A vibrant and attractive city centre
Performance reflections
Coventry city centre footfall was down this year - the headline footfall data is the estimated daily average number of visitors to Coventry city centre. Across all of 2025 to 2026 this was 116,257 people, 5.9% lower than it was the previous year, 123,560. Coventry’s trend in the last year was not as good as Wolverhampton’s. In Coventry city centre Saturdays were the only day of the week with increased average daily footfall in 2025 to 2026, up by 1% whereas it was down by 6% across all weekdays, by most on Wednesdays (-13%) and Thursdays (-8%).
Overall, the average dwell time per visitor reduced in 2025 to 2026 as well as the total visitor numbers – a similar number of visitors used the city for short periods (<30 minutes) than in 2024 to 2025, but a notably reduced number dwelled for 6+ hours.
By origin, the biggest reductions were amongst people travelling in from nearby commuter areas, people with Warwickshire and Birmingham postcodes. These additional insights may indicate that reduced numbers of workers or commuters in the city centre are a factor in reducing footfall; perhaps lower employment inside the city centre area (so fewer workers who are located in the city centre all day), and perhaps increased working from home amongst local office workers.
A reduced number of university student enrolments in recent years may also be a factor. On the other hand, leisure use of the city centre may be more resilient, particularly on Saturdays.
2024 was a third consecutive record year for tourism in Coventry - it followed a refreshed marketing campaign by Destination Coventry (the local Destination Management Organisation) and built on the successes of previous years when Coventry was able to capitalise on the foundations presented by the City of Culture year and being a host city for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Actions taken in year
Destination Coventry went through a notable reset in 2024, and a new Coventry Tourism Strategy is in the process of development. A key aim will be to build on 3 consecutive record years of tourism, and build on a strong tourism offering. The hosting of major music events and Premier League football at the Coventry Building Society (CBS) Arena should further enhance the potential to further grow the visitor economy and increase dwell times and overnight stays.