New data: Belfast best in UK for footfall during June, helped by concerts and tourists
However for Northern Ireland, the picture wasn’t as great, with overall footfall decreasing by 0.6% and shopping centre footfall also dropping by 1.6%
Belfast was the best in the UK for footfall during June helped by concerts, cruise ships and tourism.
Events like Belsonic, the arrival of cruise ship visitors and an influx of southern tourists made Belfast the UK’s best-performing city for footfall in the four weeks to June 29, according to NI Retail Consortium and Sensormatic IQ data.
Year-on-year footfall in Belfast increased by 3.7%, up from 0.7% in May.
Over the same period just three other major UK cities posted increases, all smaller than in Belfast, which were Edinburgh, Glasgow and Liverpool.
However for Northern Ireland, the picture wasn’t as great, with overall footfall decreasing by 0.6% in June (up from -3.0% in May) and shopping centre footfall also dropping by 1.6% in June, slightly down from -1.5% in May.
Neil Johnston, director of the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium, said: "Although Northern Ireland had negative year on year footfall, it performed better than England and Wales and only slighter worse than Scotland. Belfast performed the best out of all major cities in the UK, and for the past three or so months the footfall has been very good (compared to other cities).
“So, while overall the retail environment remains extremely challenging retailers in Northern Ireland are clearly working hard to entice shoppers. Retailers won’t be leaping with joy at these figures but may be encouraged by them.
“The Belfast figures may well be boosted by the recent series of concerts and by tourism. In addition to the usual wave of cruise ships recent times have shown very strong numbers of people coming up from the Republic.
“Year on year Belfast footfall was up by 3.7% when in comparison Cardiff was down 5.1% and London was down 2.5%.
It is a fact that food, alcohol and fuel are increasingly competitively priced in relation to the prices in the South so hopefully this will continue to encourage shoppers to come north.”
Andy Sumpter, retail consultant EMEA for Sensormatic Solutions, added: “June’s footfall saw an improvement in performance compared to last month, with the rain finally giving way to drier and sunnier weather and helping to deliver an ambient boost to shopper traffic.
"However, while edging up compared to May, store visits remain marginally down compared to 2023, suggesting recovery in shopper traffic has yet fully to turn a corner. Retailers will be hoping that major sporting events on the horizon, including Wimbledon and the Paris Olympics, provide positive opportunities to entice shoppers into store.”