TRENDS

ESSENTIAL
TRENDS
BID MARKET INTELLIGENCE
ISSUE 63 DECEMBER 2015
Princes Street, Edinburgh

Introduction
November’s figures for footfall and retail sales were a mixed
bag last month. Footfall performance was below 2014 and
the UK averages but retail sales were considerably higher
than both Scottish and UK averages. Hospitality figures are
also encouraging, over 3% up on a great 2014. The retail
sales, although showing positive growth, need to be viewed
with caution as many retailers have accounted for “Black
Friday” differently. It is hoped though, that this positive
trend in sales continues throughout December.
The footfall figures for November are disappointing, well below the UK
averages for both month on month and yearly comparisons. When we look
more closely at the breakdown of footfall across the different hours of the day
there was a decrease in footfall compared to last year in the evening hours
of over 12%. There were declines also in the core retail period of 4% and the
early morning period of 0.8% this November.
The hotel occupancy data is a month behind so we are reporting on October’s
figures. Although October’s hotel occupancy was the same as the previous

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year the revenue per room was higher than the last two years.
This is the final Essential Trends of 2015. Our bumper printed edition, which
includes December’s statistics, will be delivered to you in January.
And finally, all of us at Essential Edinburgh would like to with you a very merry
Christmas and prosperous 2016.
Roddy Smith
Chief Executive
Contents
Hotel Occupancy Page 4
October Footfall index Page 6
Day & night pedestrian
traffic Page 11
Sales Monitors Page 14
Parking Page 16
Convention Bureau Page 18
Edinburgh Airport Page 20

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Edinburgh Hotels Data for October 2015
The latest available data for October 2015 from STR Global
shows that 86% of rooms were occupied in Edinburgh
during the month. The average daily rate for rooms sold
was £79.99 whilst the revenue averaged across all available
rooms was £68.64. This is based on a sample of 100 hotels
totalling 10,639 rooms in Edinburgh.
The latest data for October 2015
shows that occupancy was the same
as the previous year and revenue per
room was higher than the last two
years. The occupancy rate in October
2015 and October 2014 was 85.8%,
the rate in October 2013 was 86.2%.
Revenue per available room rose in
cash terms by 2.4% on last year from
£67.03 to £68.64.
Comparing the last three years, a
pattern can be seen with peaks in
August for revenue per room and
dips in January for occupancy and
revenue per room.
Looking at the year from November
2014 to October 2015 Edinburgh has
had consistently higher occupancy
figures than the comparator cities in
Scotland since the spring.

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Edinburgh footfall index 2015
Edinburgh footfall figures for November 2015 are down by
-11.3% compared to October 2015 and by -5.8% compared to
November 2015. Month on month the UK footfall increased
by 6.5% but decreased by -1.6% compared to last year.
Princes Street at Marks & Spencer’s
was the busiest spot in the city centre
with 1,160,503 people counted during
November 2015. Comparing this to
last year shows a decrease of 1.3%,
which is lessr than the national
average which decreased by 1.6%,
compared with last year.
Monthly pedestrian numbers in the
city centre follow an annual trend.
They increase to their highest level of
the year in August and fall to the
lowest monthly totals during January
and February before starting to
increase again over spring and into
the Summer months. In November
the last month in which figures are
available, footfall decreased by 11.3%
from the previous month. The tables
below show footfall in the city centre
and a breakdown by counter area.
The daily information for the previous
month is also presented in the charts.
The UK footfall Index shows an
increase of 6.5% between October
2015 and November 2015, and

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decreased by 1.6% compared to
November 2014.
Helen Dickinson, Director General,
British Retail Consortium commenting
on the UK footfall, said: “Shopper
footfall wilted once again last month,
as consumers shunned high streets
and instead sought to take advantage
of online ‘Black Friday’ promotions
and discounts which often ranged
across several days. As a result
November was the eighth consecutive
month in which shopper footfall
declined, and at a faster rate than the
three-month average.
“Those retailers with a strong
multichannel offer
- allowing customers
to shop in-store, at
home and on the
move - will have
been well placed to
capitalise on this
further milestone in
the development of
our digital economy.
Once again retail
parks performed
well, with high
streets and
shopping malls
lagging behind.

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Day and night time pedestrian traffic in the
Essential Edinburgh BID area
In November annual comparable footfall is down by 5.1% in
the city centre on last year, with a large decrease in footfall
during the evening period.
Yearly Comparison
Compared to last year footfall has shown an overall decrease in November
2015. This hides a lot of variation which we can see by breaking the day down
into three periods: morning; core retail hours; and evening hours. The most
noticeable change in November was the 12.6% decrease in the evening hours.
The core retail period this November was 4% lower than last year, and the
early morning period decreased by 0.8%.
Monthly comparison
Overall footfall decreased by 7.8% compared to last month in the city centre.
In the evening period there was a decrease of 13%, the core retail period
decreased by 6.5%, and the morning hour period showed a decrease of
10.4%.

