Tourism Business Monitor 20 Visitor Attractions Report Wave 5 Mid-ember until the end of October
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. Amalgamation of two previous surveys discontinued at end of 2011: England Attractions Monitor Accommodation Business Confidence Monitor Telephone survey conducted five times per year immediately following key tourism periods among: c. 500 accommodation establishments (c. 250 serviced / c. 250 non-serviced), including mix by region, establishment size and hotels / guest houses / B&B / self-catering / caravan and campsites. c. 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: 3-9 20, reviewing mid-ember until the end of the October 20: 8-20, reviewing the period from mid-july up until the end of the summer holidays Jul 20: -20 July 20, reviewing the period after the Easter holidays up until mid-july 20: 24 May - 1 20, reviewing the Easter period 20 20: 6-12 uary 20, reviewing the Christmas and New Year period 20 20: 4-10 20, reviewing mid-ember until the end of October 20: 9-20, reviewing the period from mid-july up until the end of the summer holidays Jul 20: 11-19 July 20, reviewing the period after the Easter holidays up until mid-july 20: 15-21 il 20, reviewing the period from uary until the end of the Easter holidays 20: 7-20, reviewing Christmas and New Year period 2012 2
Attractions sample targets (total 300) Region North (North East, North West, Yorkshire) Midlands (East Midlands, East, Heart of England) South (South East, South West) 84 95 105 London 16 Size (visitors p.a) Over 100k 57 50-100k 35 20-50k 57 Under 20k 151 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
Key Findings Attractions have continued the strong performance seen over Summer, resulting in an overall increase in visitors of 5% compared with the same time last year. Consequently, the year-to-date figures are also positive, with attractions reporting a 4% increase in visitors for the year so far compared with last. Attractions have seen increases in visitors across the board, regardless of size or whether the attraction was outdoor or indoor. Approaching the off-peak season, the strongest growth in visitors is amongst domestic visitors and those from within the immediate locality. Paid attractions have fared better than free ones in terms of seeing increases in domestic and overseas visitors for the year-to-date. Attractions have fared better during this latest period than at this same time last year. The success of the year so far is reflected in the year-to-date figures, for which 62% of attractions say visitors are up compared with the same time last year. The success of the latest period has been felt most strongly amongst larger attractions but outdoor attractions have actually fared the best for the year so far, with 68% saying visitors are up on last year. Although increases in visitors and satisfaction levels have dipped since, most are higher than at this time last year. The exception is seaside based attractions, who are less satisfied with their performance than they were in A strong performance over this latest period has meant that business optimism for the year as a whole has remained relatively unchanged from the peak in, with 65% thinking this year will be better than last. In terms of confidence for the forthcoming period up until the end of the year there is some trepidation amongst more weather-dependent attractions (seaside and outdoor) but aside from these, most attractions are feeling as confident, if not more, than they were at this time last year. 4
Business Dashboards 5
