Latest news with #StayBlackpool
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Blackpool's traditional holiday sector 'in crisis'
Blackpool's traditional holiday accommodation sector is "in crisis", one of the resort's hospitality industry leaders has said. Ian White from StayBlackpool said some of the town's streets have become "shadowlands" blighted by anti-social behaviour and run down, dilapidated buildings. He' said he was calling for more to be done to help smaller hotels and bed and breakfasts to rebuild the overnight trade in the resort. Blackpool Council said £2bn had been spent on regeneration the town, which it described as a "work in progress". But Mr White said areas like Coronation Street, Bond Street and Waterloo Road had become "lost". He said: "The council really needs to get back to grips with the traditional holiday areas, which have been forgotten and left to go to rack and ruin." Alan Cavill, the director of regeneration at Blackpool Council, said the regeneration of the resort was a "work in progress". Speaking about Coronation Street, he said: "We've spent an awful lot of money putting an IMAX cinema on there and completely changing the face of the Houndshill. "We're going to spend £90m on improving housing. So I'm not saying the job's finished, but it's really well in progress." Paul Gregory-Ward, owner of the Corona Hotel in Clifton Drive, said the lack of regulation within the industry was also taking its toll, and that he thought hoteliers should have to have a licence to trade. He said: "Any new business or existing business, whether it be an Airbnb or the traditional bed and breakfast... they've never required a licence to trade. "It's just buy a business and get on with it. The owners don't need any experience, there are no standards. It's up to the hotelier to decide what their standard is." He said he recognised that Blackpool Council was trying to improve things, but that there needed to be more consideration for smaller businesses. He said: "There's a lot of importance put on the big investments, but not the smaller companies like us that are the backbone of Blackpool, we do get forgotten." Mr Cavill said the council was "changing the face of the resort", but said it could not all be done at once. He said: "It's pointless having really wonderful hotels if there's no reason to visit the place, so we focus very much on that and developing the products and working with partners like Merlin and the Pleasure Beach to really give new reasons to visit the town, then working on the areas immediately surrounding that and trying to make those better and more improved."
BBC News
06-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Blackpool's traditional holiday sector is in 'crisis'
Blackpool's traditional holiday accommodation sector is "in crisis", one of the resort's hospitality industry leaders has White from StayBlackpool said some of the town's streets have become "shadowlands" blighted by anti-social behaviour and run down, dilapidated said he was calling for more to be done to help smaller hotels and bed and breakfasts to rebuild the overnight trade in the Council said £2bn had been spent on regeneration the town, which it described as a "work in progress". But Mr White said areas like Coronation Street, Bond Street and Waterloo Road had become "lost".He said: "The council really needs to get back to grips with the traditional holiday areas, which have been forgotten and left to go to rack and ruin." Alan Cavill, the director of regeneration at Blackpool Council, said the regeneration of the resort was a "work in progress".Speaking about Coronation Street, he said: "We've spent an awful lot of money putting an IMAX cinema on there and completely changing the face of the Houndshill."We're going to spend £90m on improving housing. So I'm not saying the job's finished, but it's really well in progress." Paul Gregory-Ward, owner of the Corona Hotel in Clifton Drive, said the lack of regulation within the industry was also taking its toll, and that he thought hoteliers should have to have a licence to said: "Any new business or existing business, whether it be an Airbnb or the traditional bed and breakfast... they've never required a licence to trade."It's just buy a business and get on with it. The owners don't need any experience, there are no standards. It's up to the hotelier to decide what their standard is."He said he recognised that Blackpool Council was trying to improve things, but that there needed to be more consideration for smaller said: "There's a lot of importance put on the big investments, but not the smaller companies like us that are the backbone of Blackpool, we do get forgotten." Mr Cavill said the council was "changing the face of the resort", but said it could not all be done at said: "It's pointless having really wonderful hotels if there's no reason to visit the place, so we focus very much on that and developing the products and working with partners like Merlin and the Pleasure Beach to really give new reasons to visit the town, then working on the areas immediately surrounding that and trying to make those better and more improved."
BBC News
27-03-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Blackpool Pleasure Beach reassures visitors after £2.7m losses
Blackpool's Pleasure Beach theme park is reassuring staff and visitors after accounts revealed it had closed some rides and jobs had been lost because of difficult financial conditions. Bosses at the attraction said a review was carried out and action taken to mitigate for the 2023-24 season when the park made a pre-tax loss of £2.7m. A report on its recently published accounts said trading had been difficult because of the cost of living crisis and that had led to a "head count review" and the closure of some smaller month the park said it was closing five less popular rides to allow it to reinvest and later revealed plans for a new £8.72m pendulum ride. The Eddie Stobart Convoy, Alpine Rallye, Thompson Carousel, Gallopers and Red Arrows Skyforce will all be closed during the 2025 season, the theme park has said. 'So tough' It did not reveal how many jobs have gone in the "head count review" but the attraction, which has been open in some form since 1896, said none of the measures taken had been a "knee-jerk" reaction but rather part of a strategic review where all factors have been attraction also said it would be open for more days this year, no more rides would be closed and, as it stands, the same level of seasonal staff will be of the reinvestment includes the new spinning pendulum ride due to open next year that swings as 40 riders face outwards with their legs Smith, of Stay Blackpool, a trade association for holiday accommodation in the area, also moved to reassure people."New rides - even refurbishing rides - cost millions and you are not going to have £20m in your petty cash tin, are you?," she said."So I would imagine that this loss is purely in the accounts."She said it was expected to be a challenging season "purely because the economy is so tough at the moment". Ms Smith said the theme park had, like many businesses, been hit with a "double whammy" of the national insurance and minimum wage increases. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
BBC News
06-02-2025
- BBC News
Blackpool family sleep in campervan to 'escape rowdy Airbnb'
A family has said they have been forced to sleep overnight in a camper van and book into hotels to escape rowdy holidaymakers staying in a resort family, which has asked not to be identified due to fear of retaliation, said their lives had been made a misery since the next door property was converted to a short-term holiday said a weekends, the semi-detached house in a residential area of Bispham was a magnet for late-night parties with guests described as shouting into the early hours of the morning and using drugs such as resident said: "We've repeatedly had to leave our own home just to get a proper night's sleep." They told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "On multiple occasions, we've been forced to sleep elsewhere."They added the property had become "a hotspot of loud parties, late-night shouting and frequent cannabis use in the garden" with the owner refusing to tackle the White, from hoteliers group StayBlackpool, said the issue of Airbnbs in residential areas was impacting residents across the town and wanted the council to crack down on the spread of short-term lets so it was restricted to the traditional holiday areas of the said in the Bispham case, the family had "suffered significantly due to the neighbouring property, and often had to go away at weekends to avoid their life being turned upside down".Mr White urged the council to use its planning powers to prevent "more residents being let down" at a meeting on leader Councillor Lynn Williams said the council's planning enforcement team was taking action and there were currently about 40 enforcement cases on its complaints register relating to Airbnbs, adding the authority responded to all formal said parties and any disruptive behaviours were banned and it also had a 24/7 hotline for neighbours to report any problems. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