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Day and night time pedestrian traffic in the
Essential Edinburgh BID area cont...
The chart below shows the change in
footfall over four different three hour
periods. Around nine out of every ten
visitors in the city centre are recorded
over this 12 hour period. The largest
change in footfall in the city centre
compared to last year occurred in
evening period after 5pm where
footfall decreased by 9.8% on last
year.
The change this November compared
to last month shows a decrease in
footfall numbers. In the time period
after 8am footfall decreased by 5.0%,
between 11am and 2pm footfall
decreased by 1.1%. The after 2pm
time period also decreased by 7.5%
compared to last month. The after
5pm time period saw a decrease of
19.1%.
Note: BID area = Month and annual comparison includes counter locations: FCUK Frederick
Street; Jenners Rose Street; M&S Princes Street; Natwest George Street; Tiso Rose Street; and
South St Andrew Street.

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Sales Monitors for November 2015
Edinburgh retail sales were up 4.4% in November
2015 compared to this month in 2014. This means that
Edinburgh’s retailers were bucking the trend as sales for
Edinburgh’s Scottish peers fell 2.3% on a year earlier; for
the entire UK sales were up 0.7% which is still below the
Edinburgh figure.
The figures for Edinburgh are based
on a sample of city centre retailers
that take part in the Retail Monitoring
Programme. Although the overall
figures are positive, it should be noted
that participants who reported
year-on-year growth may be
accounting for “Black Friday”
revenues in a different way from those
reporting negative figures.
Hospitality businesses that take part
in the Hospitality Monitoring
Programme reported an increase in
sales of 3.0%.
Roddy Smith, Chief Executive of
Essential Edinburgh, said:
“November’s figures may hide a lot a
variation across the retail sector.
Retailers were better
prepared this year for
Black Friday. Some
chose not to take part
while many others
spread the discounts
over several days.
However, retailers may
see some pay-back
after the Black Friday
promotions led
shoppers to
pull-forward spending
that would otherwise have taken place
in December.”
David McCorquodale, head of retail at
KPMG, said that “the evidence
suggests Scottish consumers are
waiting for promoted bargains before
committing to spend. The unknown
element of this standoff is whether
retailers will feed this discount
addiction before Christmas, or, hold
their nerve and their margins.”
He added: “Most of the Black Friday
activity focused on electricals and
household appliances, with online
channels proving most popular.”
The SRC said when adjusted to factor
in the effect of online, non-food sales

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rose 0.4% in November against a rise
of 0.9% last year – this is not good
news for the High Street at this time of
the year.
The BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor
suggested, retail sales in the UK grew
by 0.7% in total, but fell by 0.4% on a
like-for-like basis, which strips out the
effect of store openings and closures.
Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of
the BRC, commenting on the UK
figures said: “Retailers worked hard to
offer attractive targeted Black Friday
promotions, which were often
extended across several days, as well
as enhancing the customer
experience by improving website
performance, offering user-friendly
apps and improving order delivery
services.
“As consumers and retailers continue
to adapt to the changing patterns of
omni-channel shopping, where the
lines between channels become less
and less relevant, this build-up to
Christmas is one of the hardest to
read in years.
“The conversion of people’s higher
disposable income into retail sales
shouldn’t be taken for granted.”
You are sent this information before publication in Essential Trends
if you agree to participate in the City Centre Monitoring Project. For
more information about how to participate in the Tunover
Monitoring Project please contact Tom Mathar, Research Manager
at LJ Research, who manage this project on our behalf:
Tom@ljresearch.co.uk or 0131 623 6217.

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Parking Index: November data 2015
Parking is important for businesses in the city centre and
the information below shows the number of times and
length of time each parking bay is used during the
chargeable period. The higher the turnover of paid parking
spaces the more opportunities for shoppers to find a space.
In the New Town there are 959 bays in zones 1A and 2,
which covers the Essential Edinburgh BID area.
It should be noted, that the
average daily number of
transactions per bay during
trading hours and the average
length of time parked are derived
from transactions at parking ticket
machines, varies throughout the
year. The relatively low number of
daily transactions per bay is likely to
be due to the usage of the bays by
holders of resident’s parking permits.
In the New Town over November
2015, the average turnover of parking
spaces per day was 2.0. This
compares to 2.2 in the Old Town, 1.7
in the West End and 0.9 in the East
End.
Parking utilisation
Shoppers looking to park their car
are more likely to find a space in the
streets that are less utilised. It is clear

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that George Street had the highest
levels of utilisation. This means that
the parking bays were used much
more than the average of the bays in
other streets. Thistle Street, North
Castle Street, West Register Street
and St Andrews Square are all used
more than average for parking. The
other streets are used less than
average for parking with Glenfinlas
Street having the lowest utilisation of
paid parking spaces within the New
Town.
This table reflects the levels of usage of parking bays during the times when parking
charges are levied: Monday – Saturday 8:30am – 5:30pm in areas with lower parking
ticket sales and 8:30am – 6:30pm in areas with higher ticket sales.
For real time information on utilisation rates in off-street car parks
follow this link: http://edinburgh.cdmf.info/public/carparks/list.htm

