Record visitors spend £400m at Birmingham Christmas Markets

The increasing success of the event, including its jam-packed traditional Frankfurt Christmas market serving up pretzels, schnitzels, bratwursts, and knoblauchbrot, pulled in a record 5.5 million visitors.

That footfall figure is up 1.2 million from 2012's market.

This 28 per cent increase in visitor numbers contributed to a record consumer spend of £397 million – nearly double the £201 million generated in 2012 when figures were last calculated.

The city's hotel trade also benefited, with an average occupancy rate of 84 per cent during the Christmas Markets programme, up from 79 per cent in 2012.

Birmingham's festive offer in 2014 saw its Christmas Markets – the largest of their kind in the UK – attract audiences from across Europe. They formed the centrepiece of an extensive festive programme that saw a host of events and activities take place across the region.

Councillor Ian Ward, deputy leader of Birmingham City Council, said: "These record-breaking visitor numbers demonstrate the quality and wide appeal of Birmingham's Christmas Markets. Our extensive festive programme has drawn visitors from across the UK and Europe, all of whom have enjoyed the city's retail and events offer, as well as the famous Birmingham welcome.

"The positive figures form an excellent base for 2015, which is set to be one of Birmingham's most exciting periods in over a decade."

Birmingham is set to build upon the success of its Christmas Markets as it welcomes the world with a series of international tourism trade delegations visiting the region in the first quarter of 2015.

Hopes are high for a major boost to the local tourism industry as the region plays host to more than 50 leading travel buyers from India and Japan at the end of this month as part of ExploreGB – a new, flagship event developed by national tourism body VisitBritain.

It follows a visit to the area earlier this month from a group of key Icelandic journalists to launch the new Birmingham-Reykjavik service by Icelandair, along with visits from Australian travel consultants and 10 of Germany's leading conference and event organisers.

Paul Kehoe, chief executive of Birmingham Airport, said: "By playing host to important tourism delegations from across the globe in the coming weeks, we are opening up the region to a whole new visitor base, further increasing our international appeal."

Emma Gray, director at Marketing Birmingham, which operates the leisure and business tourism programmes Visit and Meet Birmingham, said: "The success of the Christmas Markets programme not only rounds off an exceptional year for Birmingham's visitor economy, but provides a ripple effect for continued success throughout the wider region in 2015."