Bath visitor figures up over bank holiday despite pandemic

Tourist figures are up in Bath despite the pandemic, the city's BID says

Bath had more visitors on the spring bank holiday than it did on the same day two years ago, figures show.

The city's Business Improvement District (BID) said it had attracted 4.2% more visitors this year, boosted by people taking holidays in the UK.

It reflects an upturn in trade, with one cafe expanding ahead of the summer.

"The juices are flowing again, the city is moving and we are going to survive this," Allison Herbert, Bath BID's chief executive, said.

"Last week, the bank holiday Sunday smashed the equivalents in 2019, pre-Covid levels. The great British people are voting with their feet and are coming back to Bath in their numbers."

She said the upturn was "even more significant" since there are no international visitors because of the pandemic.

Allison Herbert said visitor figures in Bath for the bank holiday "smashed" those in 2019

The BID said 187,775 visitors were counted on 10 machines located across the city on 31 May, compared to 180,047 in the same period in 2019.

Just 24,912 people were counted on the same day in 2020, a few months into the coronavirus pandemic.

Steph Wilder, who owns the city's Good Day Cafe, said the recent half-term break was "seven good days in a row" and she was hiring a new baker.

"[The half-term] was record-breaking in terms of revenue for us and it was just amazing to see so many people coming to enjoy themselves," she said.

"It couldn't have gone any better and I'm just so happy with all of my team and to see things come back in the way they have."