Bath Christmas Market Survey 2023

Report

Bath Christmas Market Survey 2023

This report presents the findings of a face to face survey of visitors to Bath Christmas Market conducted between the 23rd November and 10th December 2023 and an additional online survey send out by Bath & North East Somerset Council to their market contacts between 13th December 2023 and 8th January 2024.

Published date: 20 March 2024
Last updated: 20 March 2024

Details

Read the executive summary

Overall, approximately 451,000 people are estimated to have attended the Christmas Market in Bath over the 18-day period between Thursday 23rd November and Sunday 10th December 2023 (426,000 2022 and 403,000 2019). Of these, approximately 323,000 are estimated to have been ‘unique’ visitors to the event (306,000 2022 and 284,000 2019) and when further analysed by those who said that the market was their main reason for visiting Bath (72% 2023), an estimate of approximately 224,000 unique visitors was calculated (220,000 2022 and 221,000 2019).

All associated spend in Bath for those attending the market was estimated at approximately £47 million (the same as 2022 and compared with £32.5 million 2019). This figure relates to all spend connected to those attending the market. So, spend at and away from the market for all visitor types and including the full length of stay in the city for staying visitors.

Business turnover arises as a result of the above market visitor spending, from the purchase of supplies and services locally by businesses in receipt of market visitor spending and as a result of the spending of wages in businesses by employees whose jobs are directly or indirectly supported by market visitor spending. The total business turnover derived from all associated spend was estimated at approximately £59.1m (£64.7m 2022 and £40.5m 2019). The number of FTE’s supported as a result of this was 609 or 833 actual jobs (781 and 1,046 during 2022 and respectively and 463 and 633 during 2019 respectively).

All additional associated spend was estimated at approximately £33.2 million – a decrease of -3% compared with 2022 £34.3m) and compared with £25m 2019. This is all spend connected to those attending the market for whom it was the main reason for their staying trip to Bath or the main reason for their day visit to the city – these are classed as influenced visitors and this is spend that would not have occurred had the market not taken place.

Total business turnover de rived from all additional associated spend was estimated at approximately £40.5m (£50.7m 2022 and £31.5m 2019). The number of FTE’s supported as a result of this was 420 or 574 actual jobs (618 and 822 during 2022 and 359 and 491 during 2019 respectively).

The proportions of staying visitors (27%), day visitors (59%) and residents (15%) remained virtually unchanged compared with 2022 (28%, 58% and 15% respectively of staying, day and resident visitors). The proportion of staying visitors (27%) and residents (15%) visiting the market have also increased compared with 2019 (24% and 12% respectively) whilst day visitors have decreased (63% 2019).

At 10% the proportion of adults with children groups visiting the market increased by 2% compared with both 2022 and 2019 levels (8% each).

The average group size at 2.45 people (0.15 children and 2.30 adults) has also increased compared with 2.10 people during 2022 and 2.15 people during 2019.

The only key change in age profile compared to 2022 was a 7% decrease in visitors aged 65+ years (12% 2023 & 19% in 2022). All other age groups were similar to 2022 proportions.

94% of all visitors were from the UK, compared with 97% during 2022 and the same proportion as during 2019. At 6%, the proportion of overseas visitors to the market has doubled compared with 2022 (3%) and returned to pre-pandemic levels (6% 2019). 54% of all visitors lived in the South West of England (56% 2022 and 50% 2019) including 18% within the BA postcode area (19% 2022 and 15% 2019). 41% lived elsewhere in the UK (same proportion as 2022 and compared with 45% 2019).

At 1.91 nights, the average length of stay amongst those visitors staying overnight in Bath during their visit to the market was lower than during both the 2022 (2.24) and 2019 surveys (2.27 nights).

Attendance at the market (amongst online survey respondents) was highest during the Friday to Sunday periods with the peak weekend being Friday 1st December to Sunday 3rd December.

20% of day visitors who were on holiday staying outside of the city were staying in nearby Bristol, the same proportion as during the 2022 survey and compared with 26% during 2019.

92% of staying visitors said they would consider returning to Bath for a short break at another time of the year compared with 95% during 2019 and 91% in 2019.

On average visitors had spent 4.01 hours or 4 hours 1 minute at the Christmas Market during 2023 – just 5 minutes longer than during 2022 (3.93 hours or 3 hours 56 minutes) but around 16 minutes shorter than during 2019 (4.28 hours or 4 hours 17 minutes).

At 34%, the proportion of first time visitors to the Christmas market decreased by 3% compared with 2022 but remained 3% higher than during 2019.

In a similar manner to 2022 and 2019, approximately half of respondents made the decision to visit the market within two months of it taking place (49%, compared with 52% in 2022 and 49% in 2019) with around a third visiting every year (26%) or deciding at last years’ market (5%).

Car/van etc. (54%) was once again the most popular form of transport used to travel to Bath – a similar proportion to both 2022 and 2019

55% of respondents arriving in the city by car/van etc. had used a city centre car park – a similar proportion to 2022 (54%) and an increase of 14% compared with 2019 (41%). 24% had used the city’s park & ride facility – a decrease of 11% compared with 2022 (35%) and a decrease of 18% compared with 2019 (42%). Double the proportion of 2023 visitors said they hadn’t used either a city centre car park or the park and ride or were unsure where they had parked compared with the proportion saying the same in 2022 (11%) and compared with 17% during 2019.

