Bognor sees surge in visitors thanks to heatwave

Due to weeks of glorious sunshine, Bognor Regis has seen a rise in its footfall figures and the town centre manager thinks the results are '˜deserved'.
Toyubur Rahman walks through town centreToyubur Rahman walks through town centre
Toyubur Rahman walks through town centre

The figures, revealed by Toyubur Rahman, show that 104,832 people were counted in the town centre between June 11 and 17 this year, compared to 103,687 at the same time last year.

This means there has been an increase of more than 16,000 people in two years, as 88,809 people were counted at the same time two years ago.

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Mr Rahman is confident of seeing a high footfall figure again this week following another heatwave.

He said: “I don’t know an exact figure yet, but from being out and about in the town centre, it is really busy.

People are out and about, there is a nice atmosphere and the beach itself is really busy.

“We’ve got a few new bars, restaurants in the town centre and they seem to be absolutely heaving.

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“It was absolutely ‘chock-a(-block)’ in town last Saturday in some of the pubs and bars. It is certainly having a welcome effect to businesses in the town centre.

“These type of days are ideal for people to come into the town centre.

“The car park seems to be full, everyone seems to be enjoying it and they are very welcome of the weather we have been having.”

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Mr Rahman believes the results are a deserved outcome from four years of hard work.

He added: “It is what we have been doing for the last four years or so, trying to maintain standards, keeping them as high as possible, maintain the promotion and marketing out of the town centre and trying to keep things positive for the town.

“It is from the groundwork that we have laid down over the past four years, in terms of the improvements, work with businesses, training, putting on good quality events in the town centre.

“We are also really engaging at the moment with social media with the Bognor team and all of that has culminated into what is a fantastic funder for the town.”

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Paul Wells, Bognor Business Improvement District (BID) chairman, also praised the impact of the hot weather.

“The hot weather has certainly brought a lot of people into Bognor Regis,” he said.

“There has been an increasing footfall in relation to people in the beach and the town, which is all beneficial to the vibrancy of the retail and seafront area.

“The town centre goes through different periods throughout the year so we will see some changes but there will always be an increase in the summer because it is a seasonal town.”