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Saturday’s 9th annual Motor Festival has resulted in record numbers of visitors to Worcester city centre, organisers have announced.
Figures released have shown that the impact of the event was such that footfall on the day rose 37% compared with the previous Saturday and was 3% higher than the event last year. Meanwhile, the usage of pay for parking by phone scheme RingGo has its busiest day since it became available in the 14 City Council car parks in November 2010.
Adrian Field, Head of Worcester BID who organised the event added ‘the number of people in the city centre on Saturday was comparable with the Saturday just 12 days before Christmas which is outstanding. We are delighted with the feedback from the businesses, public, street entertainers and the car dealerships and vintage car owners which has all been positive. The number of businesses who got involved was higher than in previous years with more streets having activities on them. The new elements of the event such as the F1 simulator, workshops to allow children to paint using remote controlled cars and Scalextric course were clearly enjoyed by all. We noticed that people stayed in the city centre longer as well which was an aim as this helps to translate into higher sales with the businesses.’
Winner of the Best Dressed Shop Window competition was ladies boutique, Halo Style, based in CrownGate Shopping Centre’s Chapel Walk which featured F1 overalls, car tyres and even a racing car chassis.
Mr Field added ‘The aim of the events is to try and get people into businesses and areas of the city centre that they perhaps haven’t been to before and to use them as a shop window for the businesses here in order to encourage return visits.’
