Traders in Skegness, Lincolnshire, say takings and evening footfall are down this summer, despite district council statistics showing 2.94 million coastal visitors in 2025 — an 8% increase on 2024 — with an associated economic impact of nearly £752 million, up 15% year on year.
Skegness traders report lower evening trade despite rise in visitor numbers
Traders in Skegness, Lincolnshire, say takings and evening footfall are down this summer, despite district council statistics showing 2.94 million coastal visitors in 2025 — an 8% increase on 2024 — with an associated economic impact of nearly £752 million, up 15% year on year.
Craig Watts, whose family has operated a seafront cafe for approximately 27 years, said visitors were arriving around midday and leaving by 4pm, which he attributed to a rise in day-trippers rather than overnight guests. He said the business was struggling to trade until 5.30pm and was no longer opening as early as it previously did. He has introduced lower-cost menu options, including a smaller fish and chips portion and weekday ice cream promotions, which he described as an attempt to recover revenue.
Hilary Fox, who has owned a rock shop on the main shopping street for 57 years, said she now closes around 7.30pm rather than 9pm, citing a lack of foot traffic in the evenings. She attributed the change to a higher proportion of day-trippers who leave before nightfall.
Richard Underwood, landlord of the Suncastle pub — a venue that opened in 1932 as a tea room and solarium and has been in his family since 2004 — said footfall was down during the school holiday period. He reduced evening entertainment from nightly to weekends only. He described a gradual trend over two to three years of visitors spending less time and money in the evenings, and said he believed people were holidaying on tighter budgets.
East Lindsey District Council said official visitor figures for 2026 were not yet available. Councillor Steve Kirk, the portfolio holder for the coastal economy, said in July that 2025 statistics showed more people choosing to stay in the district's coastal communities than ever before. Across East Lindsey as a whole, staying visitors numbered 1.927 million in 2025, up 13% on 2024, while day visitors reached 2.837 million, up 2.7%. The figures also showed 6,814 jobs supported across the district, a 5% increase.
The council's own figures indicated a shift in accommodation type: visitor days in serviced accommodation fell from 856,000 in 2023 to 722,000 in 2025, while visitor days in non-serviced accommodation rose from 8.1 million to 8.9 million over the same period.
Two visitors from Nottingham and one from Birmingham said they were managing costs carefully. Aiobheann Collins-Gould, who visits annually with her family from Birmingham, said rising prices meant spending began early in the day and left little capacity for evening expenditure. Lerato Marumo, visiting from Nottingham with two children, said the resort was less busy than she had expected. Rachel Garriock, also from Nottingham, said she and her family returned to their accommodation in the evenings and noted that the town had quietened by around 7pm.
Skegness Town Council has identified an issue with street lights being switched off at midnight in some parts of the town as a cost-saving measure, requiring some residents and visitors to travel to homes or caravan parks in darkness. Taxpayers have been asked whether they are willing to pay additional costs to restore the lighting.
- The source does not establish whether the reported drop in trader revenue is confirmed by any sales data or is based solely on anecdotal accounts from individual business owners.
- The source does not establish what proportion of the 2.94 million coastal visitors went specifically to Skegness as opposed to other parts of the East Lindsey coastline.
- The source does not establish the methodology or provider behind the visitor statistics gathered for East Lindsey District Council.
- The source does not establish whether the reduction in serviced accommodation visitor days is causally linked to the spending patterns described by traders.
- The source does not establish the current year (2026) visitor figures, which the council said are not yet available.
- The source does not establish the precise cost of restoring the street lighting or the outcome of the taxpayer consultation on that issue.
- The source does not establish how the traders' current revenue compares to specific prior-year figures.