Were seaside towns in the UK in the past particularly dependent on tourism though?
And has a similar phenomenon occurred in other cooler-climate countries, in Europe or elsewhere?
Tasmania's climate isn't so far off the UK's, yet I'm not aware of any hollowing-out effect among coastal towns there (Hobart has roughly the population of Blackpool, and was doing just fine last time I visited).
Hobart is the largest town on Tasmania, so presumably as well as tourism it is also a regional focus for industry and non-tourism services.
Blackpool is 25km from Preston (same size), a little further from Liverpool and Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield (all large cities). The industry and services are in the other cities.
