Christmas markets brought tourists and locals to city centres and High Streets as 2024 came to a close, according to latest figures.
Retail analysts MRI found shoppers were “making the most of festive events”, driving a 50% rise in shoppers in market towns compared with Christmas Eve 2023.
“People want a great day out, as well as getting their gifts,” said Hargreaves Lansdown’s retail expert Susannah Streeter.
Bristol trader Michelle Kingscott added: “There was a great atmosphere, loads of tourists and local people, the shop was buzzing.”
Ms Kingscott, who runs an independent card and gift shop, said the city centre was full every day.
But it was the big German-style market that brought the crowds in, regardless of the many local critics who derided the corny music and “over-priced bratwurst” on social media.
Across the country, German Christmas markets have proliferated, with wooden chalet style trading units, mulled wine, sausages, and twinkly lights.
In the centre of Bristol, the market now attracts people from across England and further afield.
Ms Kingscott said the city centre was “really busy” and people came from all over the world to buy her locally produced art and comical cards.
“We’ve had people from Poland, Germany, America – they love the Bristolian humour,” she added.
“Christmas was just crazy in here,” said another trader, Marcus Kent.
He runs Bristol’s Excelsior Comics, a specialist shop selling comics and board games, which he says has hit a sweet spot.
“Board games really took off after Covid, and people suddenly being locked away from their friends,” he said.
“People just really appreciate the social aspect of a physical game, something you have to share space with your friends with to enjoy.”
Between Christmas and New Year, town centres drew bigger crowds than out of town shopping malls, according to the research.
High Street footfall was up 20% on Dec 27 2024, compared with a year earlier, but retail parks grew less, by just 14%.
But one retail centre bucked the trend by hosting a number of festive events.
In Street, Somerset, Clarks Village is a designer outlet centre built where once the famous shoe factory stood.
To lure customers out in the cold weather, marketing bosses put on a challenge to get record numbers of Santa’s skating on ice.
They broke the record, and along with other eye-catching events, sales in the last quarter of the year grew by 6.1% on the previous Christmas.
Retail analyst Susannah Streeter said the figures showed shoppers are “returning to pre-Pandemic habits”.
More people want to try on clothes and shoes before they buy, she said.
“But mostly, people want to have a good time. That’s why we’re seeing Christmas markets growing as a trend as people want to enjoy eating, drinking and socialising, as well as shopping,” she added.