visitor attraction trends in england 2013 · 2015-03-31 · trends in england 2013 . ... been...

Full Report

Visitor Attraction Trends in England 2013

Acknowledgements

VisitEngland would like to thank all representatives and operators in the attraction sector who provided information for the national survey on which this report is based. For a number of attractions, data has been included with kind permission of ALVA (Association of Leading Visitor Attractions), English Heritage, The National Trust and Go Ape as well as several Destination Management Organisations. Where relevant this has been referenced in the report.

No part of this publication may be reproduced for commercial purposes without previous written consent of VisitEngland. Extracts may be quoted if the source is acknowledged.

Statistics in this report are given in good faith on the basis of information provided by proprietors of attractions. VisitEngland regrets it cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information contained in this report nor accept responsibility for error or misrepresentation.

Published by VisitEngland (incorporated under the 1969 Development of Tourism Act as the British Tourist Authority) © 2014 British Tourist Authority (trading as VisitBritain).

VisitEngland is grateful to English Heritage for their financial support for the 2013 survey.

July 2014

1

Introduction This report presents the findings of the Survey of

Visits to Visitor Attractions undertaken in England

by VisitEngland. The report provides a

comprehensive England-wide analysis of trends

plus visits data for individual attractions.

Objectives

To monitor trends in the visitor attraction sector in

England and to improve understanding of the

dynamics of the sector. Findings contribute to

estimates of the economic impact of tourism and

inform development and planning work. Results

allow operators to benchmark their operation

within their category, within their region and across

the sector as a whole.

Survey Method

Attractions have the option of either online or

postal survey completion.

All attractions for whom email contacts are held are

sent an email invitation with a link to their

attraction’s online questionnaire. Attractions not

responding are subsequently sent a postal

questionnaire alongside attractions with no or only

generic email contacts.

A copy of the questionnaire is appended.

BDRC Continental holds the contract for the survey in England and is responsible for the preparation of this report.

It is important to highlight that major individual attractions can have a significant impact upon the proportion of visits within each region and attraction category. Their participation or non-participation in the survey year-on-year can result in significant fluctuations in the data within each region and attraction category.

Visitor Attraction Definition

“…an attraction where it is feasible to charge admission for the sole purpose of sightseeing. The attraction must be a permanently established excursion destination, a primary purpose of which is to allow access for entertainment, interest, or education and can include places of worship (but excludes small parish churches); rather than being primarily a retail outlet or a venue for sporting, theatrical, or film performances. It must be open to the public, without prior booking, for published periods each year, and should be capable of attracting day visitors or tourists as well as local residents. In addition, the attraction must be a single business, under a single management, so that it is capable of answering the economic questions on revenue, employment etc.”

2

3

Sample and Response

Visit England recently tightened its definition of attractions so undertook a major review of the list of attractions used for last year’s survey.

For example, parish churches and small art galleries with a retail focus were removed from the attractions list.

This removed a number of small sites previously classified as attractions, and we have therefore seen a slight shift in the attraction size profile of sites participating in the research during the past two years.

Further, whilst country parks continue to be included in the survey findings, they have been generally been excluded from the most visited lists on the basis that it is not possible to exclude those who have visited the park in such a way that falls outside our visitor attraction definition.

Arts Council England no longer collates visitor numbers for attractions, so was unable to contribute to the survey this year or for the 2012 survey.

5,376 English visitor attractions were invited to take part in this year’s survey.

1,568 English visitor attractions provided visits figures for the year 2013.

• 876 completed online

• 419 completed by post

• 273 provided data through umbrella organisations

1,478 attractions provided admissions for both 2013 and 2012 and these attractions form the basis of this report’s trend evaluation.