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Edinburgh’s Conferences
Marketing Edinburgh is the organisation
dedicated to promoting Edinburgh to the world,
and encompasses a Convention Bureau and Film
Office.
Business Tourism
Business Tourism is vital to the
economy of the city and delivers
significant financial benefits for
the city. It also positions the city
positively in key industry sectors,
brings global expertise into the
community and provides a platform
for future investment.
Convention Edinburgh (CE) attended
IBTM in November as part of the
VisitScotland stand – this is one of
the key European trade shows that
takes place in Barcelona and gives
CE the opportunity to meet with UK
and European buyers. CE had 53
pre scheduled appointments and
generated £7.7M in enquiries.
Since April 2015, Convention
Edinburgh alongside its members
has confirmed 104 conferences,
attracting just over 50,000 delegates
to the city between 2015 and
2021 with an economic benefit of
over £55M. Over the last month
(November) Convention Edinburgh
has secured 15 new conferences with
a combined economic benefit of just
under £5M.
Film
Edinburgh hosts over 300 film/TV
productions a year; 40% of visitors to
the UK are inspired by images they
have seen on the screen.
The signs are that 2015 has been
a very successful year for filming in
Edinburgh with economic impact at
£6.6m, an increase of £2m on 2014.
This is largely due to three largescale
productions (BBC TV dramas
One Of Us and The Secret Agent
and feature film Tommy’s Honour)
filming in the city region for several
months each as well as setting up
production bases to support the
production in the city. We persuaded
these productions to base here
thanks to the locations on offer in
the city region, as well as being
able to demonstrate that we have
a quarter of Scotland’s crew base.
Nevertheless, without a dedicated
film studio it has been a struggle to
accommodate these productions,
and we hope to have good news
about a studio facility for the city
region within the next couple of
months. Watch this space…
Film Edinburgh promotes Edinburgh
as a filming destination. Stunning
locations and a film-friendly
reputation are key to attracting
productions. Businesses interested
in registering as a location or service

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can contact Rosie Ellison at Film
Edinburgh to find out more and sign
up for free.
Email: info@filmedinburgh.org
Tel 0131 622 7337.
Upcoming Conferences
Conferences which will take place
during February, March and April
2016 have a combined value of over
£11M and will attract over 4,330
delegates.
Confirmed Conferences
23 - 25 Feb 2016, International Conference on Ocean Energy
ICOE’ 16, 1000 delegates
29 Feb - 3 March 2016, Chartered Institute of Housing Scotland,
1200 delegates
3 - 4 March 2016, CIPD’s Annual Scottish Conference, 300
delegates
7 - 11 March 2016, National Association of Pension Funds
Conference, 850 delegates
7 - 10 March 2016, Developments in Power System Protection,
300 delegates
21 - 23 March 2016, The British Liquid Crystal Society Annual
Conference 2016, 200 delegates
5 - 8 April 2016, RCN Annual International Nursing Research
Conference 2016, 450 delegates
6 - 9 April 2016, The Classical Association Conference 2016,
500 delegates
7 - 9 April 2016, Association of Art Historians Conference 2016,
500 delegates
14 - 16 April 2016, World Bar Conference of 2016, 250 delegates
20 - 21 April 2016, VisitScotland Expo 2016, 800 delegates

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Edinburgh Airport welcomes
‘Busiest ever November’
Passenger numbers see double digit increase from
November 2014
Edinburgh Airport has today
welcomed passenger figures
for November showing 794,792
passengers through its doors -
making last month the busiest
November ever at a Scottish airport.
This represents a 12.4% 44increase in
passenger numbers from the same
month last year and takes Edinburgh
Airport’s November pax to similar
levels as the height of summer at
many other regional airports in the
UK.
This success is largely due to
an annual 22.5% increase in
international routes including
easyJet and Ryanair’s services to
European destinations, Qatar Airways
increased service to Doha, strong
performances by Etihad Airways,
Turkish Airlines and Norwegian’s new
route to Tenerife.
Gordon Dewar, Chief Executive of
Edinburgh Airport, said:
“These exceptionally strong figures
represent our busiest ever November;
Edinburgh Airport has experienced
passenger numbers levels in
November– a quiet month in air
travel – on a par with what many other

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regional airports do at the peak of
summer.
“This tremendous achievement is a
direct result of our commitment to
increasing connectivity and choice
and improving the passenger
experience.
“This has been another recordbreaking
month and is a sure sign of
the growing success of both Scotland
and Edinburgh as a destination
which emphasises our position as a
key driver for Scotland’s economic
growth.
“Edinburgh Airport is going from
strength to strength – with more
airlines and greater choice of routes
to London, the rest of the UK, Europe
and across the globe - and we are on
course to make 2015 our busiest year
ever.”
www.edinburghairport.com
More information from:
Gordon Robertson, Director of Communications
07785 372961 or email: gordon_robertson@edinburghairport.com

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