Blackpool pushing hard to win back conference trade

The new Conference and Exhibition Centre opened in spring last year, increasing overall capacity at the venue to 7,000 delegates.

Blackpool Council has now launched a partnership including hoteliers group StayBlackpool, and attraction and venue operators in order to showcase all conference facilities in the town.

MeetBlackpool has been given the task of managing business tourism with the aim of attracting new conferences, as well as bringing back lapsed conferences to the resort.

Among events already booked into the new Winter Gardens complex are a national civil service gathering set to bring 2,000 delegates to the resort in summer 2024.

A familiarisation visit to Blackpool for the Association of British ProfessionalConference Organisers will also take place on July 7 and 8, when around 20 conferences bookers will be shown round the new Conference and Exhibition Centre.

A council report says: “Whilst the primary responsibility for marketing Blackpool to leisure tourists sits with VisitBlackpool, business tourism is now managed within MeetBlackpool, a partnership comprising VisitBlackpool, Blackpool Council, the Winter Gardens and various resort partnerswho have a vested interest in the conference and exhibitions market.

“This partnership approach, which was adopted following the opening of the new £30m Conference and Exhibition Centre, is intended to make best use of council and Winter Gardens resources to attract new and lapsed conferences back to Blackpool in all venues as well as the Winter Gardens.”

A task group has also been set up to establish a ‘one Blackpool’ approach to winning conference business, branding includes a new website, and a new accommodation booking platform for conference delegates.

The first major conference held in the new extension to the Winter Gardens was the Conservative Party Spring Conference in March 1022, which brought 800 delegates and an estimated economic boost of more than £1m.

Bookings for the next 12 months include –

Northern Premier Football League AGM and dinner, June 2023 (400 attendees)

National Association of Retired Police Officers Annual Conference, September 2023 (800 delegates)

JD Outdoors Annual Conference, October 2023 (450 attendees)

Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches, November 2023 (1,000 attendees)

Labour Party N-W Conference, November 2023 (700 delegates)

Federation of Small Businesses Conference and Expo, May 2024 (500 delegates)

Civil Service Live Annual Conference, June 2024 (2,000 delegates).