Meet Blackpool: showcasing the North West’s finest venues, tech, and charm to a national audience

Visit Blackpool needs little introduction: as one of the UK’s most beloved seaside resorts, the town is famed as the setting for many a childhood reverie. But now, Blackpool is aiming to conquer the future as well as the past, which is where Meet Blackpool comes in.
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A partnership between Blackpool Council, Winter Gardens Blackpool, and Visit Blackpool designed to showcase the town as a desirable destination for events and conferences, Meet Blackpool was launched last July and recently unveiled its new £450,000 marketing campaign called ‘Business in Blackpool, Always a Pleasure’.

Showcasing Blackpool’s unique blend of high-quality venues, tech, and new infrastructure alongside its reputation for quintessentially British entertainment, the campaign comes off the back of a whirlwind past five years for the town, with more than £500m having been invested in improving Blackpool’s connectivity and infrastructure. The future is bright.

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“Meet Blackpool represents Blackpool as a destination, concentrating mainly on the business-to-business element of it,” says Julie Vincent, Head of Meet Blackpool. “Blackpool as a resort does leisure brilliantly and people love that, but we want to concentrate on the business side of things, so we’re getting the word out there.

Blackpool Tower (Meet Blackpool)Blackpool Tower (Meet Blackpool)
Blackpool Tower (Meet Blackpool)

“The work is so interesting because it’s all about partnerships and meeting new people,” Julie adds. “It’s key that those professional relationships are built and I love that element of the work. It’s exciting to be able to share news about things like the conference centre, which is such a fantastic venue that links beautifully with the beautiful Winter Gardens.

“We can show people that they can have the best of both worlds: corporate conferences in the business centre and awards ceremonies in the historic ballroom,” Julie continues. “We’re lucky, not many places have that.”

The Winter Gardens Blackpool Conference & Exhibition Centre is now the largest of its kind in the north, with the capacity to accommodate 2,000 visitors over two floors. The full Winter Gardens Blackpool complex is even bigger, boasting 4.9 acres of conference, meeting, event and exhibition space as well as over 400 rooms in three brand-new 4+-star hotels.

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“Blackpool has long been synonymous with entertainment,” says Michael Williams, Managing Director, Blackpool Entertainment Company Limited. “This new campaign has been designed to capitalise on that heritage as a destination for exciting experiences while promoting our new and significantly enhanced offer for business events.

Winter Gardens Conference and Exhibition CentreWinter Gardens Conference and Exhibition Centre
Winter Gardens Conference and Exhibition Centre

“We have already secured a raft of high-profile events which will take place in Blackpool over the next 24 months, including the National Association of Retired Police Officers and the Northern Premier Football League Awards,” adds Michael. “We’re excited to continue to build on that success with our Business in Blackpool, Always a Pleasure campaign.”

Julie agrees. “We’re playing the long-game,” she says. “Larger events are often booked in advance, so it’s not something that will happen overnight. That’s where Business in Blackpool, Always a Pleasure comes in. People have nostalgic stories of coming to Blackpool as a kid and we’re offering them the chance to experience that again.

“They can bring their delegates for a Victorian tram ride down the promenade and a gala dinner in the ballroom in the Tower in the same conference,” she adds. “You can do it: that’s what we’re all about, that immersive experience.”