4

Category No. attractions providing data

for 2013

Profile of attractions providing data

2013 2012

Country Parks 68 4% 3%

Farms 47 3% 3%

Gardens 88 6% 6%

Historic properties 495 32% 29%

Leisure / theme parks 18 1% 2%

Museums / art galleries 504 32% 34%

Steam / heritage railways 30 2% 2%

Visitor / heritage centres 71 5% 5%

Wildlife attractions / zoos 86 5% 5%

Workplaces 28 2% 2%

Places of worship 74 5% 4%

Other 59 4% 7%

Total 1,568

Response by attraction category

Sample and Response (1)

5

Response by region

Category

No. attns. giving 2013 data

Profile of attractions that provided data

2013 2012

Annual Visits

10,000 or less

510

33%

31%

10,001–20,000 217 14% 14%

20,001–50,000 319 20% 20%

50,001–100,000 179 11% 10%

100,001–200,000 147 9% 11%

Over 200,000 196 13% 14%

Admission

Free

599

38%

38%

Paid 969 62% 62%

Total 1,568

Response by attraction size and admission type

Sample and Response (2)

Category No. attns.

giving 2013 data

Profile of attractions

providing data

2013 2012

North West 165 11% 12%

North East 84 5% 5%

Yorks/Humber 145 9% 9%

East Midlands 142 9% 9%

West Midlands 155 10% 9%

East 205 13% 13%

London 104 7% 6%

South East 300 19% 19%

South West 268 17% 17%

Total 1,568

Headlines (1)

There were the beginnings of a recovery in the UK economy in 2013, with Gross Domestic Product returning to growth in each quarter of the year.

It was a year of contrasts for the weather, with an exceptionally cold winter and spring followed by a warm and sunny summer, ending a run of six consecutive relatively dull and wet summers.

Overall there was a +5% annual increase in in total visits to attractions in 2013, representing a strong recovery following the -1% decline reported in 2012.

This increase was driven by a recovery in visits to attractions charging for admission, where there was growth of +7%, following the -3% decline observed in 2012. Visits to free attractions grew by +3%.

Despite being more likely to be closed seasonally in 2013, historic attractions experienced strong growth, historic houses/castles increasing visits by +7% and other historic properties by +10%. Visits to this sector are now around a quarter higher than they were in 2008.

Having stalled in 2012, visits to London attractions increased significantly above the average, by +8%, in 2013. Attractions in both the North West and West Midlands saw visitor number increases well below the national average, with visits decreasing by -2% in the North West. In both regions, this decrease was driven by a decline in visits to the free museums / art galleries, particularly in urban areas.

Both adult and child entry charges to paid attractions increased by +4% in 2013. Allied with the strong visitor number increases, this helped to attractions to grow gross revenue by +5% overall. This represents a return to typical growth levels, following the much smaller +1% increase seen in 2012.

6

Headlines (2)

The eight year decline in the proportion of attractions reporting increases in marketing expenditure has been arrested in 2013, with slight growth in the proportion of attractions raising their marketing spend.

Provision of all forms of digital communications have continued to increase in 2013. Facebook and Twitter are now in common use, even amongst smaller attractions. The strongest rate of growth has been for mobile apps, with 18% of attractions now offering these. 21% offered an online booking facility for tickets / events in 2013.

Almost two-thirds (61%) of attractions charging for admission offered some form of deal or discount during 2013. These most often take the form of extra person e.g. 2 for 1 (37%) or reduced entry (32%) discounts.

Despite the improving financial climate in 2013 there continues to be a shift towards employees from the voluntary sector. Attractions predict this to continue during 2014, with a quarter anticipating an increase in staff from this sector.

Within the 2012 survey the decline in full-time permanent staff was predicted to be arrested in 2013. This has proved correct, with 8% of attractions increasing their full-time permanent staff and only 6% reducing these staff. Attractions also predict this trend to continue in 2014.

7

2013 Weather Summary (source: Met Office)

2013 began with an exceptionally cold Winter and Spring, especially in March, with unseasonably late snowfalls. This lead into a much warmer summer period, ending a period of six consecutive dull and wet summers, with July being particularly warm and sunny. Autumn was more typical, although October was wet enough to cause disruption. Overall during the year, rainfall was slightly below average (5% lower) and sunshine slightly above average (4% higher).

Winter 2012/13: 2013 got off to a cold start with average temperatures 0.3ºC and 0.9ºC below the norm for January and February respectively, with snow a feature, particularly in January.

Spring 2013: This pattern continued into Spring, with this season being the coldest since 1962. March was particularly cold, at 3.3ºC below average. The season ended a run of six consecutive sunny springs, with sunshine levels returning to around average levels.

Summer 2013: In contrast, summer was the warmest since 2006, including a prolonged heat wave in early-mid July. It ended a run of six consecutive relatively dull and wet summers with rainfall only 78% of average and sunshine 114% of the average.

