With fourteen and a half million visits, tourism is worth an estimated £1 billion to the Blackpool economy and supports 20,000 jobs in the resort.* So it’s only fitting that the town joins in the British Tourism Week celebrations.

Blackpool today launched its celebrations at the resort’s popular SEA LIFE Blackpool attraction, with a diver taking a copy of the week’s logo into the main shark tank. SEA LIFE will also celebrate with a pirate-themed week to offer a spot of ‘yo ho ho and a bottle of fun’ to visitors, who can experience one of the UK’s best-known aquariums, featuring Europe’s most comprehensive collection of tropical sharks and a sunken galleon! Staff will dress as pirates and visitors are encouraged to do the same as they enter the undersea world.

Attractions across the resort are getting involved by providing special offers during the week.

Pleasure Beach Resort is offering half price weekends throughout March if you book online. On these special days all wristbands, offering unlimited riding all day long, are half price if booked online - an amazing £15 for adults and just £12.50 for juniors and seniors.
At Blackpool Transport, they’ve a special price on one-day BusMetroSaver tickets until the end of March, with customers able to purchase a whole day’s travel from any PayPoint agent for £3 (usual price £3.95).

There’s also a competition being held all week to win an annual SEA LIFE family pass or the chance to feed the giraffes at Blackpool Zoo. All visitors to the Tourist Information Centre on Clifton Street and to the BoBI stand will be given the chance to enter.

At the end of the week, Blackpool will send a team down to the Best of Britain and Ireland Travel Trade Forum (BoBI) at London’s Olympia where they’ll showcase Blackpool to the travel trade and also to the general public.  There are huge crowds expected – last year the show attracted 10,000 visitors gathering new holiday ideas, tasting both modern and traditional cuisine, sampling local knowledge and being entertained by performances of national song and dance

The fourth annual British Tourism Week takes place from 15 - 21 March 2010. HRH the Prince of Wales is once again Patron for this series of inter-related events, which aims to raise local, regional, national and international awareness to tourism’s critical importance, it will encourage organisations and individuals to take pride in being part of the £114 billion visitor economy.