Early figures have shown Liverpool city centre bounced back strongly last week as hospitality and tourism attractions reopened - despite the poor weather.
Footfall on Saturday - the first weekend day after pubs and restaurants were permitted to open indoors on May 17 - soared over 244,000 - compared to the busiest Saturday over Christmas - December 12 - when that figure stood at 208,500.
In fact, that 244,000 figure was the highest Saturday figure since March 7, 2020 - before the pandemic - when it was just under 245,000.
The figures have been released by the Liverpool BID Company, and also showed the weekly total hit 1,166,703 - not far off the same weekend in 2019, which was 1,296,212. Wednesday's total of 170,450 was the busiest Wednesday since August last year.
Overall, the figures increased by over 16.5% on the week before.
That's despite a week of bad weather in which wind and rain battered Merseyside.
Bill Addy, chief executive of the BID, said: “Considering the level of rainfall last week, last week’s footfall figures show Liverpool’s desire to bounce back after lockdown. With arts and cultural events like Liverpool Biennial and LightNight, the reopening of indoor hospitality as well as entertainment and leisure venues has shown the draw our city centre has and its vibrant mixed economy.
"It is great to see people coming back into the city centre but we continue to emphasise the need to keep coming back safely.
"Liverpool’s current figures are very low, and the vaccine uptake remains high, but we know how fast the situation can change. We’re clearly all working hard to keep this recovery on track and we can see light at the end of the tunnel, we just need to keep on going."
The boost came as Covid rules were further eased on May 17 under the Government's Step Three of the lockdown roadmap.
That included pubs and restaurants being allowed to open indoors, as well as venues like cinemas, theatres and bingo halls reopening.
Mr Addy added: "A huge congratulations to all our city centre businesses, across every sector, who have continued to be a beacon of positivity and city centre pride at every stage of this process and are welcoming their customers and visitors back.”
