Africa’s most visited tourist destination, the V&A Waterfront, this month scooped the ‘Busiest Day of the Year’ award for a regional mall by HeadCount Systems with footfall traction peaking at 161 473 on December 31, 2009. The property’s diverse offering of prime location, cosmopolitan retail mix, unique entertainment attractions – that included the much-anticipated New Year’s Eve party - and complimentary parking promotions have been cited among reasons for this notable visitor appeal.

David Green, V&A Waterfront CEO says, “This is a major coup for The V&A Waterfront and we are delighted to win this award. As a unique indoor and outdoor destination that is accessible throughout the year, we are able to attract, and safely manage, such large crowds as was the case on New Year’s Eve.”

Diversifying visitors’ experiences not only helped towards claiming the ‘Busiest Day of the Year’ award, it also sustained traffic during the traditionally slower winter period. “Domestic travellers may have stayed local during their festive break instead of travelling abroad due to the economic slowdown. But, while that may have influenced our December figures, our approach to hosting special events and promotions, over and above driving awareness around our retailers, impacted visitor traction during off-peak periods too. October’s Mastercard Style in the City is a case in point: It recorded footfall of 80 534 – our busiest post-winter trading day - while in Spring, our Easter weekend collaboration with Lindt saw us averaging 89, 900 visitors a day” explains Green.

He goes on to say that the sustained footfall during both off and on-peak seasons has a significant knock-on effect for the property’s retailers, of which there are over 450. “During December for example, 2.7 million people visited the V&A Waterfront. Given the trend among consumers at that time was towards items that had longevity and offered value for money, we found electronics, home ware, entertainment, music, shoes and family restaurants were strong performers. This ensured sales remained buoyant even during the global recession.”

The “Busiest Day of the Year” award was launched in 2005 by Headcount Systems, a visitor measurement data company.  It is a national campaign aimed at acknowledging superior shopping centre performance in four categories: super regional, regional, minor regional and community centre.  The categories are based on GLA classification as stipulated by the SACSC (South African Council of Shopping Centres) and can only be given to shopping centres using Headcount Systems counting systems to accurately measure its foot traffic.

Larin Allison, Headcount Systems marketing manager says, “Headcount Systems is proud to be associated with the V&A Waterfront. For the property to achieve this prestigious award in its first year as a Headcount customer, it not only puts it on the map - compared to its peers in the same retail category - but arguably confirms the V&A Waterfront as the number one tourist destination in Africa.”