Cardiff’s Winter Wonderland appears to be top on everyone’s Christmas wish list this year, with sales already reaching a record high.
Before the festive favourite opens its doors today sales are already up a staggering 100%.
Pre-sale tickets for Cardiff’s Winter Wonderland, which opens today, show that ticket sales have more than doubled from the same time last year – today reaching £33,966 compared with £16,752 from last year.
This year, Winter Wonderland will once again welcome the Admiral Ice Rink and new for 2011 are the BT Infinity Star Ride and BT Infinity Ice Bar.
The success of the Winter Wonderland pre-sale tickets follow a very successful; inaugural ‘Step Into Christmas’ event that was hosted last week in the capital.
Step Into Christmas marked the start of the Christmas countdown in the capital which saw more than 80 performances take place across the city.
The latest figures show that footfall in the city increased, in certain parts of the city by over 100 per cent during the event. Queen Street and The Hayes in particular saw a high footfall, with people trying to catch a glimpse of the street entertainment and visit the Christmas market.
Sales figures were also up by 12 per cent from the previous week, which was already busy due to it being half term and up by three per cent from the previous year.
Executive Member for Sport, Culture and Leisure, Cllr Nigel Howells, said: “It would appear that everyone has the festive spirit early this year and I am delighted to see pre sales for Winter Wonderland increasing. Winter Wonderland has always been a popular Christmas attraction with residents and visitors to Cardiff enjoying this magicical event which also provides a boost to the local economy.
“We have changed the format of the Christmas celebrations this year, to provide an event that the whole family can enjoy for longer. We worked closely with the Cardiff Retail partnership to support retailers in the city centre to create an event that benefited them during the festive period. I believe Step into Christmas delivered both these expectations and much more.”