Autumn 2013: It was a fairly typical Autumn across England with temperatures, rainfall and sunshine all close to average overall, although there were notable regional variations. However, October was the wettest since 2000, causing disruption.

8

49

55

49

43

22

31

50

58

14

55

73

63

87

52

47

45

43

56

73

68

50

37

76

35

25

37

10

44

4

0

9

1

5

2

0

5

10

10

2

0

3

4

ALL

Country parks

Farms

Gardens

Historic houses / castles

Other historic properties

Leisure / theme parks

Museums / art galleries

Steam / heritage railways

Visitor / heritage centres

Wildlife attractions / zoos

Workplaces

Places of worship

Other

Open all year round

Regular seasonal closure

Closed for other reason

Attraction opening – by attraction category

9 Base: All attractions answering (1,396)

Around half (49%) of attractions remain open all year round. This was a notable fall from the 55% reported for 2012.

Historic properties have been the main driver of this decline in year round opening. English Heritage extending their seasonal closures to a greater proportion of sites for 2013 is the main contributor to this change, although other historic properties also changed to a seasonal closing policy.

This change has made historic properties one of the most common sectors for seasonal closure, alongside steam/ heritage railways.

Places of worship, wildlife attractions and workplaces are the most likely to remain open year round.

% open all year

in 2012

55

90

68

44

40

46

26

59

19

47

78

81

80

50

49

42

36

70

32

47

50

78

47

54

61

25

63

49

45

19

4

4

3

6

5

4

5

2

ALL

Coastal

Rural

Urban

10,000 or less

10,000-20,000

20,000-100,000

Over 100,000

Open all year round

Regular seasonal closure

Closed for other reason

Attraction opening – by destination type & attraction size

10 Base: All attractions answering (1,396)

Larger attractions (100,000 visitors or more), which tend to be based in urban areas are more likely to stay open year round.

Only a third of small attractions (10,000 visitors a year or less) remain open for the whole year.

Visitor admission trends

Visitor admission trends

8

2 1

-*

3 3 2

5

3 3

-1

5

Annual % change in visits

Attractions reported a 5% annual increase in total visits in 2013 (adults and children), the joint largest year-on-year increase since 2002.

This was driven by a recovery in visits to attractions charging for admission, where there was a +7% increase in visits, following the -3% decline observed in 2012.

This overall increase in visits reported by attractions correlated with an increase in the number of trips to visitor attractions taken in England, as measured by the Day Visits Survey. Although this survey reported a decrease in the number of tourism day trips as a whole in 2013 (-7%), day trips to attractions were reported to have increased by +9%. In addition, there was a +9% uplift in holiday visits to England from abroad (source: IPS). Conversely, and the number of overnight domestic holiday trips fell by -2% (source: GBTS).

Many attractions recovered from the unsettling 2012 Olympics and Paralympics period, reporting major visit increases during the 2013 summer months (source: Tourism Business Monitor). Indeed, many attractions saw visitor numbers bounce back significantly beyond even their 2011 levels, returning the market to its long term trend of growth.

Base: All attractions providing visits data for current and previous year (1,478 in 2013) 12

’02 ’03 ’04 ’05 ’06 ’07 ’08 ’09 ’10 ’11 ’12 ‘13

Visitor admission trends 2013 – by attraction category

All attractions sectors experienced visitor number growth in 2013. This is in contrast to 2012, when eight sectors experienced a decline.

With 2013 a year of two halves in terms of weather (exceptionally cold until May followed by an exceptionally warm summer), there was little difference overall between categories dominated by outdoor attractions – such as wildlife attractions - or categories dominated by indoor attractions – such as museums / art galleries - in terms of visitor number growth.

Despite being more likely to be closed seasonally, historic attractions experienced strong growth in 2013, historic houses/castles increasing visits by +7% and other historic properties by +10%. This saw this sector return to its trend of strong growth observed since 2008 (see page 16). Visits are now around a quarter higher than they were in 2008.

Museums / art galleries picked up some of the outdoor attraction business during the poorer weather of 2012, and continued to grow visitor numbers by +4% in 2013.

