Blackpool Still Number 1

Magic · Blackpool Still Number 1

Blackpool Pleasure Beach received more visitors in 2007 than any other attraction in the UK, according to the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA).

The site received 5.5 million visits last year, which was actually 3 per cent less than last year, but still more than the British Museum, which received 5.42 million visits, a 12 per cent increase on last year.

Tate Modern, the National Gallery and the Natural History Museum made up the rest of the top five, in third, fourth and fifth respectively.

While the industry remains vibrant, Robin Broke, director of ALVA, warned that: “The government’s continuing refusal to take tourism seriously and its failure to fund VisitBritain to an appropriate level for the tasks it should be undertaking were greatly inhibiting Britain’s tourism industry from competing in the global market place where other countries were slowly but surely overtaking Britain as a destination.

“More seriously it was preventing the nation’s fifth largest industry from optimising its potential earning power and creating significant numbers of new jobs”.

ALVA said that as well as the poor weather, additional challenges to tourism were posed by the very high prices charged for Visas to the UK, and also the weakness of the US dollar compared to sterling. However, sterling’s relative weakness against the euro compensated to a degree.

Auntie Murial

Will the new paid entry decrease their visitors do you think?

Magic

Most definately. It'll be interesting to see if they still beat the likes of Thorpe and Alton Towers. That's when we'll know if the pay entry idea was a massive flop.

coastergraham

Nimmykins

For those of you on Facebook who are interested in getting involed with the campaign against the charge, here's a link.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10401761204

coastergraham

I am sorry but I find the thing about stopping the £5 charge to be very misguided indeed, do people really think they know more than BPB why they are trying this move?

Trust me the motive is not from greed like some people who have not thought it through think, it is survival. From what I have read the BPB forum the park is not on solid financial ground and in the current climate would not prosper unless they try to do something about it.

The main reason they are trying to do this is to get rid of the chavs and drunks and get the family's back. As things stand at the moment familys do not want to go to a chav filled park full of drunks at night and who can blame them. Remember these people spend very little money other than the odd ride but they do scare away people who would spend more money.

BPB is also trying to distance itself away from the town of Blackpool by being a stand alone attraction, Blackpool is hurting the business for similar reasons mentioned above, it is full of hen, stag and drunks and not too many families. By being stand alone BPB can offer people a top quality day out in a nice atmosphere.

As for the £5 charge, well how many places can people have a day out for £5 and still get to sample a couple of attractions, not at the merlin parks thats for sure. BPB are also letting people with show tickets onto the park as well, so any old people going to BPB for the ice show can still have a wander around the park as always.

People seem happy to spend £5+ on a pack of cigs or god know how much for a night on the lash but if BPB charge £5 it's obscene. I just don't get it tbh.

Finally if and I mean if it does prove to be a disaster and most people in the know believe it is the way forward, then it is as easy as anything to revert back to the current system.

Andy Hine MBE

All other parks charge to get in. So if mum, dad, 2 kids and grannie, go, they will all have to pay to get in. For example you have to pay over £32 to enter Alton Towers, even if you don't want to ride anything. So at £5 that’s a lot cheaper, plus from what I understand the £5 will include some rides (Pleasure Beach Express, Monorail, etc) so a lot of the rides that the ‘grannies’ will like.
Also, in recent times the Pleasure Beach, and Blackpool as a whole has a lot of stag and hen groups. With this comes various amounts of trouble – usually caused by alcohol. Having visited the Pleasure Beach regularly for over 35 years I have noticed the increase in security there and occasionally trouble caused by these groups. Those who want to cause trouble and thus spoil the fun for the rest of us, will NOT want to pay £5 for the privilege and will just go elsewhere. This will make the Pleasure Beach a much safer place for families to enjoy themselves. So personally I think that £5 is small price to pay. And as I said at the start, most theme parks charge a lot more for entry whether you ride anything or not.

bluea61

I have to agree, the £5 fee is so little. I think it will help in all the ways mentioned. Just because the gates will go down doesn't mean the overall income. As said above these people who they are trying to stop may spend so little amounts of money.

I think on the most part the arguement will be that they never had to pay before so why should we now. I think as long as the Pleasure Beach can be consistent with the reasoning and cite Alton Towers and there gate fee as an example I think it will be ok.

coastergraham

The more I look at the facebook site the more I believe that quite a lot of the people have absolutely no idea what they are on about before you even consider that they have some concept on how to run a park in this day and age.

For example one person is convinced that it is £5 to enter the park then the wristband on top of that, where they have got that from goodness only knows as they could not have got it from the BPB press release or anywhere else I have come across.

How many of these people actually go to BPB on a regular basis, do they go 40+ times like I do in a season? To me they seem to be a ragbag mob who get kicks off causing trouble, oh yes and they seem to imply that the RCCGB is behind them in their fight, sad news chaps as you can see with Andy's post earlier in this topic.

Big Stevie B

Most of those people should just be pleased they got something on Facebook to work for once other than poke or super poke! lol

At first i thought it was a bad idea but then i thought about it. I have never once been in there without buying a wristband anyhow.
They may lose the business form holiday makers daring each other to do the Big One but at least the park will be safer. Plus have less annoying people getting in my way. Or stupid chaves irritating me.
Should make it a better day out for me alone, that's all i care about. Remember, i`m a regular paying visitor. BPB has made a lot of money off me in the past.

I always thought Dreamland, Margate at its height in the 80`s was a better place to visit while they had the paid entry. Once they dropped that it turned into a dive and never stopped getting worse.