Business Performance Dashboard: Attractions VISITOR NUMBERS Visitor numbers (%) 18 20 21 17 61 62 Versus same period previous year Down Same Up Visitor numbers for period from mid- until the end of Oct 20 compared with same period 20 (%) Under 20k Over 20k Indoors Up Same Down 51 58 71 30 27 19 17 15 Outdoors 64 23 20 YTD 20 Mixed 63 11 27 Satisfaction (%) 6 1 1 7 49 50 45 40 20 YTD 20 SATISFACTION Satisfied with business performance Not at all Not very Quite Very Satisfaction with Performance from mid- until the end of Oct 20 (%) Under 20k Over 20k Indoors Outdoors Mixed 40 49 45 42 47 50 48 47 50 49 90 97 92 92 96 Q3/4 & Q6, Q7/8, Q10 PERIOD ASKED ABOUT FOR PAST BUSINESS PERFORMANCE 20: Mid-ember until the end of October 6
Business Confidence Dashboard: Attractions 89 94 92 91 89 98 93 97 92 % fairly confident 64 62 62 56 63 64 58 54 55 % very confident 25 32 30 36 34 35 42 37 20 July 20 20 20 20 20 Jul 20 20 20 Period asked about: Until late Spring/ early Summer Until end of school summer holidays Until end of October Until end of the year Until the end of Easter Until late Spring/ early Summer Until end of school summer holidays Until end of October Until end of the year 89 96 90 94 94 % fairly confident 52 58 46 68 53 % very confident 37 38 44 41 20 Less than 20k Over 20k Indoor Outdoor Mixed Q PERIOD ASKED ABOUT FOR FUTURE BUSINESS CONFIDENCE 20: Up until end of the year 7
Visitor Profile 8
Changing Visitor Profile (year-to-date vs. previous year): Attractions Up Same Down NET: Up - Down Up Down % Visitors from immediate locality 37 55 8 +29 12 15 28 11 July 37 39 8 5 27 5 32 27 34 7 5 8 Jul 37 8 Up Down Other domestic visitors 43 47 10 +33 39 22 35 23 July 45 12 43 11 44 12 11 36 37 43 43 10 11 10 Jul Up Down Overseas visitors 35 55 10 +25 28 21 35 17 32 July 38 10 9 43 30 29 20 35 36 35 9 Jul 15 10 Q 9
Changing Visitor Profile (year-to-date vs. previous year): Attraction type Attractions have seen increases in visitors across the board, regardless of size or whether the attraction was outdoor or indoor Up Same Down NET: Up - Down Visitors from immediate locality Under 20k Over 20k Indoors Outdoors Mixed 32 43 42 36 31 59 51 48 53 68 9 6 9 11 2 23 37 33 25 29 Under 20k 36 53 11 25 Over 20k 49 41 10 39 Indoors 44 45 11 33 Other domestic visitors Outdoors Mixed 47 37 48 48 6 15 41 22 Under 20k Over 20k 32 37 60 50 8 12 24 25 Indoors 28 62 9 19 Overseas visitors Outdoors Mixed 37 41 54 46 9 12 28 29 Q 10
Changing Visitor Profile (year-to-date vs. previous year): Charging Paid attractions have fared better than free ones in terms of seeing increases in domestic and overseas visitors for the year-to-date Up Same Down NET: Up - Down Paid 38 54 9 29 Visitors from immediate locality Free 37 57 6 31 Paid 46 47 7 39 Other domestic visitors Free 38 47 24 Paid 40 49 10 30 Overseas visitors Free 28 63 10 18 Q 11
Past Performance 12
Visitor numbers: Year-on-year changes Attractions have fared better during this latest period than at this same time last year. The success of the year so far is reflected in the year-to-date figures, for which 62% of attractions say visitors are up compared with the same time last year % 20 55 7 21 4 Up Slightly up Exactly same YTD 20 58 4 17 2 19 Slightly down Down 36 40 43 35 49 66 55 41 59 52 64 61 Up Down -51 2012-38 -34 2012 20-47 20-29 July 20-23 - 20 20-31 20-18 -21-22 -18 20 Jul 20 20 20 PERIOD ASKED ABOUT FOR PAST BUSINESS PERFORMANCE 20: Mid-ember until the end of October / 20: Mid-July until end of Summer holidays/ Jul 20: After Easter holidays until mid- July/ 20: the Easter period 20 / 20: Christmas and New Year period 20 Q3/4, Q7/8
Visitor numbers: Year-on-year changes by attraction type Larger attractions are most likely to report visitor increases for the latest period, but outdoor attractions have actually fared the best for the year so far, reflective of the better weather for most of 20 Down Slightly down Same Slightly up Up 16 17 2 1 30 25 6 Less than 20k 5 45 52 Over 20k 10 6 20 2 10 8 4 63 63 20 YTD 20 20 YTD 20 Indoor Outdoor Mixed 11 4 19 1 27 18 5 8 11 1 16 1 23 4 7 19 22 8 3 11 9 19 53 54 57 64 54 57 20 YTD 20 20 YTD 20 20 YTD 20 Q3/4, Q7/8 PERIOD ASKED ABOUT FOR PAST BUSINESS PERFORMANCE 20: Mid-ember until the end of October
