Record 19 million people visited Blackpool in 2021 - more than double the figure in 2020

The number of people who visited Blackpool has more than doubled since 2020, it has been revealed.

New tourism figures show a total of 18.81m visited the seaside town in 2021 - twice those who visited in 2020 when pandemic restrictions on tourism were in place.

Blackpool made up 40% of all visits to Lancashire in 2021, the report found, valuing the resort's tourism economy at more than £1.4bn, and supporting in excess of 20,000 jobs.

The town was hit hard by Covid-19, with lockdown restrictions stopping people travelling, and decreasing tourism figures.

In 2021 VisitBlackpool estimated that the resort would £1 billion loss in revenue due to the reduced visitors.

In a bid to help local businesses, Blackpool Council extended the town’s illuminations season by two months in 2021 and invested £1 million in marketing to help "grow tourism".

Blackpool's Illuminations remain one of the UK's most endearing and enduring tourist attractions, having shone for more than a century.

The leader of Blackpool Council said: "We were determined to give our tourism and hospitality businesses every opportunity to hit the ground running.

"By utilising business support monies, we were able to stage the most ambitious autumn and winter programme of events we have ever attempted."

The council say that events such as Christmas By The Sea, which ran on the Tower Festival Headland from mid-November to the New Year, helped increase footfall by 75% compared to 2019 levels.

This included a free skating rink, artificial snowfalls, light projection shows, log cabins and large-scale light installations.

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