footfall & spend insights

Monthly Footfall Overview: August 2025

August saw a surge of activity across the city, with footfall closely aligned to key events

05/09/2025

Following our investment in Micro Location insights via O2/Virgin Media, two sensors have been installed on Victoria Street and Park Street, allowing us to better understand footfall trends across the city.

August saw plenty of activity taking place across the city with Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, IDLES Block Party Gigs, Forwards Festival, and Old City Sounds, plus a host of activity throughout the month, and the sunny August bank holiday weekend.

August experienced a slight decrease in footfall compared to July, however, year-on-year figures remain high, up 45% on Park Street and 540% on Victoria Street. This increase year-on-year is likely due to consistent good weather at the beginning of the month, followed by a month of city-wide events.

 

PARK STREET

 

OVERALL TRENDS*

Compared to July, footfall on Park Street decreased by 13%, with a 4% decrease in visitors, meaning on average, each visitor visited the area less frequently than in July. The average daily visitor number in August was 12,327 compared to 14,224 in July.

Key trends included: 

  • Large-scale events: The highest days for footfall were Friday 8 and Saturday 9 August (Bristol International Balloon Fiesta), followed by Saturday 2 August (IDLES Block Party gig). Although these events did not take place in the immediate vicinity of Park Street, their effect was noticeable across the city. 
  • Saturday impact: Saturdays continue to be the most popular days for footfall on Park Street, where weekly footfall patterns for August were similar for each week. The only exception to this was Saturday 30 August which was a cool, rainy day, demonstrating the effect weather has on visitor numbers.
  • International visits: Unlike previous months, there was a 15% decrease in international visitors in August. However, due to the 47% increase seen in July, total international visitors for August was still considerably higher than previous months of the year. The largest number of international visits in August were made from Germany.

*These figures include a partial loss of network on the Park Street data cell on 9 and 11 July and a full loss on 10 July



VISITOR DEMOGRAPHICS & BEHAVIOUR

  • A higher percentage of visitors were aged 18-64 compared to the national average, while fewer were 65+.

  • The most popular time to visit Park Street was from 2-5pm on Saturdays, with weekdays after work from 5-6pm also fairly popular, however, this time period was not as pronounced compared to earlier in the year. This suggests that those who usually work or commute nearby were not in the area, and were likely away for the summer period.

  • ‘Out of area’ visitors (those visiting rather than working or residing nearby) made up 76% of visits, up 2% from July. However, the percentage of visits made by ‘out of area’ visitors on event days for IDLES Block Party, Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, Old City Sounds, and Forwards, was 81%, emphasising the appeal that large scale events have on visitors to the city.

  • The average dwell time was just under 26 minutes, slightly less than July.

  • 46% of visitors were female, compared to 51% nationally.

SPENDING POWER & TRAVEL PATTERNS

  • Compared to the UK average, Park Street visitors had a ‘high’ or ‘very high’ spend power. 
  • The proportion of visitors with ‘mid’, ‘high’, and ‘very high’ spend power was higher in August than July. 
  • When comparing the spending power of different categories of visitor, ‘residents’ had the highest average, followed by ‘visitors’ and then ‘workers’.   
  • 61% of visitors made 1 visit, 34% made 2-5 visits, 4% made 6-10 visits, and 1% visited over 11 times. This aligns with the average number of visits per person decreasing from July to August.
  • The highest number of visitors came from BS8 postcodes, followed by BS6.
  • 63% of visitors came from the Bristol area, slightly lower than July. 3% came from both Bath and Gloucester postcodes.

 

VICTORIA STREET

 

OVERALL TRENDS*

In August, footfall on Victoria Street decreased by 9%, with a 2% decrease in visitors, meaning the average visitor visited the area slightly less frequently than in July. The average daily visitor number for August was 8,298 compared to 9,144 in July.

Key trends included: 

  • Large-scale events: The highest days for footfall coincided with events across the city, including Friday 1 and Saturday 2 August (IDLES Block Party gigs). Although these events did not take place in the immediate vicinity, they had an impact on footfall across the city.
  • International visits: There was a 2% increase from international visitors in August compared to July, with the largest number of visitors from Germany. Along with the 70% increase in international visitors from July to August, this highlights that summer months are the most popular time for international visitors to travel to Bristol.

*These figures include a partial loss of network on the Victoria Street data cell on 13 and 15 July and a full loss on 14 July

VISITOR DEMOGRAPHICS & BEHAVIOURS 

  • A higher percentage of visitors were aged 18-64 compared to the national average, while fewer were 65+.
  • The most popular time to visit Victoria Street was lunchtime (1-2pm), after work (5-6pm) on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and Saturday afternoons (1-4pm). The Victoria Street sensor is located close to a dense area of office buildings which are still making an impact on footfall patterns despite many workers away for the summer. 
  • Sunday was the least popular day of the week to visit Victoria Street, however, the lowest day for footfall was bank holiday Monday 25th August. ‘Workers’ made up only 6% of footfall on the bank holiday but 18% across the rest of the weekdays in the month. 
  • The average dwell time was 30 and a half minutes, similar to July. 
  • 44% of visitors were female, compared to 51% nationally. 
  • The percentage of ‘out of area’ visitors (those visiting rather than working or residing nearby) was 75%, the same as July.

SPENDING POWER & TRAVEL PATTERNS 

  • Compared to the UK average, Victoria Street attracted a larger proportion of visitors with ‘high’ or ‘very high’ spend power. 
  • The proportion of visitors with ‘very high’ and ‘high’ spend power was higher in August than in July. 
  • When comparing the spending power of different categories of visitor, ‘visitors’ had the highest average spend power, followed by ‘residents’ and then ‘workers’.   
  • 67% of visitors made 1 visit, 28% made 2-5 visits, 4% made 6-10 visits, and 1% made 11+ visits. This aligns with the average number of visits per person being slightly lower than in July. 
  • The highest number of visitors came from BS4 postcodes, followed by BS5.
  • 57% of visitors to Victoria Street came from the Bristol area, down 2% from July, possibly due to people travelling further afield over the summer and events. 5% came from Bath postcodes and 3% from Gloucester postcodes.

 

Our Footfall & Insights pages are updated weekly with the latest footfall data. Please refer to our Reports & Resources section for a snapshot overview of footfall in our Monthly Visitor Reports and an overview of spend behaviours in our Quarterly Spend Reports.

The expanded footfall data can be viewed through our online dashboard for more effective and informed decision making. Please get in touch if you would like more information.

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