A new convention centre is vital to Blackpool’s future, according to the shadow minister for tourism. And a new casino could be part of such a development, said Tory tourism spokesman Tobias Ellwood during a two-day visit to the Fylde coast. Mr Ellwood, who is MP for Bournemouth, which already has a successful conference centre, said he was prepared to host a mini tourism summit in Blackpool to see how investment could be brought forward.

The Government minister in charge of Blackpool’s regeneration has spoken of her ‚responsibility‘ to the resort after its supercasino dream was shattered. Communities Secretary Hazel Blears says she is looking at ways to make Blackpool’s seafront People’s Playground project a reality as well as boosting education, housing and shopping in the resort. But she warned Blackpool it cannot focus on tourism alone to secure its future.

Shopping, museums and housing are viable alternatives to a supercasino, the Government claimed today. But it freely admits none of these alone would bring the same economic boost as Las Vegas-style gambling. The admission comes in a report compiled for communities minister Hazel Blears after Prime Minister Gordon Brown called for alternative forms of regeneration to be examined for Blackpool and east Manchester.

Calls were today made for the Government to show its hand amid claims Blackpool’s long-awaited casino dream was dead and buried. Reports strongly suggest it is only days before Prime Minister Gordon Brown kills off plans the UK‘s first supercasino for good. It is rumoured letters sent to ministers in Scotland and Wales confirm the Government will press ahead with licences for 16 small casinos and scrap the supercasino.

Blackpool’s abandoned super-casino site and Winter Gardens are in the running to host the relocated Covent Garden Theatre Museum, after the V&A agreed to pursue proposals for a National Museum for the Performing Arts in the seaside town. The resort first announced its desire to become the museum’s new home a year ago – shortly before the London site shut – when parent organisation…

Blackpool’s regeneration is a Government priority personally endorsed by Gordon Brown, a special Westminster debate was told. Responding at the end of an hour-and-a-half long discussion in Whitehall about the future of the resort, a junior minister said he would take issues raised back to the heart of Government. Ian Wright, Under Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, said: „This is a major priority for my department and other departments with the personal endorsement of the Prime Minister, and I don’t think that will be ending.“

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has admitted Blackpool faces a tough future, but seems to have finally ruled out a super-casino coming to the resort. Speaking in his monthly press conference, he said: „As far as two large super-casinos are concerned, I’ve said I feel there are better ways of regenerating those areas and that’s what we’re looking at at the moment. „Hazel Blears, the secretary of state for local government is co-ordinating the work about what we can actually do…

The poor summer season for Britain’s seaside resorts has taken its toll on Blackpool as the town winds down for the winter break with 220 hotels and guesthouses, worth a total of GBP 57m, on the market. The resort is looking to reduce bedroom capacity from its current levels of 72,000 after losing the bid for the UK‘s supercasino – now scrapped by Gordon Brown – and a slow summer.

Blackpool is pressing ahead with its supercasino dreams despite claims the Government has torn up proposals for Las Vegas-style gambling in the UK. An outline planning application for two huge casinos, a conference centre, three hotels, offices and a Winter Promenade on the 20-acre Central Station site will be discussed by councillors on Monday. It is being recommended the submission, made almost a year ago is deferred to Government for final approval because of the scale of development.

A GBP 3.5m casino has opened in Blackpool, just months after the resort’s bid for a super-casino was rejected. Those behind the bid believed the bid was vital to restore the town’s fortunes, as visitor numbers have slumped by millions over the years. But peers rejected the Gambling Order backing the decision to build the super-casino in Manchester in March.

Pressure was today intensifying on Tessa Jowell to reverse Blackpool’s supercasino snub. So far the Culture Secretary has stood firm in her belief the Casino Advisory Panel was right to recommend Manchester as the location for the UK‘s first Las Vegas-style gambling mecca. But there’s a growing rebellion by MPs and Lords.

The company behind one of Blackpool’s busiest tourist attractions has backed Manchester’s supercasino victory. The Noble Organisation, which runs Coral Island, said their town’s bid was based on ’negative spin‘ and the head of the independent panel that picked Manchester had ‚fully justified‘ his ‚reputation for integrity‘. In a statement the company said: „As the panel recorded, Blackpool’s bid relied on dubious assertions, unsatisfactory economic data and an exaggeratedly negative portrayal of what remains Britain’s busiest and best seaside resort.