WEEKEND AND WEEKNIGHT VISITORS DRIVE RECOVERY OF AUSTRALIAN CITIES

New data shows Australia’s central business districts are slowly bouncing back post-Covid, thanks to weekend and weeknight visitors.

CBDs around Australia have almost fully recovered on weekends and are proving more popular on weeknights than before the pandemic, according to new data released by the Tourism and Transport Forum (TTF).

TTF CEO Margy Osmond said the arts, cultural and entertainment industries are to thank for the uptick in visitor numbers, helping counter the quieter weekdays.

“We’re seeing a national trend of more people wanting to head out into the city on weeknights and weekends, whether it’s to go and see a show or attend one of the major events being hosted around the country,” she said.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for our arts and cultural sectors to take advantage of the growing appetite for entertainment to help our CBDs continue to recover, now that Covid restrictions are largely a thing of the past.

The new DSpark report, commissioned by TTF, analysed anonymised and aggregated mobility data to examine the movement of the Australian adult population across the Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth CBDs.

It found the number of CBD workers are still well below pre-pandemic levels nationally, despite increasing since January.

“Many people are still working from home, especially in Sydney and Melbourne. It’s causing pain for retailers and cafes in the CBD who once relied on weekday foot traffic. Across Australia, we need to find ways to encourage more people back into their nearest city during the week,” Ms Osmond said.