Last year’s Bath Christmas Market boosted the city’s economy by more than £40m – the most in its 17-year history, organisers revealed today as they announced the dates for this year.
According to independent research carried out for Visit Bath, the city’s destination marketing body responsible for staging the market, its 200-plus stalls – 87% of which were from Bath and the South West – earned a total of £10.7m.
However, an even bigger sum – £29.4m – went into shops, bars, cafés and restaurants around the city during the 18 days the market was held.
Visit Bath hailed the figure – a 40% increase on 2016 – as proof that its strategy of spacing out the market’s wooden chalets further around the city centre had paid off.
Some city centre retailers had complained in previous years that the market caused traffic congestion on main roads into the city, made it difficult to get around on foot and took spending away from its established shops.
The biggest shopping event in the South West, the market attracts nearly half a million visitors.
The survey also showed that Bath charities benefitted from the 2017 Christmas Market, with £12,000 distributed to various local causes.
Visitor satisfaction levels were also higher last year, according to the survey, with the quality and range of stalls, site decoration and improved lighting all seen as positives.
It also revealed that the three other most popular activities for people attending the market were going to other shops in the city, eating in a restaurant and visiting an attraction such as Bath Abbey and the Roman Baths.
More than 1,200 visitors were interviewed for the survey, which was carried out by The South West Research Company. Visitor numbers were estimated from an accumulation of statistics gathered from Great Western Railway, footfall counters, First Bus, coach companies, car parks and the park and ride.
Visitor spend and impact on the economy was calculated by gaining an average spend per visitor and then using an industry standard multiplication method.
Visit Bath chief executive David James said; “We are absolutely delighted with the results of the 2017 Bath Christmas Market and the income that it brought to the city – the most we have ever seen in the event’s history.
“We worked hard to improve the visitor experience by spreading chalets out further and working with Bath Business Improvement District (BID) to create engaging community events in outer parts of the city centre.
“This clearly had a very positive impact on the visitor spend in the shops, restaurants, hotels and other local businesses, as well as on the overall atmosphere. Bath Christmas Market is the highest-earning event Bath has and is crucial in supporting the city’s economy.”
Last year the market was hailed as the UK’s best outdoor event and a benchmark for other cities’ festive markets by the National Outdoor Events Association (NOEA), the UK’s leading exterior events trade body.
This year’s Christmas market will run from Thursday November 22 to Sunday December 9 inclusive.
Charities to benefit from collections at the market were; Bath Foodbank Genesis Trust Bath, Three Ways School, Bath FoodCycle, The Cleveland Pools Trust, WaterAid: Supported by Wessex Water, We Hear You, Bath and NE Somerset Carers Centre, Guide Dogs For The Blind, Happy Landings Animal Shelter, The Great Western Air Ambulance Charity, Project Parent, Trauma Recovery Centre, The Forever Friend Appeal, Bath Inner Wheel Club, Alzheimer’s Support, The Archway Project, CCS Adoption, Royal National Lifeboat Institution, Lepra, British Heart Foundation, Bath Child Contact Centre, Humane Society International and Holly Hedge Animal Sanctuary.
