Blackpool's summer season start "worst for 10 years"

Blackpool hoteliers have had their worst start to the holiday season for 10 years, according to the town's Hotel and Guest House Association.

Colin Asplin, president of the association and owner of the nine-bedroom Wynnstay Hotel, said some hotels were reporting occupancy levels down by as much as 60%.

"I was talking to one hotelier in the first week of July who had to find £10,000 to pay his mortgage by the end of this month and he'd just had eight coaches cancel - that's more than 400 people," Asplin said.

While some were blaming rowdy stag nights putting off families and anti-social behaviour by youngsters over the weekends, the main reason was simply that people were reluctant to travel or spend money on holidays, he felt.

"Stag and hen nights are just a blip, mostly on a Saturday night. It's just that people do not want to travel," Asplin said.

Blackpool as a resort relied heavily on passing trade and this year for whatever reason was just not getting it, he added.

The downturn was despite the fact that hotels had spent more than £60m updating accommodation over the past three years.

Occupancy levels in Asplin's own hotel were currently running at about 60%, but had been much lower.

"We have about 18 people in at the moment but in June we had as few as five people some Saturday mornings. We had a better rate in February.

"This is the worst start to the season I've seen in 10 years. We did better when foot-and-mouth was on," he added.

by Nic Paton