Since the lockdown, the number of visitors in the inner cities of Brabant has almost doubled again in the first weeks of 2022. The number of visitors is almost as high as the busiest "Christmas shopping" Saturday in December. This is evident from a study conducted by Breda University of Applied Sciences and the data company Argaleo. In this study, the visitor numbers of the twelve largest cities in Brabant were examined in order to provide insight and support for the economic recovery after the corona.
The analysis looked at the city centres of the largest cities in Brabant, Eindhoven, Tilburg, Breda, Helmond and 's-Hertogenbosch, and the medium-sized municipalities of Bergen op Zoom, Oosterhout, Oss, Roosendaal, Uden, Veghel and Waalwijk. The analyses looked at the number of visitors on Saturdays over the past ten weeks.
Back to the level before Christmas
The results show that there is a big peak in the number of visitors on Saturday 18 December. This is the Saturday before the lockdown, when the non-essential shops, cafes and restaurants closed again. In the following lockdown weeks, the number of visitors dropped to around 50%. However, this decline was fully compensated for by the opening of shops on 15 January and cafés on 29 January.
"The explanation is quite logical. On 19 December, the lockdown started. Consumers went to town on 18 December to buy gifts," says Stefan van Aarle, city centre professional and owner of Stadskracht. "I recognise the strong recovery after the easing in January from the signals from entrepreneurs. In recent weeks, turnover and visitor figures have been ahead of what you would expect on a normal Saturday at this time of year. We saw the same thing after the previous lockdowns. Consumers kept a tight hand on their purses for a while and compensated for this in the period after. However, that effect is slowly ebbing away. But it does give hope to the retail sector.
Difference between large and medium-sized cities
Another remarkable thing that emerges from the analyses is the difference between large and medium-sized cities. If we look at the number of inner city visitors and we relate this to the number of inhabitants, it appears that especially the inhabitants of the medium-sized cities are much more dependent on their own centre than the large cities. Who thinks that the number of visitors in the large cities is much higher than the rest is wrong. A city like Oss attracts as many centre visitors as 's-Hertogenbosch and Breda on certain Saturdays.
Downtown data dashboard
The results are made available to inner cities to support them in their strategy and decision making. In addition to visitors, the data looks at issues such as vacancy, real estate, accessibility, logistics, environment and safety. "Using this data we try to help inner city professionals with a fresh look at the functioning of the city" says Joost de Kruijf, programme manager Liveable City at BUas.
Digitwin data dashboard
Would you like to know more about the survey or the data dashboard?
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