Following on from our story yesterday which plotted how “footfall” was increasing in York an independent organisation has now reported that “spend” is also recovering.
The “Centre for Cities” says that York is just outside the national top ten of centres that are doing well.
York has an index of 97. The best is Bournemouth with 117.
Larger Cities like London and Manchester are doing less well.
The latest footfall camera figures for central York confirm that visitor numbers are steadily increasing.
By the third week in August they had reached over 80% of the figures seen during the equivalent period last year.
The figures for the bank holiday are not yet available but it did appear to be busy in the City last weekend.
Comparisons of numbers for the weekends in the earlier part of the month suggest a slower recovery. This may be due to more people visiting the City during the week as they make the most of the school holidays.
The difficulties in arranging foreign holidays may also have given the City a boost.
There is still some way to go to achieve pre COVID numbers with some traders still suffering from the lack of office workers in the City centre.
Still the resurgence – which is born out by the numbers using the City’s car parks – is probably stronger and quicker than many might have predicted.
NB. Figures from some footfall cameras are unreliable and have been excluded for this analysis.
The latest footfall figures, reproduced by the BID team, reveal that there has been a 4% drop in visitor numbers so far this year. It is even worse on a year on year basis and is below the county average
That is a poor platform on which to approach the, normally busy, run up to Christmas.
In Acomb, the picture is slightly different with some traders reporting steady business trends. This is despite the lamentable performance recently of the Council in keeping open spaces, gutters and the areas around trees and street furniture free of weeds and litter.
The picture in residential areas is also disappointing with weeds disfiguring many streets
City centre traders are likely to be looking with concern at the numbers of people who are visiting the City centre. New footfall figures have been published.
The figures suggest that visitor numbers to the City may have plateaued.
Long periods of hot weather haven’t, in the past, been good for York with some tourists preferring to visit coastal areas.
This years weather has been mixed.
Special attractions like the Rose Theatre, although generally successful, are not sold out while interest in events like the current “Great Yorkshire Fringe” are at best comparable with last year.
During June several York streets saw a 10% drop in visitor numbers in 2019 compared to the same month in 2018.
Early figures for July in Parliament Street suggest a 4% drop in visitor numbers during July.
Perhaps not surprisingly, given the number of empty shops on Coney Street, that area has seen visitor numbers drop from 812,808 in June 2017 to 713,762 in June of this year.
There is no shortage of excellent “Festivals“ in York while the work of the BID has seen several parts of the city centre tidied up.
The most important time for many City centre traders is the period between now and Christmas.
Lets hope that the City continues to be “best day out” in the region
St Nicholas market popular this year
Traders in York are saying that they have had a very good period in the run up to Christmas. The St Nicholas market has attracted coachloads of visitors, while the Christmas lights displays have been generally applauded.
Special events like the display in the Museum Gardens have added to the festive spirit.
The number of people on the streets has been high during late November and December although the final figures won’t be known until after the holiday.
But, of course, everything is relative with overall visitor numbers, as measured by “footfall” cameras, broadly the same as they were 7 years ago.
There are of course peaks and troughs. There was distinct peak, for example, when the Tour de France visited York in 2014. But that boost was largely transient.
Some will point out that there are parts of the City centre which have been neglected. Duncombe Place is an unexploited opportunity, particularly at Christmas time, while Exhibition Square (outside the Art Gallery), is too often a deserted and windswept place.
Parliament Street remains a visual embarrassment made worst this year by the ugly shipping container village.
Footfall in Coney Street has shown the biggest fall with long term empty shop units mainly to blame.
Nor does footfall always translate into economic activity although several attractions, including The Minster and Merchant Adventurers Hall, are reporting a 5 year high in visitors.
January and February may give a more realistic set of figures on which to measure whether the City centre is bouncing back from the recession and changes to shopping habits.
We hope that it is.
Footfall trend in key shopping streets
Footfall in Parliament Street
The Council has published the latest figures from its footfall cameras. The figures cover the period up to 25th December 2016 and provide a guide to the number of people walking around the City Centre.