Changing business performance: By attraction type & location Although increases in visitors and satisfaction levels have understandably dipped since, most are higher than at this time last year. The exception is seaside based attractions, who are less satisfied with their performance than they were in TYPE % Visitors up on last year 84 67 68 71 60 68 58 61 63 64 64 56 44 41 55 53 51 32 20 35 41 Less than 20k Over 20k Indoor Outdoor Mixed % Very satisfied 36 25 34 22 39 36 51 38 32 32 33 47 40 39 32 53 42 49 47 July Jul July Jul LOCATION % Visitors up on last year 32 17 53 46 70 54 49 41 71 37 27 64 62 57 47 64 63 68 56 67 Seaside Large town or city Small town Countryside/ village % Very satisfied 15 36 32 50 24 40 36 34 28 15 48 32 52 48 44 36 July Jul CAUTION: SMALL BASE SIZES July Jul Q3/4, Q6 15
Changing business performance: By admission charge and VAQAS Performance for the latest period remains strong, regardless of admission type or VAQAS membership. Consequently, satisfaction levels are higher across the board than they were at this time last year. ADMISSION % Visitors up on last year 66 63 64 53 55 47 66 65 34 54 57 43 53 47 39 35 63 60 Free Paid 18 % Very satisfied 47 37 36 35 38 33 30 21 45 38 37 33 55 44 50 40 July Jul July Jul VAQAS 46 30 % Visitors up on last year 63 62 53 61 67 46 58 54 48 39 66 71 64 62 61 47 Members Nonmembers 24 22 29 33 % Very satisfied 45 40 47 35 36 36 41 35 35 27 51 41 48 43 July Jul July Jul Q3/4, Q6 16
Visitor Numbers: Year-on-year changes (%) Attractions have fared well over this most recent period, resulting in a 5% increase in visitors overall. This in turn has buoyed year-to-date figures, resulting in an overall increase in visitors of 4% % 20 YTD 20 11 3 2 6 7 28 22 17 19-6 -8-5 -6-2 -1-3 -0.5-1 Increase Over 50% 31-50% 21-30% 11-20% 5-10% Less than 5% Decrease Less than 5% 5-10% 11-20% 21-30% 31-50% Over 50% Average % change in visitor numbers 5% 4% Q5, Q9 PERIOD ASKED ABOUT FOR PAST BUSINESS PERFORMANCE 20: Mid-ember until the end of October 17
Visitor numbers: Degree of year-on-year changes by attraction type Larger and outdoor attractions have seen the biggest increase in visitor numbers for the latest period at 7% Less than 20k 20 1 2 7 19 YTD 20 5 1 23 Over 20k 20 YTD 20 5 3 6 2 8 32 24 18-5 -6-6 -5-2 -3-1 19 20-6 -4-10 -3-1 -7-2 -1 Average % change 3% 3% 7% 4% 20 Indoor Outdoor Mixed 2 7 24 YTD 20 21 30 19 23-6 -8-5 -1-8 -2 20 4 3 11 20 YTD 20 1 10 20 12-1 -5-5 -4-1 -5-4 -1 20 YTD 20 2 3 5 2 7 21 19 12-10 -11-6 -3-5 -2-2 -1 4% 3% 7% 4% 4% 3% Q5, Q9 PERIOD ASKED ABOUT FOR PAST BUSINESS PERFORMANCE 20: Mid-ember until the end of October
Positive verbatim comments on business performance It is because we have had special events. It has made more people aware of the museum. A new team has been brought in, and new exhibitions are up Increased awareness of the facility. A bit of advertising we've placed in local press and in the village. Also features in the local press I think to be honest people are feeling better about the recession and so are coming out a bit more A new location and used to be shut October to July. Now open all year and lots of marketing and publicity is driving up visitors 19
Negative verbatim comments on business performance People cannot afford to go out, people are spending more money on family trips. Our attraction is not aimed at families. The weather - had to cancel 2 events due to flooding and the road running up to it is not well maintained Mainly because we had to close the cafe. The timbers are 6 metres long and had to be stored in the café so we couldn't serve customers. Figures for this year are not as good as 20. Also roads to us were shut for 4 weeks in August and we weren't best pleased because they just told us. They put people on detour away from us. 20
