, said: “Blackpool has a long-established reputation as a conference destination, but we need to tell the world that we are not trading on nostalgia.

“At the heart of our offer is the brand-new conference and exhibition centre that has been specifically designed to accommodate modern conferences and other large events.”