Tangerine Dream
The bracing coastal resort of Blackpool in north-west England is unashamedly brash and glitzy with its pleasure beach, illuminations and pier.
In its heyday – around 1900 to 1950 – Blackpool thrived, as factory workers from the north took their annual holidays there en masse. It’s remained popular, although visitor numbers have dwindled over the years.
Now the resort is about to enjoy a renaissance because its modest football team (who play in tangerine coloured shirts) have unexpectedly risen through the ranks and will compete in the Premier League next season with the millionaires of Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal.
Blackpool’s promotion to the top flight is said to be worth £90 million ($129 million) to the club alone, and the wider local economy is also poised for a bonanza, with hundreds of thousands of extra visitors expected during the off-peak winter months.
Bars and restaurants are all set to cash in on the influx of fans, as are budget hotels and bed-and-breakfasts. But local tourist chiefs predict that more upmarket venues and luxury hotels will also benefit, with companies switching business meetings and conferences to the town, drawn by the prospect of top-flight football matches.
Tony Openshaw, of the Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board, said: “We’ve already had bookings from companies who were making inquiries almost as soon as the final whistle was blown, so they could secure conference and meetings rooms first.”
“The result is a huge fillip for Blackpool and the whole of the Fylde Coast, which will benefit in terms of increased tourism spend,” said Mr Openshaw.
Kill-joy bookmakers seem to think the euphoria will be short-lived. They’re offering odds of 4–11 that Blackpool will be relegated from the top division at the end of the season and 10,000–1 that they’ll win the title.
by Andy Moreton
