Millions of Britons are expected to holiday at home over the August bank holiday, with domestic tourism forecast to generate around £4.3 billion for the UK economy.
Tourism Minister Stephanie Peacock has visited Blackpool ahead of the bank holiday weekend, highlighting the crucial role that domestic and international visitors play in supporting jobs, businesses and investment in Britain’s coastal communities.
During her visit, Peacock toured two of Blackpool’s best-known attractions — the Winter Gardens and Pleasure Beach — and met representatives of the town’s tourism industry to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing the sector.
The visit comes as new figures from VisitEngland show that an estimated 10.6 million people across the UK intend to take an overnight domestic holiday during the bank holiday weekend. Their trips are expected to inject approximately £4.3 billion into the economy.
Blackpool remains one of Britain’s most popular seaside resorts. The town attracted 23.2 million visitors in 2024, representing a 7.7% increase on the previous year. Tourism activity supported more than 23,000 full-time jobs and generated around £2.15 billion in visitor and tourism-related spending.
Peacock, who was joined by Blackpool South MP Chris Webb, also met Kate Shane, managing director of Blackpool Tourism Ltd, to examine the sector’s contribution to the local economy and discuss ways of strengthening the town’s visitor offer.
Tourism is a major contributor to the wider UK economy. By 2024, the sector was estimated to support 2.4 million jobs and deliver a combined direct and indirect GDP impact of approximately £147 billion.
The government expects that contribution to increase to £161 billion a year by 2030, alongside the creation of an additional 175,000 jobs.
The upcoming bank holiday is also the final opportunity for families to benefit from the government’s Great British Summer Savings programme before it closes on 1 September.
The initiative provides discounts on leisure and entertainment activities, including theme parks, cinemas and soft-play centres, while aiming to increase visitor spending and support businesses during the crucial summer season.
Peacock said Blackpool demonstrated how tourism could contribute to economic growth and regeneration in coastal communities.
“Blackpool has a proud heritage as one of the UK’s most iconic coastal destinations,” she said, pointing to attractions including the Blackpool Tower, Winter Gardens, Pleasure Beach and the resort’s famous illuminations.
She added that the millions of visitors arriving each year help sustain local businesses and thousands of jobs, while the government wants to strengthen destinations through investment and improved visitor experiences.
Kate Shane said the minister’s visit provided an opportunity to see directly how attractions, restaurants and transport operators contribute to Blackpool’s tourism economy.
She said the summer savings programme had helped visitors make their money go further, while the resort’s visitor economy continued to support thousands of jobs across the Fylde Coast and drive investment and growth.
Chris Webb, the MP for Blackpool South and chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tourism and Hospitality, said the visit offered an opportunity to demonstrate why Blackpool should remain a priority for government investment.
The government has set a target of attracting 50 million international visitors to the UK every year by 2030. A forthcoming Visitor Economy Growth Strategy is expected to outline how ministers intend to increase visitor numbers, raise the value generated by tourism and promote sustainable growth across different regions.
Further measures are also being developed to support the hospitality sector. The government has announced a review of business-rate calculations for pubs and hotels in England and Wales, with the aim of improving fairness and giving businesses greater certainty when planning for the future.
Meanwhile, £3.38 million is being invested through the Connected Destinations Fund, led by VisitEngland, to help destinations improve visitor experiences and encourage sustainable tourism growth.
The government is also due to bring together local authorities and businesses in Blackpool next month to discuss the future regeneration and long-term economic prospects of seaside towns.
With millions preparing to travel within Britain this weekend, ministers are seeking to use the latest surge in domestic tourism as evidence of the sector’s wider potential to support employment, investment and economic growth beyond the traditional summer season. Photo by Michael D Beckwith, Wikimedia commons.
