Christmas event brings visitors to Winchester
The visit to Winchester of the Coca-Cola Christmas truck brought some extra festive cheer for the local economy.
Footfall figures in Winchester on the day show a 40.5% increase on 2014. On Thursday 17 December 2015 the figure recorded was 17,728 compared with 12,612 on Thursday 18 December 2014. Around 7,000 people visited the Coca Cola truck.
The City Council surveyed around 500 people who attended the event. The majority said they were combining their trip to see the Christmas truck with a visit to the shops, Christmas market and ice rink or that they would be eating out in the city.
Cllr James Byrnes, the Portfolio Holder for Local Economy, said:
When Winchester was approached by Coca-Cola to be one of 46 city locations we took the view that the truck would add a different element to the city's Christmas offer.
We hoped that many people would enjoy the event and that it would bring economic benefits to the city - both of which seem to be the case. There was a huge “feelgood” factor in Winchester to help celebrate the 10th year of the Christmas market.
Great care was taken with the location and pre-event publicity to maximise the opportunity for those who wanted to see the truck to do so safely while minimising inconvenience to others. I am delighted that the arrangements worked well.