Blackpool visitor numbers soar during record October half-term

Blackpool’s visitor economy experienced one of its best half-terms on record last month, with footfall in the town centre and on the prom at its highest ever and tram passengers up by 257k.

Despite an early Easter and inconsistent weather dampening figures earlier this year, Blackpool bounced back to report its best August visitor numbers for over three years.

Now the town, which could be set for Blue Flag beach status, has achieved record numbers during the October school break.

Passengers on the town’s trams rose from 570k in 2014 to 827k last month, while car park usage surged 20% year on year.

Meanwhile, over 17k people visited the Tourist Information Centre, compared to 14k at the same point last year.

Similar successes were reported at Blackpool Zoo, which saw its busiest October since it was founded in 1972, and across the various town attractions run by operator Merlin Entertainments.

The head of Merlin’s Blackpool cluster, Iain Hawkins, said: “October was a great month for the Merlin visitor attractions in Blackpool.

“All of our attractions during half-term became record breakers with the Blackpool Tower Eye, Madame Tussauds, SEA LIFE and Dungeons all setting new daily and weekly visitor totals!”

He added: “The Tower Circus experienced multiple sell outs and the Ballroom’s Halloween party had to have an additional party night scheduled to cope with demand!”

The deputy leader of Blackpool Council, Cllr Gillian Campbell, called the results “astonishing”.

She said the month “makes up for what was a relatively slow start to the year. It is hard to imagine any other resort destination in the UK that is capable of attracting such an incredible number of visitors outside of the summer months.”

Jane Cole, the managing director at Blackpool Transport, which operates bus and tram services in the area, said she is delighted so many people chose to use public transport during the week.

Jane continued: “We went that extra mile to ensure we delivered a fantastic customer experience and put more vehicles out to meet demand.

“The tramway proved to be very popular so we went all out to enhance the journey choices by providing extra Heritage and Illumination Tours to alleviate overcrowding.”