Tourism Business Monitor Visitor Attractions Report. Wave 2 Easter up until the end of May

Transcription

1 Tourism Business Monitor 20 Visitor Attractions Report Wave 2 Easter up until the end of May

2 Background, objectives and research method Tourism Business Monitor designed to measure, monitor and understand tourism business performance and confidence and the factors which influence them. Telephone survey conducted five times per year immediately following key tourism periods among around 300 visitor attractions including mix by region, attraction type, size (measured by annual visitor admissions) and free / paid admission. Questions on hot topics included on a periodic basis. Fieldwork dates: 20: , reviewing the Easter up until the end of May 20: , reviewing the Christmas and New Year period 20 20: , reviewing mid-ember until the end of the October 20: 8-20, reviewing the period from mid-y up until the end of the summer holidays 20: -20 y 20, reviewing the period after the Easter holidays up until mid-y 20: 24 May , reviewing the Easter period 20 20: 6-12 uary 20, reviewing the Christmas and New Year period 20 20: , reviewing mid-ember until the end of October 20: 9-20, reviewing the period from mid-y up until the end of the summer holidays 20: y 20, reviewing the period after the Easter holidays up until mid-y 20: -21 il 20, reviewing the period from uary until the end of the Easter holidays 20: 7-20, reviewing Christmas and New Year period

3 Attractions sample targets (total 300) Region North (North East, North West, Yorkshire) Midlands (East Midlands, East, Heart of England) South (South East, South West) London 16 Size (visitors p.a) Over 100k k k 57 Under 20k 1 Type Historic 54 Museum/gallery 78 Other indoor 57 Other outdoor 111 Admission charge Free 129 Paid 171 This is the target sample for each wave, reflecting the profile of attractions in England. There are minor variations wave on wave, which are corrected by weighting the profile if needed. 3

4 Key Findings The attractions market has continued to expand since the start of the year, with over half of attractions reporting increases in visitor numbers. Larger attractions, those with an outdoor component and small town/city attractions experienced the strongest increases in visitor numbers. The sector saw growth from both domestic and overseas visitors, although growth in overseas visitors was much more associated with paid attractions. There was a slight decline in levels of satisfaction with recent business performance amongst attractions, although it remained strong at around 91% satisfied. Explanations of positive business performance focused on recent refurbishments, events, marketing/social media, recommendations and better weather during this period. Looking ahead until the end of the school summer holidays 20, all attraction types except towns and indoor attractions have experienced a decrease of confidence levels compared with uary. In contrast, optimism for the remainder of 20 has stayed very positive, with over two thirds of attractions indicating they think this year will be better than 20. 4

5 Business Dashboards 5

6 Business Performance Dashboard: Attractions VISITOR NUMBERS Visitor numbers (%) Versus same period previous year Visitor numbers for Easter up until the end of May period compared with same period 20 (%) Under 20k Down Same Up Over 20k Indoors Outdoors YTD Mixed SATISFACTION Satisfaction (%) Satisfied with Under 20k business performance Not at all Over 20k Not very Quite Very Satisfaction with Performance during period (%) Indoors Outdoors Mixed Q3/4 & Q6, Q7/8 PERIOD ASKED ABOUT FOR PAST BUSINESS PERFORMANCE 20: Easter up until the end of May 6

7 Business Confidence Dashboard: Attractions % Very confident % Fairly confident y Until early Summer 20 Until end of school summer holidays Until end of October Until end of the year Until the end of Easter Until early Summer Until end of school summer holidays Until end of October Until end of the year Until end of Easter Until the end of the school summer holidays Less than 20k Over 20k Indoor Outdoor Mixed Q PERIOD ASKED ABOUT FOR FUTURE BUSINESS CONFIDENCE 20: Up until end of the school summer holidays 7

8 Visitor Profile 8

9 Changing Visitor Profile (year-to-date vs. previous year): Attractions Attractions have continued to report increases in domestic and overseas visitors, although the level of increase has reduced since the start of the year. Up Down NET: Up - Down Domestic visitors Overseas visitors Q12 PERIOD ASKED ABOUT FOR PAST BUSINESS PERFORMANCE 20: uary up until the end of May 9

10 Changing Visitor Profile: Attraction type Growth of visitors strongest for the domestic audience across all categories of attraction. Up Same Down NET: Up - Down Under 20k Over 20k Domestic visitors Indoors Outdoors Mixed Under 20k Overseas visitors Over 20k Indoors Outdoors Mixed Q12 PERIOD ASKED ABOUT FOR PAST BUSINESS PERFORMANCE 20: uary up until the end of May 10

11 Changing Visitor Profile: Charging Charging attractions did better at growing the overseas market than free attractions. Up Same Down NET: Up - Down Paid Domestic visitors Free Paid Overseas visitors Free Q12 PERIOD ASKED ABOUT FOR PAST BUSINESS PERFORMANCE 20: uary up until the end of May 11

12 Past Performance 12

13 Visitor numbers: Year-on-year changes The attractions market has continued to expand since the start of the year, with over half of attractions reporting increases in visitor numbers. The proportion of attractions (18%) reporting a decline in visitors for Easter to May compared with last year is at its lowest since 20. % Up Slightly up Exactly same YTD Slightly down Down Up Down y PERIODS ASKED ABOUT FOR PAST BUSINESS PERFORMANCE : Christmas and New Year period / : Easter period / : Easter up until the end of May / : After Easter holidays up until mid-y /: Mid-y up until the end of the summer holidays / : Mid-ember until the end of October Q3/4, Q7/8