December Visitor numbers in York
At first glance, the figures suggest that impressions about visitor numbers may have been optimistic. There has been a dramatic drop in the numbers on Coney Street, no doubt influenced by the high profile shop closures which took place in 2016.
Other streets are also showing a drop compared to 2015 when the Boxing Day floods took a toll on some parts of the City centre.
Even Parliament Street – which should have benefited from the ambitious St Nicholas Fair – doesn’t seem to have enjoyed the expected boost.
Of course, footfall figures are only part of the story. Trader turnover is a vital barometer while hotels look at room occupancy figures. The latter were buoyant earlier in the year.
Large and small visitor attractions monitor admission numbers carefully and there is some evidence to suggest that iconic attractions like the Minster did well towards the end of the year.
It may also be that the benefits of a cleaner, safer and better illuminated City centre – sponsored by the Business Improvement District – will make a difference in future years as “word of mouth” spreads the good news..
…. but in the meantime the authorities should be producing an analysis of what went right, together with a battle plan to address any failings.
Castle car park not full this week
Parliament Street quiet since Christmas
The latest footfall numbers have been published by the York Council for key shopping streets in the City
Some show stable numbers of visitors over the last few years.
In most cases the trend has been disappointing since the end of the recession.
The figures have been released only a few days after the Museums Trust revealed that declining numbers were visiting their attractions in the City centre. There have been some concerns about the number of vacant seats at the (critically acclaimed) current production of the Mystery Plays.
Visitor attractions and shopkeepers will be expecting that the large amount of money, raised by the Business Improvement District (BID), will be invested wisely and quickly.
Numbers increasing on Church Street
Visitor numbers declining on Coney Street
Downward trend until recently on Micklegate
Fewer visitors on part of Parliament Street
Numbers near Marks and Spencers stable
Downward trend on Stonegate
Footfall cameras suggest popularity increasingThe latest footfall figures – taken from several camera locations in the City centre – reveal that more people are visiting the area than 12 months ago.
Figures for Coney Street reveal an average of 25,926 movements per day over the 12 months up to 13th December. That is the highest ever recorded, based on a 12 month rolling average
There is a similar picture in Church Street where an average of 3922 people are currently being recorded each day. This compared to 3861 recorded in the `12 months leading up to 24th August.
There has been a small reduction in footfall in Micklegate, where it is down from 7101 recorded in August to 6986 today.
Parliament Street has averaged 24511 movements per day so far in December.
Detailed figures are available on the Councils open data web site Click
The latest “footfall” figures released by the Council suggest that fewer people have walked through the Parliament Street area over the last year.
A 12% reduction in footfall numbers may partly be influenced by the location (and relocation) of the market while a single week increase may indicate a special event being staged.
The camera records for Parliament Street stretch back to 2009. In some weeks the numbers may have been affected by visitors being “channeled” by stalls and other street furniture either beneath the cameras or out of their range.
However using a 12 month rolling weekly average numbers have declined in recent months.
Elsewhere in the City centre, footfall cameras suggest a more stable visitor pattern.
Overall the figures suggest that the City centre has felt the benefits of a recovering economy. However, there are some concerning trends which may require action by the new “Make it York” economic development body.
The figures are likely to strengthen the case for establishing a Business Improvement District in the City centre
The figures can be downloaded from the Councils open access web site. A summary spreadsheet is available by clicking here
click
The number of visitors to the York City centre is now comparable with pre recession levels.
The area seems to have recovered from the reduction seen during the summer and autumn of 2013 when the Lendal bridge closure resulted in adverse publicity for the City across a wide part of the UK and indeed Europe.
The recovery seems to have extended into 2015 with 24% more pedestrian movements logged in January 2015 compared to 2014, with 10% more recorded during February
A complete day by day footfall monitor for cameras in Parliament Street, Coney Street, Church Street, Micklegate and Stonegate can be downloaded by clicking here. The latter 4 camera sites have been operating for less than a year, making comparisons difficult
Some caution should be used when looking at the footfall numbers.
The cameras may have been relocated in the past while special events and market stall locations, can “channel” greater or lesser numbers of people into range of the cameras.
The data is not of course a measure of how much people are spending in the City centre.