Case Studies Lost Gardens of Heligan Increase in visitors for the recent period of 31-50% Outdoor, paid-entry, attraction situated in Cornwall After a hard start to the year because of the weather, we ve really made up for lost ground. We did a big event in August so we had a massive amount of publicity. We were on Country file, and have been on regional news. It s been quite a poignant year for us Arley Hall and Gardens Increase in visitors for the year-to-date of 21-30% Paid-entry historic house situated in Cheshire The good weather has helped but we also made some fundamental changes to marketing; more social media - Facebook and Twitter. We also added value with a sculpture trail in the gardens and children's play area to attract people that wouldn't normally visit. 21
Future Performance 22
Business optimism for 20 A strong performance over this latest period has meant that business optimism for the year as a whole has remained relatively unchanged from, with 65% thinking this year will be better than last Much worse than 20 Slightly worse than 20 1 1 2 2 4 1 5 1 8 10 7 7 7 2 2 6 8 28 27 33 32 24 30 24 34 33 The same as 20 43 45 40 41 48 46 46 48 45 Slightly better than 20 Much better than 20 12 20 Jul 20 23 23 20 20 20 17 15 20 Jul 20 19 20 20 20 Q15 23
Confidence for forthcoming period: Attractions Understandably there is some trepidation amongst more weather-dependent attractions (seaside and outdoor) for the forthcoming period, but aside from these, attractions are feeling as confident, if not more, than they were at this time last year TYPE % Very confident 42 44 38 35 36 38 31 36 34 38 44 41 33 35 28 35 30 36 34 33 27 29 22 28 24 22 19 17 July Jul Less than 20k Over 20k Indoor Outdoor Mixed LOCATION 28 27 23 17 23 36 37 24 20 28 33 30 % Very confident 47 Seaside 41 38 36 38 Large town or city 29 37 35 39 Small town 25 31 24 27 Countryside/ 17 village July Jul CAUTION: SMALL BASE SIZES Q PERIOD ASKED ABOUT FOR FUTURE BUSINESS CONFIDENCE 20: Up until end of the year 24
Positive verbatim comments on business confidence We are sprucing the place up, due a refurbishment. The new refurbishment should attract more visitors. We have a good marketing campaign and Santa already booked up and the Christmas Market. Advanced bookings are good Feeling that month by month we've been better so should continue to end of financial year. Visitor numbers are up so spend per head goes up in the cafe and gift shop. We are fairly confident because we don't do a lot of business at the end of the year but we put on special events and advanced ticket sales are well up on last year already We have a new show coming on which is an open art competition and we have had more submissions than ever before 25
Negative verbatim comments on business confidence It will probably be slow because we don't have the weather and there is not so many visitors around We've had the best weather for about 15 years but just no business. The money isn't there. We're discounting but still not working Now coming into the winter season and numbers drop off. It happens every year and picks up around Easter time
Performance and confidence snapshot: ember 20 Visitor Numbers (ember) Confidence (End of the year) Up Same Down Very Very / fairly TOTAL (%) 61 21 18 37 92 Less than 20k 51 30 19 37 89 Visitor numbers per annum (%) 20k or over 71 17 38 96 20k-50k 71 16 29 98 50k-100k 66 20 46 93 Over 100k 76 9 18 41 94 Indoor 58 27 15 44 90 Type (%) Outdoor 64 23 94 Mixed 63 11 27 41 94 Charge (%) VAQAS (%) Paid 63 19 18 35 95 Free 60 23 17 40 89 Yes 64 12 24 39 96 No 61 24 15 36 91 Seaside 68 6 24 90 Location (%) Large town / city 65 20 15 38 92 Small town 67 21 42 95 Rural 56 27 17 37 92 28