Casino plans "would be huge boost to Blackpool"

Blackpool could see visitor numbers treble under plans to turn the seaside resort into a gambling mecca, says the head of the company bidding to develop the town's first casino hotel. Marc Etches, managing director of Leisure Parcs, said making Blackpool the centre for casino hotels would be a "catalyst for investment" in the area. It could also double or treble the number of visitors, he added. Leisure Parcs, which owns the Blackpool Tower, is planning a 1,000-bedroom casino hotel in the town. This alone could bring £78m-worth of extra income into the resort, claimed Etches. Earlier this week, the Government's Gambling Review Body published a report recommending a lifting of restrictions on casino developments. If the recommendations become law, they would allow for the development of Las Vegas-style casino resorts in the UK. Etches said of the report: "This is a milestone, but we still have a long way to go." A study carried out for Leisure Parcs found that development of six resort casinos in Blackpool would generate up to 13,000 new jobs. But Etches admitted there could be some negative effect on the town's smaller hotels. Whether the recommendations of the report will become law will not be known until October.