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I visited Blackpool very often as a child because my great aunt had a boarding house at Bispham. I remember it in its heyday when the millworkers (my mum and dad both worked in cotton mills) descended on Blackpool en masse at 'wakes weeks'.
It never was what could be described as 'classy' but it wasn't 'tatty', which is how I would describe it now. There always were hats with 'kiss me quick', but no phallic shaped souveniers or blow up dolls on display outside shops.
Every few weeks I travel on the local coast bus which goes through Blackpool, Bispham, Cleveleys, and Fleetwood. I never get off in Blackpool - driving through it and viewing the garish tatty buildings on the 'golden mile', and the seedyness of the shops and properties on the roads away from the front, is enough for me to stay on the bus to towns such as yours, Granny, which do give a better impression- Cleveleys. The works in progress on the promenade there look impressive and should attract more regular visitors (including me) next summer.
Blackpool has not taken the trouble to attract the elderly population, which could be their main source of visitors. Instead it has linked its survival to shabby night clubs attracting stag and hen parties, and to gambling arcades with garish frontages.
The reason I say that 'attract the oldies' is the way to go, is that they are the ones who are able to visit all year round, and are less inclined to pine for the sun of the Med. We oldies just require clean hotels with good basic meals and some nightly entertainment in a place where a leisurely walk on the promenade before breakfast or to watch the sunset on the sea after dinner, will not be spoilt by the night club dross of society.
I appreciate that young families are attracted by the Pleasure Beach. That is well south of the town and any entertainment venues for them could be centred there, leaving the centre and north of the resort to develop a better image to attract the older generation.
I have visited Eastbourne and LLandudno which survive without the 'tat', and are ideal venues for the oldies because of the lack of hills - Blackpool could be the same.
(I would appreciate the feedback of Doug and Granny who live there)
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Kingston is a tourist town, tourism is our largest moneymaker. And it does seem to attract tourists who like the old buildings, the very clean lakeshore, the museums, Fort Henry (part of a UN world heritage site which includes the Fort, the harbor fortifications, and, of course, the Rideau Canal), the boat tours of the 1000 Islands. There are also fine restaurants (Chez Piggy in particular) and good pubs and clubs. The crowd that comes here does tend to fit your category. Another advantage is that the oldies who come here are usually well-heeled and they spend large. The closest tacky destination is Niagara Falls, and even that is not so bad. We don't have too many horses. There are some guys on Wolfe Island who have carriages for weddings and for the fall hay rides. But when they dump on the street, no one seems to be too offended.
I have to admit that I used to love Blackpool, esp. the donkey rides when I was a kid ... but I do think that a little tackiness goes along with being Blackpool. Altho' it does seem that it has become a tad too seedy.