New report shows increase in Blackpool tourists

New data has shown that the number of tourists coming to Blackpool has increased.

Figures from Marketing Lancashire’s STEAM report, published in March 2025, have revealed that Lancashire saw approximately 66.7 million tourism visits in 2023.

Of those 66.7 million, Blackpool has massively soared above the rest of Lancashire with a 32% share of the visitors.

This equated to over 21.57 million tourism visits to the seaside resort in 2023, a 6.12% increase from 2022’s total of 20.3 million.

Graph produced using Datawrapper: showing the tourism visitor numbers by area for 2023 in Lancashire.

The figures are segregated into Lancashire’s different councils, showing that Lancaster County Council had the second most tourism visits at 6.96 million - significantly lower than Blackpool Council.

Whilst it might be expected for Blackpool to dominate tourism figures when compared to the rest of the Lancashire, new events programmes, attractions and targeted marketing campaigns have all been credited for the increased numbers.

As well as its seaside appeal, popular events like Blackpool Air Show, The Illuminations Switch-On and the World Fireworks Championship all lifted the appeal for visitors in 2023.

Although, it’s not just Blackpool that is experiencing the growth, with the report also showing how Lancashire’s overall tourism visitor numbers are rising.

2023’s total of 66.7 million tourism visits has now increased for the third year in a row.  

According to the report, 89% of those tourism trips were made by day visitors, with the other 11% made by staying visitors. This gave a total of 59 million tourism day visitors in 2023.

The total value of that tourism activity in Lancashire was estimated to be 5.40bn in 2023.

Graph produced using Datawrapper: showing the value of tourism activity for 2023 in Lancashire.

Despite experiencing a -0.16% decrease in economic activity by tourists, Blackpool was responsible for generating 37% of that figure at over £1.9 billion.

On average, visitors staying in Lancashire also spent 3.2 nights in the area and a total of £446 million on local accommodation, according to the report.

The full report can be found here:

https://www.marketinglancashire.com/app/uploads/2025/03/Lancashire-STEAM-figures-2023.pdf