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According to new research from Advantage Travel Partnership, the independent travel agent consortium, Blackpool saw the biggest growth in UK overnight business travel with 55% more room nights in 2017.
Significant growth also came from other cities in the northern region of the UK, despite London continuing to hit the top spot with a 10% increase year-on-year with an additional 33,000 room nights booked.
However, Blackpool saw the most growth with 55% more booked room nights, when compared with 2016, with Preston, Bradford, Sheffield and Doncaster all included in the top 10.
Top 10 UK cities – Room night percentage increase (year-on-year) for Jan – Dec 2017
1. Blackpool – 55%
2. Peterborough – 48%
3. Preston – 35%
4. Bradford – 33%
5. Oxford – 25%
6. Sheffield – 24%
7. Cambridge – 22%
8. Edinburgh – 21%
9. Doncaster – 21%
10. Coventry – 20%
Head of Blackpool’s Business Tourism team, Mandy Tythe-McCallum, said: “Last year we launched a campaign called Blackpool is Booming which highlighted that our business tourism offer was set to enjoy a massive uplift thanks to £500m of new investment in the resort’s business tourism infrastructure. These figures demonstrate how that money is translating into increased corporate occupancy.
“We also anticipate that with more new accommodation coming forward, including both four and five-star rated hotels, plus our new Conference and Exhibition Centre which will be part of the iconic Winter Gardens complex, that Blackpool will continue to boom as a destination for business travellers. In addition we are seeing a massive upgrade to our transport system which will make getting to, and getting around, Blackpool far easier for conference delegates.”
The growth looks to continue with Blackpool’s new £25m Conference and Exhibition Centre, set to open in 2019, which will be able to accommodate 2,000 delegates across a 6,150 square metre footprint.
It will be available to book as a standalone venue or can be integrated with the wider Winter Gardens exhibition and events venues – to which it will be directly linked – creating an overall capacity of 7,000.
