A leading tourism and accommodation specialist has predicted a record summer for the North West tourism industry – after already seeing an unprecedented number of enquiries about trips to the region.

In the past month alone, www.iknow-northwest.co.uk has seen a 48 per cent increase in visitors looking for places to stay and things to do in the area.

Blackpool is benefiting most from the new surge in interest and has already received 15 per cent more enquiries this month than the same time last year.

Marcus Simmons, managing director of iknow-uk, said:  “These latest figures show a significant increase in consumer interest when it comes to holidaying in the North West and while traditional favourites such as Blackpool are coming out extremely well, we’ve also been pleased to see that other places in the region are also experiencing a surge in interest.

“Our iknow-northwest site covers other areas such as Cheshire, Lancashire, Liverpool, Manchester and the Isle of Man and we’re pleased that the site is showing an overall increase, proving more and more people are considering other parts of the region as a potential summer holiday destination.”

Founded by Marcus in 2003, iknow-uk now operates 15 regional websites for accommodation providers including hotels, guest houses, holiday cottages and B&Bs.  The sites are visited by almost a million users each month.