Christmas

In 2019, we once again observed the power of Christmas markets to draw visitors, not only locals but out-of-towners, too. This reinforced the finding of a study conducted a few years ago by MK Illumination’s Business Development Director, Karl-Heinz König, and Dr. Eddy Donat from GMA, we surveyed around 1500 people and discovered that over the festive season, 64.2% of respondents had visited their local city center over the festive season, and that 59.6% of respondents had visited their local Christmas market.

We then questioned the Christmas market visitors further in order to understand what they valued about a Christmas market experience. The results?

As may be expected, the majority respondents initially visited a Christmas market to meet with friends, enjoy the food and drink stands, and do a bit of Christmas shopping. What was interesting was that a high percentage of visitors said that “atmosphere” and “Christmas feeling” were the main reasons for visiting.

When we started to ask more questions about what people valued at the market beyond the food, drink and stalls, the majority said that the festive lighting enhanced their experience, followed by the overall atmosphere, then the festive experience in the city as a whole, then related events, and finally a mix of the above along with the market offerings.