Geography Tourism Case Study - Blackpool

Location: North-west England

Growth

It became a major tourist centre in the 19th century, especially for the inhabitants of northern industrial towns such as Manchester. Factory workers could increasingly afford a holiday, and travelled by train to the coast. Blackpool was most popular between 1900-1950.

Stagnation

However, as people's disposable income became larger, they preferred to go to other places with a package holiday.This created huge competition for Blackpool and other UK seaside resirts.

Fewer people visited Blackpool as a result. Blackpools summer weather is extremely unreliable which proved a major disadvantage

Blackpool Case Study follows the Butler Tourist Model :-

1. Exploration - a small number of tourists visit the area. The area is unspoilt and few tourist facilities exist.
2. Involvement - local people start to provide some facilities for tourists. There starts to become a recognised tourist season.
3. Development - the host country starts to develop and advertise the area. The area becomes recognised as a tourist destination.
4. Consolidation - the area continues to attract tourists. The growth in tourist numbers may not be a fast as before. Some tensions develop between the host and the tourists.
5. Stagnation - the facilities for the tourists may decline as they become old and run down. The numbers of tourists may decline too.
6. Rejuvenation - investment and modernisation may occur which leads to improvements and visitor numbers may increase again.
7. Decline - if the resort is not rejuvenated (stage 6) then it will go into decline. People lose their jobs related to tourism. The image of the area suffers.

Investment/ Rejuvenation:

As one of the larger seaside resorts Blackpool attracted some private investment and local ​authority grants. ​Upgrades included:  

• ​Turn outdoor pools into indoor leisure centers  ​
• ​Increase car parking provision  ​
• ​Upgrade hotels ​
• ​Smaller hotels were converted into self-catering holiday flats

​​Blackpool still relied on its different attractions:  ​​

• ​Blackpool tower – which provide amazing up and down the coastline  ​
• ​Upgraded Zoo and Sea life center  ​
• Blackpool Illuminations (light show) ​
• ​Free Wifi in the town centre  ​
• World’s largest mirror ball ​​
• ​Built new conference centre ​
• ​ ​Comedy catch phrases on the pavement