Counting the cost of Covid on Blackpool's tourism economy

Tourism chiefs have warned Blackpool’s visitor numbers in 2020 will be “substantially lower” than 2019 when visits exceeded 18 million and the sector was worth more than £1.6bn to the local economy.
Visitors flocked to Blackpool when restrictions were lifted, but visitor numbers are expected to be downVisitors flocked to Blackpool when restrictions were lifted, but visitor numbers are expected to be down
Visitors flocked to Blackpool when restrictions were lifted, but visitor numbers are expected to be down

The impact of the Covid 19 pandemic saw the council’s annual events calender wiped out, while venues such as the Winter Gardens also had to cancel their programmes.

The traditional Omnibus survey which measures visitor numbers has been suspended for 2020, meaning no figures are available.

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But one indicator – parking – shows revenue plummeted by more than a third (£1.1m) in council car parks between April and September this year.

The Winter Gardens had to cancel its events programmeThe Winter Gardens had to cancel its events programme
The Winter Gardens had to cancel its events programme

Use of car parks was also down by around half during the two weeks of October half-term, with around 32,000 less customers.

Figures from the annual STEAM survey, which carries out independent research for the tourism industry, will not be available until next year.

Its figures for 2019 showed Blackpool’s annual visitor numbers had remained in excess of 18 million, with the value of the visitor economy increasing to more than £1.6bn.

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The sector has taken a big hit in 2020, although there was an influx of visitors when restrictions were lifted during the summer holidays.

A report to the council’s tourism and economic development committee says: “Given that the tourism industry was closed between March 2020 and the beginning of July 2020, and then badly affected by restrictions during the all-important October 2020 half-term, it is inevitable that the visitor numbers for this year will be substantially lower than 2019

“This year’s events programme has been wiped out by pandemic restrictions with Pride, Armed Forces Week, Air Show, Ride The Lights, World Fireworks, Nickelodeon Slimefest and Lightpool Festival all cancelled.

“Other events that bring large numbers of visitors to resort such as conferences and events at the Winter Gardens, including the USDAW conference, GMB Congress, Rebellion Punk Festival, International Soul Festival and the World Dance Championships were also unable to take place.”

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The only highlight was a virtual concert to celebrate the Illuminations Switch-on which was streamed online and attracted viewers from more than 225,000 households around the world.

The report says at one point “the show was trending at number six in YouTube’s top 10 videos with people watching across the UK as well as in Australia, Brazil, Netherlands, France, Ireland, Cyprus and America.

“Given the success of the virtual event, it is being explored whether next year’s Switch-On could be a mixture of live event and streamed event that is accessible to a much bigger audience.”

It is hoped to reinstate a full events programme next year although this will depend on when large crowds are allowed to gather once more.

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Tourism leaders plan to launch a marketing campaign for Blackpool earlier than usual in 2021 so the resort is “in a strong position to capture people’s attention when they are actively starting to think again about holiday plans.”

The report, which will be considered by the committee when it meets on Zoom next Wednesday, adds “there is already a strong product in place for 2021 with a number of high-profile shows booked at The Winter Gardens from March onwards, the opening of the conference and exhibition centre and two new hotels (Sands Venue Resort and Premier Inn North Pier).”

Blackpool Pleasure Beach and the Empress Ballroom will also both celebrate 125-year anniversaries.

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