How do the shopping streets overcome the coronavirus pandemic? What are the most important shopping destinations today? With tourists being out of sight for almost two years now and people working from home remaining the norm, we see some surprising shifts.
Up to 50 % fewer visitors
What are the most visited shopping areas in Europe? Typically, international leaders such as London’s Oxford Street and the Champs-Élysées are at the top of that list, but a year and a half of Covid has shaken up the ranking.
Almost everywhere, the number of visitors in the shopping streets this year is half to even two-thirds lower than pre-Covid (2019), according to a sample from Locatus conducted on a day in September 2021. Amsterdam and Paris recorded less than 40 % of the previous footfall, even though this was the time when we had a glimpse of supposed freedom.
Utrecht and Antwerp climb the ladder
Nevertheless, some cities are coming out surprisingly strong. It is striking, for example, that Utrecht moved up and surpassed Amsterdam and Rotterdam as a Dutch shopping destination. This leap was thanks to renewed popularity and good accessibility. Other medium-sized European cities also benefited from home working and the need for more local consumption. Manchester and Bilbao are also newcomers in the top-40 of most visited shopping streets, says a report by BNP Paribas Real Estate in collaboration with Locatus.
In the ranking, the Antwerp shopping street Meir ranks well above the Brussels shopping street Nieuwstraat this year, respectively, on positions 13 and 32. The more stringent covid measure at the time in Brussels probably plays a part in this. In general, according to Locatus, cities that attract many foreign tourists experienced the sharpest decline, while locations with a lot of national tourism did better. Shopping streets with supermarkets are also performing better than those without. Meir, for example, held up better than Schuttershofstraat and Huidevettersstraat, other ‘fashion destination’ streets in Antwerp.
Germany and Scandinavia spared
The German and Scandinavian cities, on the other hand, seem to have been spared the impact of Covid. In Cologne, the footfall even remained more or less the same. The five shopping streets with the smallest decrease (less than 20 %) can all be found in Germany and Scandinavia. Not only did they suffer less from Covid restrictions this autumn, but they are also more regionally oriented cities and – especially for Germany – places where online shopping is less prevalent.
To attract more people to cities in the future, BNP Paribas Fortis believes in the importance of events and further investments to make city centres more liveable. The bank notices projects for greener cities everywhere, with better public transport connections and a strong focus on cycling lanes and traffic-free zones. Multi-purpose buildings are becoming the norm in Europe: shoppers, workers and residents blend to create a new, continuous flow.
These are the most visited high streets in Europe (September 2021):
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1. Cologne – Schildergasse: 77,200 visitors
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2. London – Oxford Street: 72,200
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3. Munich – Kaufingerstraße: 69,800
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4. Frankfurt – Zeil: 64,300
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5. Madrid – Gran Via: 60,800
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6. London – Regent Street: 56,900
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7. Milan – Corso Vittorio Emanuele II: 54,600
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8. Cologne – Hohe Strasse: 48,000
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9. Barcelona – Av. del Portal de Angel: 46,900
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10. Paris – Av. des Champs-Élysées: 45,500
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13. Antwerp – Meir: 41,700
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32. Brussels – Nieuwstraat: 29,200
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38. Utrecht – Oudegracht: 25,500
