Downtown Seattle visitor traffic jumps as cruise season gets underway
More than 2.8 million unique visitors came to downtown Seattle in April — 4% more than the number of visitors in April 2019, according to data released Tuesday by the Downtown Seattle Association. The figure marked a 5% increase in foot traffic compared with April 2025.
As cruise season launched, downtown waterfront visits also rose last month. More than 165,000 sightseers arrived at the central waterfront area that includes Piers 62 and 58, Overlook Walk and the Seattle Aquarium, marking an 8% increase compared with April 2025, the DSA found.
The first quarter of 2026 also saw an uptick in downtown spending. Consumers doled out more than $418 million in the city center — 17% more than in the first quarter of 2025. “Specialty retail,” or retailers other than department stores, saw the biggest jump.
Despite the boost to downtown economic activity, worker foot traffic continued to trail far behind pre-pandemic levels at 60% of the daily average in April 2019.
https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2026/05/20/dsa-unique-visitor-foot-traffic-april.html