City Centre Insights January 2023

Our monthly report offers a range of insights on the performance of York city centre. Click HERE to read the report for January 2023.

Footfall

During January 2023, data provided by O2 indicates that total footfall in York city centre decreased by 34% when compared to December 2022 and increased by 5% when compared to January 2022. The highest footfall levels were experienced during the last two Saturdays of the month during the festivities for Lunar New Year.

Visitor Demographics

Visitor demographics were overall consistent with the previous month, however we can observe a slight increase in the proportion of visitors who visit on multiple occasions, and a slight decrease in the proportion of visitors aged under 24.

39% 60% of The proportion of visits made by ‘locals’ with home locations based within a 10km radius of the city centre increased by 21% to represent 60% of total visits. 22% of total visitor traveled from 50km away or more which is a 14% decrease from the previous month. Note that figures do not reflect visits from oversees.

Overall, 49% of visitors were from the York Local Authority District, a 9% increase from the previous month.

Spend

Quarterly data provided by VISA (for October to December 2022), shows an 8.5% increase in spend via merchant transactions during December 2022 when compared to the previous year. On average, spend during December was up by 30% compared to October and November.

Throughout 2022, restaurants received the lion’s share spend, averaging 46% of all VISA card transactions in any given month. During December, both restaurants and hotels incurred their highest spend levels witnessed during 2022. On average, spend in retail and high street businesses was 55% higher during December 2022 than October and November.

On average, visitors travelling to the city centre from 30km or more spent 2.6% more per visit than those within the 30km radius in any given month.

VISA data is made available to us quarterly. Spend insights for Quarter 1 2023 will be made available as part of the April 2023 report.

To see our previous reports please visit our Insights & Trends page.

If you have any questions regarding the data, you are welcome to contact a member of the BID Team at info@theyorkbid.com