VIDEO: Desperate Blackpool hoteliers who 'lost thousands' due to Covid-19-related cancellations protest lack of Government help
Small hotel owners who for years have provided the foundations of Blackpool's tourism industry took to the street in protest today.
Hotel and B&B owners met in Gynn Square to rally against the lack of financial support for the tourism industry as Lancashire enters Tier 3 lockdown.
This means the area is at ‘very high risk’ of coronavirus infection.
Hotels have been allowed to remain open - but as the Government has advised people not to travel, and mixing household groups is banned, many local business owners ask: who is going to go on holiday during this time?
Angela Knight, owner of the Golden Sands Hotel on St Chad’s Road, said: “There’s no point saying we’re open for business when we’re in Tier 3; we have no guests and nobody is travelling. Everybody is struggling. It isn’t fair.
“Every penny we made has gone into our business. Now we have nothing. People are cancelling left right and centre. Thousands of pounds have been lost.”
Hotel owners from South to North Shore braved the rain to attend the protest at noon.
They say they feel let down by the Government, as no financial support has been offered to them.
Roberta Simpson,who ran the Ellesmere Hotel on Hornby Road for 27 years, said: “I have never seen things this bad. It’s a real concern for the future of the industry.”