Festive boom as Lancaster city centre sees rise in visitor numbers

The city experienced a rise in visitors of more than two per cent in December, compared with the same month in 2022.

Footfall in Lancaster is also recovering favourably since the Covid pandemic when compared with other parts of the UK, despite still being almost eight per cent below 2019 figures.

Lancaster BID manager Tony Johnson thanked everyone who visited Lancaster in the run-up to the festive season.

"Despite the cost of living challenges meaning tough times for many businesses, Lancaster continues to perform strongly with footfall figures increasing by 2.1 per cent in December when compared to 2022," he said.

"Year-round footfall also increased with city centre footfall counters recording annual figures 1.5 per cent higher than the previous year.

"Lancaster has also continued to recover better from the pandemic in comparison to the rest of the UK. Although Lancaster footfall is still 7.8 per cent below the level in 2019, this compares very favourably with an average annual reduction of 13.5 per cent across the whole UK and 15.8 per cent across the north and Yorkshire.

"New businesses continue to open showing confidence in our wonderful city with the most recent addition being electric bike specialist, e-radicals opening on King Street just before Christmas.

"With such a fantastic range of quality independents, Lancaster is a truly unique place to visit. Remember to Love Local, Love Lancaster!

"Thanks to everyone for everything you do to make Lancaster so special."