Calls for Blackpool hotel booking system to prevent large commissions leaking out to online sites
There are warnings that businesses in Blackpool are struggling - despite the level of spending by overnight visitors
Blackpool’s B&B owners have faced a ‘perfect storm’ of challenges during the 2024 season – including an increase in cancellations by guests who fear missing a hospital appointment.
That was the message to Blackpool Council as part of calls for more support to be given to smaller holiday businesses in the town.
Ian White, a director of hoteliers group StayBlackpool, told a meeting of the full council issues including the cost of living crisis, uncertainty due to the General Election and sporting events such as the European Football Championships and the Olympics had impacted trade.
But it comes at the same time as independent think tank Centre for Cities has published data saying Blackpool ranks highest in the country for spending by overnight visitors.
Its research found while London is top for the quantity of spending by overnight visitors, Blackpool ranks highest in proportion to its size with 12.8 per cent of spending coming from overnight visitors.
But Mr White warned many businesses were struggling. He said challenges included poor weather during the summer, high interest rates and even fines handed out to parents taking children out of school during term-time were “no doubt having an impact”.
He also warned: “There have been huge increases in cancellations or delays in stays due to NHS appointments and operations.
“Guests used to change the date of their appointment or operation if it fell
within their holiday dates. Now they cancel or re-arrange the holiday, not the appointment, as they’ve waited so long to be seen.”
Mr White called for a better hotel booking system in Blackpool in order to cut out the high commission paid to the leading online sites, which he said were “draining the town and businesses of desperately needed money to invest, estimated to well exceed £10m.”
Other challenges included an over-supply of bed spaces, and a rise in empty properties with some vacant hotels attracting squatters and even cannabis farms.
Council leader Coun Lynn Williams, who is also cabinet member for tourism, arts and culture, said many of the issues raised were being faced by all seaside resorts which was why Blackpool had put its events programme at the heart of the tourism offer.
Referring to the research by Centre for Cities, Coun Williams said the high proportion of spending was down to “the work this council does to attract visitors across the year” with events such as Christmas by the Sea, the Illuminations Switch-on and the Air Show.
She added: “While other places are pulling away from events such as these, we as a council continue to prioritise them as we know tourism is critical to the town’s economy and the economic well-being of our people.”
Centre for Cities carried out research for its report, ‘Spending time: the role of the visitor economy in UK cities’. The study sets out how visitors help places sustain a greater variety of local businesses and experiences in the most-visited destinations.
Andrew Carter, chief executive of Centre for Cities, said: “It’s hard to imagine Edinburgh without its unique restaurants and cafes or Blackpool without its Pleasure Beach. The extra revenues that visitors bring in makes life in these places richer, livelier and more enjoyable for residents too, by sustaining a wider variety of local amenities than they could do on their own.”