Book Hotel blackpool

Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, in the north west of England. Lying along the coast of the Irish Sea, it is fifteen miles (25 km) west from the city of Preston, and has a population of 142,900.

Blackpool rose to prominence as a major centre of tourism during the 19th century, particularly for the inhabitants of northern mill towns.

The town boundaries of Blackpool are drawn very tightly, and exclude the nearby settlements of Fleetwood, Cleveleys, Thornton, Poulton-le-Fylde and Lytham St Anne's. Blackpool Borough, unlike its neighbours, is almost completely urbanised.

Between 1894 and 1974, Blackpool was its own independent county borough unit within the administrative county of Lancashire. With the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, Blackpool's independent status was abolished and it was made part of the shire county of Lancashire. On April 1, 1998, however, Blackpool was made an independent unitary authority and reformed as an autonomous local government unit. It remains part of Lancashire for ceremonial purposes however.

Blackpool is heavily dependent on tourism. In what is often regarded as its heyday (1900-1950), Blackpool thrived as the factory workers of northern England took their annual holidays there en masse. Any photograph from that era shows crowds of tourists on the beach and promenade. Blackpool was also a preferred destination of visitors from Glasgow and remains so to this day. Reputedly, the town still has more hotel and B&B beds than the whole of Portugal. The town went into decline when cheap air travel arrived in the 1960s and the same workers decamped to the Mediterranean coast resorts due to competitive prices and the more reliable weather. Today Blackpool remains the most popular seaside resort in the UK, however the town has suffered a serious drop in numbers of visitors which has fallen from 17 million in 1992 to 10 million today. Similarly Blackpool Pleasure Beach remains the country's most popular free attraction with 6 million visitors a year but has lost over a million visitors since 1998. Today, many visitors stay for the weekend rather than for a week at a time.

Conferences
Outside the main holiday season, Blackpool's Winter Gardens routinely hosts major political and trade union conferences, ranging from that of the Conservative Party and the TGWU with thousands of delegates and visitors, to substantially smaller gatherings such as the CWU or NUS conferences.

Entertainment
Blackpool remains a summer entertainment venue, specialising in variety shows featuring entertainers such as Ken Dodd and Roy 'Chubby' Brown

Events & festivals
Blackpool Dance Festival is a world famous annual ballroom dance competition of international significance: home page
Blackpool Illuminations consisting of a series of lighted displays and collages arranged along the entire length of the sea front (11 km/7 miles), attract many visitors in September and October at a time when some resorts' holiday seasons have already ended. This results in some spectacular traffic snarl-ups as most people now view the lights from cars and coaches which crawl nose-to-tail along the whole length of the sea front, particularly so at weekends and during school holidays.

Gay Blackpool
Blackpool has gained renown as a lesbian and gay destination, (see Gay Blackpool) with clubs such as the Flamingo, Mardi Gras, the Flying Handbag pub, and many gay-run hotels and guest-houses , with some catering exclusively for the gay community. These tend to be inland, nearer to the railway station "Blackpool North" than to the sea. There is also the world famous drag cabaret burlesque show bar, Funny Girls, (who have performed on television and for royalty), alongside the Flamingo in the building that was formerly the Odeon Cinema; the building retains many of its Art Deco features.

Nightlife
A controversial aspect of Blackpool's night-life is its hen and stag parties. Brides- or bridegrooms-to-be and their friends, often dressed alike in absurd or risqué attire, roam the town's many bars and clubs getting increasingly drunk. Their rowdy behaviour is claimed to discourage family visitors and has led to complaints from hotel and guest house owners keen to attract a more upmarket clientele.

Future
Blackpool is continually striving to improve its position within today's tourist industry. One controversial proposal, which had the involvement of the local council, was to transform Blackpool into a casino resort along the lines of Las Vegas and Atlantic City, making it the centre point of gambling in the UK. However, Manchester was unexpectedly selected for the initial trial by the Government's Casinos Advisory Panel. Since this decision, Blackpool's council and MP's have lobbied Parliament extensively, claiming their bid was misunderstood. The local newspaper, The Gazette, sent a petition signed by over 11,500 local residents and visitors demanding the decision be reconsidered. On 29 March 2007, the Advisory Panel's recommendations were approved by the House of Commons, but rejected by the House of Lords, meaning the bill must now be reconsidered by parliament. This has led many in the town to feel that Blackpool has been given a "second chance" to prove its' case, and as of April 2007, the town's representatives are still heavily lobbying parliament to award the casino to Blackpool.

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