Base: All attractions providing visits data for both 2012 and 2013 (1,478)

2

8

2

7

10

1

4

1

6

6

4

13

3

Country parks

Farms

Gardens








Workplaces

Places of worship

Other

All attractions

average (+5%)

2011/12 change

(%)

-2

0

-2

-4

0

-1

+2

-5

-2

-4

+1

-2

+1

13

Index of visits to attractions – sectors outperforming market

142

100

149

161

211

181

222

192

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

240

260

19

89

19

90

19

91

19

92

19

93

19

94

19

95

19

96

19

97

19

98

19

99

20

00

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

20

12

20

13

TOTAL ENGLAND ATTRACTIONS Museums/art galleries

Country parks Visitor/heritage centres

Workplaces Farms

Gardens

14 Base: All attractions providing visits data for both 2012 and 2013 (1,478)

Index of visits to attractions – sectors outperforming market Index Calculation

The charts presented on slides 14 and 16 show the indexed visits trend for each attraction category. The base year for the index is 1989, with the index set at 100 for that year. Annual percentage changes in visits are subsequently applied to this index e.g. visits to museums / art galleries increased +4% between 1989 and 1990, increasing the index for 1990 to 104.

Because the number of attractions responding each year differs, the percentage change between any two years is applied each time to the previous year’s index to take account of varying sample sizes each year.

Operators are asked in each survey year to provide the number of visits for both the survey year and previous year. This enables the trend between any two years to be calculated based on the same attractions.

The chart shows the attraction categories which have shown above average annual visit increases since 1989. Across England attractions as a whole, visits have increased 42% in that time.

Farms have seen the greatest increase in visits, particularly in the last ten years, since the Foot and Mouth outbreak of 2001. Visitor / heritage centres and gardens have also seen very strong increases overall.

Visits to museums / art galleries overall are now almost 50% higher than they were on the introduction of free entry to national museums in 2001. DCMS data on visits to former charging sponsored museums indicate that this increase has been primarily driven by visits to these museums. These figures state that visits to former charging sponsored London museums were up by +151% in the ten years since becoming free and those outside London by +148%.

15

Index of visits to attractions – sectors under performing against market

142

116

106

126

120

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

240

260

19

89

19

90

19

91

19

92

19

93

19

94

19

95

19

96

19

97

19

98

19

99

20

00

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

20

12

20

13

TOTAL ENGLAND ATTRACTIONS Historic properties

Leisure / theme parks Steam / heritage railways



Index of visits to attractions – sectors under performing against market

Steam/ heritage railways, which had been performing above or in line with the industry average until 2010, saw two years of decline in 2011 and 2012 and a below average +1% increase in 2013. However, they remain 26% above the benchmark 1989 levels.

Both historic properties and wildlife attractions/ zoos reported strong increases in visitor numbers this year. Both have seen steady improvement since 2001, with historic properties particularly strong since 2008.

Visits to leisure / theme parks have rather stagnated over the past nine years, although it should be noted that attractions operated by Merlin Entertainments are not included in this survey. Indeed, participation in the survey by attractions within the leisure / theme park sector has been declining in recent years.

17

3

7

3

4

5

1

4

7

4

Visitor admission trends 2013 – by admission charge, geographic location and size

The increase in attraction visits in 2013 was primarily driven by the two-thirds of responding attractions in the sector which are paid admission. Visits increased by +7% to paid attractions compared with +3% for free attractions, representing a major recovery on 2012, when free attractions were more successful.

Growth in visits remains stronger among urban attractions, increasing by +5% in 2013 and being one of the few areas to also experience growth in 2012. As page 20 demonstrates, London attractions drive this.

Larger attractions with 50,000+ visits per annum continue to outperform the market, while attractions with fewer than 20,000 visits continue to grow at the slowest rate.

This is associated with the stronger performance of urban areas, which house half of the largest (200,000+ visitors) attractions taking part in the survey, including the free London museums and galleries.

Free

Paid

Coastal

Rural

Urban

20,000 visits or less

20,001-50,000 visits

50,001-200,000 visits

Over 200,000 visits

+2

-3

-2

-3

+1

-6

-2

-4

+1

2011/12

change (%)

All attractions

average (+5%)


Visitor admission trends 2013 – paid and free attractions

Paid attractions reported a +7% increase in visits for 2013. The year saw increases across all categories of paid attractions, reflecting the beginnings of recovery in the UK economy.

