Covid: Blackpool sees 'spectacular' bounceback as visitor numbers surge

One of the UK's best-loved resorts saw a "huge upsurge" in visitors as it "bounced back in spectacular fashion" from the impact of Covid-19.

Blackpool Council said it saw a 75% increase on pre-pandemic levels of footfall in the last quarter of 2021.

Council leader Lynn Williams said it was "a total vindication" of the decision to spend £1m marketing the town as Covid restrictions were lifted.

She said she hoped the resort could now build on the success in 2022.

The resort's many tourism businesses feared for their futures when Covid hit in 2020 and the town initially took a cautious approach to the easing of restrictions, rebranding the Visit Blackpool tourism body as Do Not Visit Blackpool in May of that year, amid fears of how an influx of visitors would impact on the town's population.

In March 2021, the resort's head of tourism Philip Welsh told a meeting of the Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Economic Prosperity Board it would take years for it to recover from the impact of the pandemic.

However, the resort later announced it would be extending its famous Illuminations until January to boost the industry and unveiled a Christmas By The Sea event, aimed at bringing people to the seaside in what would usually be off-season.

As a result, more than 17 million people visited its promenade between September and December in 2021, compared to just over 10 million in 2019, council figures showed.

The town centre attracted more than 12 million in 2021, compared to about 9 million in 2019.

Ms Williams said the town had "witnessed extraordinary volumes of people" and had the "best Christmas figures seen in living memory".

"What we now need to do is work with our partners to not just replicate what we delivered in 2021, but build on what was a remarkable campaign," she added.

The council previously announced that 2022's Illuminations would also be extended by two months and run until January 2023.

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