Monthly Footfall Overview: July 2026

July saw continued growth across Bristol, with strong performance on Victoria Street and increased footfall in Broadmead.

Overall, July showed positive footfall trends across Bristol’s key city centre locations. Victoria Street saw a 2% increase in footfall and a 6% increase in unique visitors compared with June, while international visitors increased by 38%, coinciding with the start of the school summer holidays. Broadmead recorded a 9% increase in footfall compared with June, with Saturdays continuing to be the busiest days and weekday footfall increasing after the start of the summer holidays. The Harbour Festival also contributed to increased activity across the city centre, with particularly strong footfall around the weekend of 17–19 July.

Following our investment in Micro Location insights via O2/Virgin Media, a sensor has been installed on Victoria Street allowing us to better understand footfall trends across the city.

We also capture data through two sensors in Broadmead, installed on Broadmead East and the corner of Broadmead West and Union Street. These sensors measure passing footfall by combining AI-powered algorithms with existing camera networks.

PARK STREET*

*We have currently paused insights reporting for Park Street due to an upcoming change in the system.

VICTORIA STREET

OVERALL TRENDS

Overall, there was a 2% increase in footfall from June and a 6% increase in unique visitor numbers, meaning on average each person visited the area slightly less often in July. The daily average visitor number was 12,432, slightly down from 12,749 in June, but 36% higher than July 2025, when the daily average was 9,144.

Key trends included:

Peak footfall days: The busiest day for footfall was Saturday 18th July, followed by Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd July.
Key events: Bristol Harbour Festival took place from 17-19 July and brought large numbers of people to the harbourside area, including Queen Square and Wapping Wharf. Sunday 19th July saw footfall 35% higher than the average Sunday that month.
Summer holidays: International footfall increased by 38% compared with June, coinciding with the start of the school summer holidays. However, the start of the holidays had little impact on overall footfall in the Victoria Street area.

VISITOR DEMOGRAPHICS & BEHAVIOUR

Visitors were more likely to be younger than 64 compared with the national average.
43% of visitors were female, compared to 51% across the UK.
The most popular times to visit Victoria Street were commuting hours, between 8–9am and 5-6pm, and lunchtime, between 1-2pm. Saturday afternoons were also popular.
The average dwell time was 34.5 minutes, rising to 39.5 minutes when only ‘workers’ are included.
The location of the Victoria Street sensor, between a dense area of office buildings and a city centre park, means weekday commuting and lunchtime activity is likely to be driven by office workers.

SPENDING POWER & TRAVEL PATTERNS

Victoria Street attracted a higher proportion of visitors with ‘high’ or ‘very high’ spending power compared with the national average.
Average spending power was higher in July 2026 than in July 2025.
BS4 brought the highest number of visitors, followed by BS3.
60% of visitors came from Bristol postcode areas, 5% from Bath postcodes and 3% from Gloucester postcodes.
International footfall was 38% higher than in June, with Spain recording the highest number of international visits.

BROADMEAD

OVERALL TRENDS

The average daily footfall for Broadmead is divided between two sites: Broadmead East and 95 Broadmead.

In July, total footfall was 9% higher than in June and 2% lower than in July 2025. Broadmead East accounted for 73% of total footfall, while 95 Broadmead accounted for 27%.

Key trends included:

Saturday impact: Saturdays were the highest days for footfall across both sites, with Saturday 4th July the busiest, followed by Saturday 18th July, which coincided with the Harbour Festival weekend.
Summer holidays: Weekdays after the school summer holidays began were slightly busier than before the holidays, with average footfall 7% higher. This may be linked to parents taking children into the city centre during the holidays.

VISITOR DEMOGRAPHICS & BEHAVIOUR

The most popular time to visit Broadmead was Saturdays between 2–3pm, with weekday lunchtimes between 1–2pm and after work between 5–6pm also seeing spikes.
Saturdays were consistently the busiest days, while Sundays were the quietest.

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.