New Hotels To Add Further Boost To Blackpool’s Business Tourism Offer
4 December 2018
by Visit Blackpool
VisitBlackpool has welcomed the news that a further two new hotels are set to be built in the town, creating over 250 ‘value’ rooms.
Budget chain easyHotel recently announced plans to open a £7.6m, 103-room property on the resort’s south promenade, while in the town centre, work has started on a new 150-room Premier Inn. Both are expected to be open for business in the next two years following the completion of Blackpool’s new conference centre facility.
These hotels will complement an additional 500 new hotel rooms which are due to come on stream as part of ongoing resort regeneration.
These include the 120-room Boulevard Hotel at Blackpool Pleasure Beach and the 96-room 5 Star Sands Resort Venue Hotel close to Blackpool Tower, both of which are under construction and due to open in 2019.
Further developments include a 120-room Holiday Inn close to Blackpool North Station, and a 200-room development to be built adjacent to the new £28m Winter Gardens Conference & Exhibition Centre.
Mandy Tythe-McCallum, Visit Blackpool’s Business Tourism Manager, believes that the mix of modern budget and premium accommodation will be vital in the town’s efforts to attract large scale events - such as national political party conferences - back to the famous seaside resort.
She said: “When we recently exhibited at the Conservative Party Conference many delegates said that one of the major issues they had with ‘big city’ locations was the incredibly high cost of accommodation. However, they also had concerns that some of Blackpool’s cheaper hotels and B&Bs were still not to the standard they required.
“The fact we have both an easyHotel and Premier Inn set to open in prime locations over the next two years, together with an additional 500-plus high-quality rooms being brought forward through a number of other premium hotel openings, is fantastic news.
“Another key benefit which many of these hotel developments will bring to the town is the additional dining, leisure and meeting facilities they will offer.
“This will add more choice, flexibility and diversity for our business tourism customers, and will complement the excellent hospitality and conference options we already have across the resort.”
One new hotel which has already reaped the rewards of Blackpool’s resurgent business tourism market is the Hampton by Hilton. The 130-room hotel, which is situated close to the world-famous Blackpool Pleasure Beach, has enjoyed exceptional rates of occupancy since opening in May.
Hampton’s Sales Manager Stacey deRome said: “When we announced we would be bringing to Blackpool a high-quality offer designed to appeal to the business traveller as well as the leisure sector some in the industry expressed their doubts.
“However, the resort continues to attract corporate visitors all year round and we have had great success in converting this interest into regular bookings.
“The fact we are getting more new hotels, including those from the value end of the sector, is great news for operators like ourselves as it makes the whole resort a more viable destination for large scale conferences and other major events.”
Blackpool’s continuing renaissance as a destination for corporate travel, set to be further buoyed by a multi-million-pound transport and infrastructure investment programme currently underway in the town centre, was highlighted earlier this year in research from the Advantage Travel Partnership (ATP).
The ATP, the UK’s largest independent travel agent consortium, revealed that in 2017 Blackpool enjoyed the biggest growth in UK overnight business travel with 55% more room nights when compared to 2016’s figures.