Traders at one of the UK’s busiest Christmas markets have said hard-up Brits are ‘spending less’. Each day, thousands visit the Birmingham Frankfurt Christmas market, attracting an extra 5.5 million visitors to the city each year – more than any outside of Germany and Austria.
With enough stalls to cover more than a kilometre, any visitor is sure to be satisfied, whether you’re looking to sample the festive food offerings or do some last-minute gift shopping.
Despite visitor numbers being up, some traders have noticed that profits are down as Brits feel the squeeze.
Ray Kussman, who runs a Swarovski jewellery stall at the market told BirminghamLive: “It’s not been a bad year, but not as good as the previous years.”
He said: “After the pandemic, people are spending less money which is bad for us. Now we have the bad news about the economy and the cost-of-living crisis, so we’ve sold less this year than before.
“The future is uncertain, so people need to be reasonable with their money. I’m hoping next year will be better.”
Families are facing rising bills and economic hardship nationwide and, thanks to a huge budget deficit, Birmingham residents will be facing a massive rise in council tax, potentially ruling out a day at the Christmas Market for some.
Some stall-keepers, however, have defied the economic conditions and seen business boom despite the financial pain.
Wendy Purser, who owns the Luminology business and sells decorative lamps at the Market, spoke to BirminghamLive about her first year of trading there. She said: “It’s been an amazing year. It’s been really busy and business has been great – we can’t wait to come back again next year.
”We’ve had lots of positive and lovely comments about our products too, so many people have told us they’ve never seen anything like it. It’s all been very positive.
“Coming to the German Market is a great experience so it’s been great to see so many people. We’ll be back next year with a wider range of products.”
Visitors to the Market have reportedly come from far and wide, according to one trader.
Ekta Upabhye has helped to run multiple stalls over the past two years and said that profits were up from last year.
She said: “It’s been a good year – a lot better than last year. We’ve had visitors from all over the world including Australia, the US and even Japan. The market is still a real tourist attraction.”
The Market has achieved both national and international acclaim. Voted the ‘best in the UK’ for 2023 by the European Travel Destinations (ETD) group, it regularly beats its competition on the continent, ranked 8th in Europe by European Best Destinations.
Birmingham’s Frankfurt Christmas Market will remain open until 8pm on December 24.
