Skegness in Lincolnshire is a popular holiday destination for Brits, but it was once named among the worst places to visit in the world – and the comparison didn’t go down well
Skegness in Lincolnshire once found itself on a list of the world’s worst holiday spots along with North Korea and Syria. The UK town found itself on the unlikely comparison list after Destination Tips rated it among the worst places to go for a getaway. Despite drawing in about four million punters each year, ‘Skeggy’, as it’s affectionately known, didn’t quite cut the mustard for the travel gurus, landing itself in the website’s dreaded top 10 back in 2017. According to Destination Tips, the once darling destination had become nothing but a “pile of dirt.”
More salt was poured into the wound when they wrote off the coastal gem: “Once thought of as a quaint seaside town in northern England, Skegness is now a pile of dirt bordering the North Sea with a run-down amusement park idly resting on the land.” This was all too much for the resort’s then-mayor, Dick Edginton, who took extreme umbrage at the site’s swipe, slamming the judgement as “absolutely offensive”, reports the Express.
Dick Edginton hit back fiercely: “There seems to be certain people who seem to do nothing but denigrate British seaside resorts. Skegness is one of the best resorts in the country with the highest visitor numbers. There are record levels of investment in the resort at the moment which shows confidence in business, both from local and national companies.”
He was in disbelief, remarking on the absurdity – “How anyone can compare Skegness to North Korea – one of the most oppressive regimes – is absolutely offensive. These comments should be held up to ridicule and contempt.” Kyiv in Ukraine has been named the worst place to visit, according to Destination Tips. Haiti’s Port-au-Prince came in second, with ongoing gang violence making it one of the world’s most dangerous countries. Syria’s Damascus was next on the list, a city left in crisis following years of conflict since 2011. The full list of Destination Tips’ worst places to visit is as follows:.
- Kiev, Ukraine
- Port au Prince, Haiti
- Damascus, Syria
- Mogadishu, Somalia
- Pyongyang, North Korea
- Ciudad Juarez, Mexico
- Bogota, Colombia
- Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Skegness, Lincolnshire
- Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