14 Visitor numbers: Year-on-year changes by attraction type Down Slightly down Exactly same Slightly up Up There is a great deal of consistency in recent business performance across different types of attractions. However, larger attractions and those with an outdoor component performed slightly better for the recent period and also for the year to date. % Less than 20k Over 20k Indoor Outdoor Mixed YTD YTD YTD YTD YTD 20 Q3/4, Q7/8 PERIOD ASKED ABOUT FOR PAST BUSINESS PERFORMANCE 20: Easter up until the end of May

15 Changing business performance: By attraction type & location Overall, the attractions market has performed consistently well over the last year, with over half all types of attractions reporting increases in visitor numbers. There was more variation by destination type, with towns performing well, but fewer seaside attractions reporting growth than in uary. ATTRACTION TYPE % Visitors up on last year Less than 20k Over 20k Indoor Outdoor Mixed % Very Satisfied LOCATION % Visitors up on last year % Very Satisfied Seaside Large town or city Small town Countryside / village Q3/4, Q6 PERIOD ASKED ABOUT FOR PAST BUSINESS PERFORMANCE 20: Easter up until the end of May

16 Changing business performance: By admission charge and VAQAS A similar proportion of paid vs. free and VAQAS members/ non-members reported increases in visitor numbers. ADMISSION % Visitors up on last year % Very Satisfied Free Paid VAQAS % Visitors up on last year % Very Satisfied VAQAS Members VAQAS Nonmembers Q3/4, Q6 20 PERIOD ASKED ABOUT FOR PAST BUSINESS PERFORMANCE 20: Easter up until the end of May 20 16

17 Positive verbatim comments on business performance: Attractions We went from paid entry to free entry. A series of little events helped us. We had a series of joint events with a museum nearby to promote the facility. Because I think we are becoming better known in the area through just word of mouth. We re also on the council website. We had a recent refurbishment which is meaning more people are coming to the property. The weather. We did more marketing this year. I think it s partly because of the council. They try their best to publish the place. 17

18 Negative verbatim comments on business performance: Attractions Being in a rural setting, the weather is an extremely important factor. The other issue is that the public are still facing financial difficulties. Tourists are just not coming to the village. Several businesses have closed so there is not much for them to look at. I think the people have not had enough money to spend since Christmas. I think it might ve been because of the election. People were nervous about what was going to happen. 18

19 Case Studies NATIONAL CIVIL WAR CENTRE & NEWARK MUSEUM The National Civil War Centre & Newark Museum is a newly opened attraction, that has hit the ground running (charging!) with visitors increasing on a daily basis. Free, historic attraction with over 100k visitors per year Glyn Hughes, Curator, believes their success is largely down to the vast array of events that they have held. Prior to the site s opening, they ran talks and tours that allowed the public to take a look behind the scene of the site s transformation. This helped to enthuse the local audience and generate a sense of pride in their museum. This was followed by a three-day opening celebration that transformed Newark into a 17th century town and attracted 4,000 to 5,000 visitors from the UK and overseas. Glyn explains It is important to offer visitors as many touch points to history as possible even if that means going outside the walls of the museum. Glyn recognises that the nature of engagement is important. History is the people s story. They should feel that they re part of what happened and connect with it. Our site facilitates this through its events by allowing visitors to experience something of what it was like. For example, workshops that allow visitors to see a barbers surgeon at work. Finally, the centre places a great deal of importance on visitor feedback, acting upon it promptly, where appropriate. This helps to enhance the visitor experience and gives the visitors the feeling they are part of it. 19

20 Future Performance 20

21 Confidence for forthcoming period: Attractions Looking ahead until the end of the school summer holidays 20, all attraction types except towns and indoor attractions have experienced a decrease of confidence levels compared to last report. BY TYPE: For period up until the end of the school summer holidays % Very confident Less than 20k Over 20k Indoor Outdoor Mixed y BY LOCATION: For period up until the end of the school summer holidays % Very confident y Seaside* Large town or city Small town Countryside / village *CAUTION: SMALL BASE SIZES Q 21

22 Business optimism for 20: Attractions Optimism for the remainder of 20 has stayed very positive, with over two thirds of attractions indicating they think this year will be better than 20. % Much worse than last year A little worse than last year The same as last year A little better than last year Much better than last year Q 22

23 Positive verbatim comments on business optimism for 20: Attractions Because we are getting better known. People are making more of an effort to visit. We have just been very busy since the exhibition. We are also getting lots of repeat visitors. It s because the individual spend is higher. I think our profile has been raised so more visitors and few financial cuts which has made it easier. We have new management and we are improving the visitor offer. Because we have maximised on the things people like. We are having a big camp in y and are fully booked for this event. We are open 363 days in a year. Previously we were not open so many days. Doing extra marketing. We are making arrangements for group visits. Qb 23

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25 Performance and confidence snapshot: 20 Visitor Numbers () Confidence (End of school summer holidays) Visitor numbers per annum (%) Type (%) Charge(%) VAQAS(%) Location (%) Up Same Down Very Very / fairly TOTAL (%) Less than 20k k or over k-50k k-100k Over 100k Indoor Outdoor Mixed Paid Free Yes No Seaside Large town / city Small town Rural