Footfall expected to rise 6.5% over bank holiday weekend

By

Cajsa Lykke Carlson

Published
Aug 25, 2016

This August bank holiday weekend will see a 6.5% year-on-year increase in footfall in the UK, Springboard Marketing and Insights Director Diana Wehrle predicts.

This is due to the warm and dry weather, as well as an increase in domestic and overseas tourists, who are attracted by the fall in sterling. Sunday is set to see the highest increase in footfall, a predicted 7.2%. Wehrle says that over recent weeks, Springboard has seen better performance across all three retail destination types compared with 2015, particularly on high streets; footfall rose +1% over the last three weeks compared with the same period last year, when it dropped -3.3%

External shopping destinations - high streets and retail parks - are expected to see the highest increases, +7.3% and +8%, respectively, as "shoppers gravitate to these locations when the weather is favourable," Wehrle says. Though footfall in shopping centres is predicted to increase by 3.5%, high streets and retail parks are likely to see more of an uplift.

Last year's bank holiday weekend in August saw footfall in coastal towns rise by +15.8%.