72% of visitors indicated that the Christmas Market was their main reason for visiting the city, a similar proportion to 2022 but 7% lower than during 2019 (79%).

22% of respondents whose main reason for visiting Bath was not because of market said they were visiting friends or relatives who lived in the city (21% and 28% respectively during 2022 and 2019). 18% said they worked or studied in the city (12% during 2022 and 14% during 2019).

74% of respondents indicated that they had/or were planning to have a meal out in Bath (74% and 77% respectively during 2022 and 2019) and 70% had/or were planning to do other shopping in Bath outside of the market (79% in 2022 and 75% in 2019). 18% had/or were planning to visit a tourist attraction in the city (23% and 24% respectively during 2022 and 2019).

49% of visitors were prompted to visit the market from a previous visit (48% in 2022 and 54% in 2019), whilst a further 25% had been recommended to visit it (same proportion as 2022 and 2019).

10% were prompted to visit via a social media site such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram etc. – a slight decrease of 4% compared with 2022 but remaining 6% higher than during 2019 (4%).

7% were prompted to visit via the internet (same proportion as 2022 and compared with 13% 2019), 2% via online advertising (3% in each case during 2022 and 2019) and 1% by a coach operator (1% and 3% respectively during 2022 and 2019).

There was a significant decrease during 2023 in the proportion of visitors using the internet to search for information about Bath Christmas Market only (36%) compared with both the 2022 and 2019 surveys (50% in each case). The same proportion, 36%, had used it to source information and to book their accommodation etc. online and this remained similar to both 2022 and 2019 (38% in each case). 36% had used the internet to search for Christmas shopping ideas generally, a 10% increase compared with 2022 (26%) and compared with 32% during 2019.

85% said they had been following the market on Facebook, a significant increase compared with the 71% doing so in 2022 and returning to a similar level as during 2019 (82%). 48% were doing the same on Instagram, an increase of 5% compared with 2022 (43%) and more than double the proportion who were doing so during 2019 (22%). 6% were following the market on Twitter, the same proportion as during 2022 and compared with 10% during 2019.

19% said they had been influenced to visit by the marketing/promotional materials they had seen compared with 20% and 18% respectively during 2022 and 2019. Considering the large proportion of respondents visiting because of a previous visit or as the result of a recommendation, both of which are unlikely to be influenced by any marketing/ promotional materials, this is a relatively good proportion of visitors being influenced. When these respondents are excluded from the analysis the level of influence of the marketing/promotional materials seen increases to 34% (38% 2022).

Average visitor spend per person per day at the Bath Christmas Market 2023 was £26.83, compared with £30.15 during 2022 and £23.77 in 2019. In addition, visitors spent an average of £26.16 on shopping elsewhere in the city, £23.82 on eating and drinking, £3.86 on entertainment and £9.36 on travel and transport, all decreases compared with 2022 with the exception of travel and transport spend. Staying visitors spent an average of £70.90 per person per night on accommodation in Bath, compared with £69.23 during 2022 and £67.17 during 2019.

With the exception of the quality of the stalls (where satisfaction still remained very high), visitor satisfaction levels with their Bath Christmas Market experience increased across the board compared with the 2022 market. Satisfaction levels were also higher than during the 2019 market for almost all aspects other than the range and quality of stalls and the range and quality of the catering facilities. The highest average scores were for the overall atmosphere (4.46), the site decoration, lighting etc. (4.42) and the quality of stalls (4.41) and 10 of the 11 indicators explored by the survey received an average score of 4.00 or more. Just 1 indicator, the number of new traders, received an average score of less than 4.00 (3.85).

At 4.37 out of 5.00, visitors’ overall rating of Bath Christmas Market remained very high and at the same level as during 2022 and slightly lower than during 2019 (4.43).

For the first time during the 2023 market, visitors were asked if they, or anyone in their party, had any accessibility needs. 7% of visitors said they did. These respondents were asked if they had visited the accessibility section on the Bath Christmas Market website prior to and/or during their visit. The majority of visitors to the market with accessibility needs said they have not visited the accessibility section on the Bath Christmas Market website prior to and/or during their visit (68%). 14% said they had visited it prior to their visit and 9% had done so during their visit. 9% didn’t know/were unsure.

These respondents were also to rate their satisfaction with the information available about the accessibility of the market (those visiting the accessibility section on the website only) and the market overall in terms of accessibility (all those with accessibility needs). Satisfaction levels with the information available about the accessibility of the market (3.53) and the market overall in terms of accessibility (3.27) were considerably lower than the satisfaction scores for all other indicators explored about the market. 13% of respondents rated the information available about the accessibility of the market as ‘very poor’ (2%) or ‘poor’ (11%) whilst 18% rated the market overall in terms of accessibility as ‘poor’ suggesting room for improvement in this area in the future.

The 2023 Bath Christmas Market achieved a good recommendation score of +33% but it did decrease by -6% compared with the 2022 market score and by -13% compared with the 2019 market.

73% of online survey respondents who said they had not visited the market during 2023 had visited the market previously (71% in 2022 and 68% in 2019), 23% had never visited (29% and 32% respectively during 2022 and 2019) and 5% didn’t know if they had previously visited the market or not. 36% of online survey respondents who said they had not visited the market during 2023 (8 online respondents) had visited another Christmas market in 2023. 50% of these respondents (4 online respondents) said they chose the other market in direct preference to Bath (50% in 2022 and 40% in 8
2019).

Documents