Alisa Meyer stood at the register as a steady stream of customers brought up packets of dried fish and tasted samples at Totem Smokehouse.

The business, across from Pike Place Market, has seen its salmon jerky become a best-seller, said Meyer, manager of the business. The salmon candy has done well too, and even went viral on TikTok, she added.

“It’s been busy, yes,” she said shortly after she rung up a purchase from a visitor from New Zealand. But “we haven’t separated out, were these tourists or here for the World Cup?”

Quite busy.

According to data by the Downtown Seattle Association, July saw more than 3.7 million unique visitors downtown. That’s a 5% increase from last July and about a 12% increase from 2019, the year before the COVID-19 pandemic reordered work and life. The figure is based on cellphone location data and doesn’t count international visitors, so the real number is likely “quite a bit” higher, according to the association.

“They’re exceptional, the visitor numbers for July, highest ever,” said Jon Scholes, president & CEO of the Downtown Seattle Association. “We certainly saw great numbers in June, fueled by the World Cup, and it’s continued.”

The association’s data touted other peaks: Sound Transit Link light rail’s Sunday ridership in July was the highest for given any month in the agency’s history.

And the number of locals — people within 10 miles of downtown — making visits amounted more than 351,000 visitors for July, about 25,000 more than the previous high mark of August 2019.

Most of the new data predated the Bite of Seattle shooting on July 26 and subsequent questions about public safety at big festivals in the city.

Scholes talked up downtown’s ability to entertain people without necessarily breaking the bank. Among other sites, he cited the recently redeveloped waterfront, Olympic Sculpture Park, Centennial Park and Pike Place Market.

“These free, low-cost activities, I think, are the big draw,” he said, in a city with well-documented affordability problems.

The car-free zones seen this summer at Pike Place Market and nearby also likely helped.

“I think it’s hard to put a number on it, but it’s hard to debate that it’s been a huge success,” Scholes said. “I think it’s been a home run, what was done around Pioneer Square for the World Cup, made sense too.”

Scholes is hopeful about the coming weeks, noting the Bumbershoot music festival and the video game convention PAX West will light up Labor Day weekend. That weekend will feature the Seattle Mariners and the Seattle Reign playing home games, as well as the Apple Cup between the University of Washington Huskies and the Washington State University Cougars.

Plus, Scholes said, “the cruise ships are coming in and out.”

He also hopes the city can find ways to do more watch party events like those held for the World Cup and more car-free days for big events. One hypothetical idea Scholes gave: On the night of a big concert, like, say, Taylor Swift, block off an area and have a dance party for people who couldn’t get tickets.

“We need to be bringing alive our public spaces with free activities … with something that might be associated with a ticketed event,” he said.

Other small business owners downtown echoed the optimism over July. On Monday afternoon, as customers browsed the apparel and children’s goods at Post Alley Kids, the store manager handed a phone over with owner Karin Lehotsky on the other end.

“It was the best July we ever had,” said Lehotsky, adding: “We’d love for it to continue.”

While the days of the actual World Cup games were slow, Lehotsky said the weekslong event in general drew foot traffic to the store.

Down at Pike Place Market, Richard Romero said he has had a good summer. Romero, who sells jewelry that he makes at the stall, said he thought national TV news coverage helped by talking up Seattle during the World Cup.

But Romero, who has been working the stall since 1990, has seen ups and downs before, and he said January through March are generally slow.

“I tell new people, save your money,” Romero said. “You might need it for your rent in January.”