Waterfront effect? Data shows locals heading back to downtown Seattle

How about some good news about downtown Seattle, for a change?

A year ago, I reported on Nielsen market research data showing a significant drop in local tourism to Seattle since before the pandemic. Looking at the numbers for 16 attractions and events in the city of Seattle, I found there was a nearly across-the-board decline in local attendance.

Some of that was surely due to inflation and the high costs associated with a day trip to Seattle. Concerns about crime and safety likely also played a role.

Those issues still exist, but Nielsen's latest data shows locals are returning to Seattle attractions - and in some cases even beating prepandemic numbers.

The new data is based on surveys of about 3,900 adults across the Seattle market area, which covers most of the Puget Sound region. The surveys, conducted from March 2025 to March 2026, asked respondents if they had visited or attended various attractions at least once in the past 12 months.

Among the 16 attractions and events, 12 had higher numbers than the previous year.

Pike Place Market remains the most popular destination for regional residents. The new data show that 1.5 million local adults visited the Market at least once - about 6% higher than last year's 1.41 million. To be sure, it is still short of the 1.76 million who visited in the period just before the pandemic, but this year's increase suggests the newly revamped waterfront is successfully drawing local visitors.

One waterfront attraction - the Great Wheel - even surpassed its prepandemic numbers. The latest Nielsen release shows that around 324,000 local adults visited the waterfront's giant Ferris wheel, up an impressive 50,000 from last year and 18,000 from before the pandemic hit.

Also on the waterfront, the Seattle Aquarium continues a steady upward trend. Last year, it was a notable positive outlier, likely driven by interest in its new Ocean Pavilion. It grew that momentum with a 44% increase this year, bringing its attendance to roughly 719,000 local adults.

Seattle Center had a good year, beating both last year's and prepandemic numbers, with around 528,000 local visitors.

The Seattle International Film Festival, or SIFF, did not do as well as most other local events. The number of local visitors was down around 9% from last year and a whopping 34% from before the pandemic. SIFF, which has been struggling financially, has dramatically scaled back the annual film festival.

The Museum of Flight was down slightly from last year - about 3% - and the Museum of Pop Culture was effectively unchanged. Woodland Park Zoo had a modest 2% increase.

Sports differ from other downtown attractions in that attendance generally increases with better performance. While that's often true, it's not always the case. The Mariners had a great season, and the number of local visitors topped 1 million. The Seahawks were down and the Sounders were up from last year.

The Seattle Storm saw a nearly 11% increase over last year, attracting 143,000 local fans and building on the substantial growth in interest in women's basketball.

It is worth keeping in mind that a person who visits an attraction once counts the same as someone who visits several times, so the data doesn't measure frequency.

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