Tourism Minister Stephanie Peacock visited Blackpool's Winter Gardens and Pleasure Beach on 28 August 2026, ahead of the bank holiday weekend, according to a Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport press release of the same date. She was joined by Blackpool South MP Chris Webb and met Kate Shane, managing director of Blackpool Tourism Ltd, to discuss the sector's importance locally and the opportunities and challenges facing tourism businesses.

The release cited VisitEngland's latest TripTracker finding that 10.6 million Brits were planning an overnight holiday trip in the UK that bank holiday, bringing an estimated £4.3 billion boost to the economy. It said Blackpool welcomed 23.2 million tourists in 2024, a 7.7% increase on the previous year, supporting more than 23,000 full-time jobs and generating £2.15 billion in visitor and tourism business expenditure.

The release described that weekend as the last chance to use the government's Great British Summer Savings scheme, which it said ended on 1 September 2026, and noted plans to convene local government and business representatives in Blackpool the following month to discuss seaside town regeneration. It also cited a forecast that tourism would contribute £161 billion annually to the UK economy by 2030, supporting an additional 175,000 jobs.