There was also an increase in visitor admissions to free attractions in 2013 (+3%). With half of free attractions being museums / art galleries, this category tends to define performance of free attractions overall. Visits to free museums / art galleries increased by +4% in 2013. Visits to free places of worship saw the strongest growth in 2013 (+12%).

3

1

11

-21

-2

5

-3

4

-3

1

2

5

12

1

ALL FREE ATTRACTIONS (551)

Country parks (36)

Farms (14)

Gardens (8)

Historic houses / castles (17)

Other historic properties (41)

Leisure / theme parks (2)

Museums / art galleries (274)

Steam / heritage railways (3)

Visitor / heritage centres (37)

Wildlife attractions/zoos (29)

Workplaces (11)

Places of worship (58)

Other (22)

Free Attractions 2011 / 12

change (%)

+2

-2

+1

+34

-7

+10

-8

+2

+2

-3

-1

-1

+2

+1

7

19

6

7

7

12

2

5

2

14

7

3

13

5

Base: All attractions providing visits data for both 2012 and 2013 (1,478)

N.B. Figures in brackets represent sample sizes of attractions upon which data is based.

-3

+8

-1

-8

-4

-5

+2

-1

-6

0

-5

+18

-4

+1

2011 / 12

change (%) Paid Attractions

ALL PAID ATTRACTIONS (927)

Country parks (30)

Farms (30)

Gardens (75)

Historic houses / castles (301)

Other historic properties (104)

Leisure / theme parks (16)

Museums / art galleries (209)

Steam / heritage railways (27)

Visitor / heritage centres (27)

Wildlife attractions/zoos (52)

Workplaces (15)

Places of worship (7)

Other (56)

19

Visitor admission trends 2013 - by region

-2

6

4

5

1

4

8

4

4

Having stalled in 2012, visits to London attractions increased significantly above the average, by +8%, in 2013. This helped to drive the increase in visits to urban attractions. Attractions in the North East (+6%) also saw visitor numbers increase above the national average. Attractions in both the North West and West Midlands saw visitor number increases below the national average, with visits actually decreasing by -2% in the North West. In both regions, this decrease was driven by a decline in visits to the free attractions, particularly in urban areas (see page 21). Visits to paid attractions increased in all regions, including both the North West and West Midlands (see page 21). Visits to historic properties also increased across all regions.

+2

-1

+1

-2

-2

-3

0

0

-2

2011/12

change (%)

All attractions

average (+5%)

North West

North East

Yorks / Humber

East Midlands

West Midlands

East

London

South East

South West


Visitor admission trends 2013 – other regional dimensions

-5

6

3

8

-2

-1

6

2

4

3

7

6

1

5

8

15

6

4

2

2

-10

-4

9

5

2

7

9

4

1

2

6

13

4

4

-5

9

6

12

0

0

8

6

5

North West

North East

Yorks / Humber

East Midlands

West Midlands

East

London

South East

South West

All attractions +3% +7% +3% +4% +5%

Free Paid Coastal Rural Urban

% change 2012 / 2013

n/a

n/a


Visitor admission trends 2013 – child visits summary

There was a strong bounce-back in visits to family attractions in 2013, with a +6% increase in visits to attractions with over 30% of their visits accounted for by children. This contrasts with a –2% decline in 2012.

Indeed, child admissions to attractions increased more strongly than adult admissions, with +6% more children visiting attractions in 2013 than in 2012.

Schoolchildren admissions also saw a strong increase in 2013. Although increasing at a rate lower than admissions as a whole (+4%), this was a notable turnaround on the -16% decline observed in 2012.

However, attractions more reliant on schoolchildren continue to find it more difficult to increase visits. Attractions with more than 30% of their visits accounted for by schoolchildren only increased their total visitor admissions by +2% in 2013.

5

6

6

2

6

4

All attractions

average (+5%)

2011/12

% change

0

-2

-1

-8

+1

-16

30% or less children

Over 30% children

30% or less

schoolchildren

Over 30%

schoolchildren

Child admissions

Schoolchildren

admissions

Attractions with…


42

35

23

42

34

24

Visitor admission trends 2013 – by visitor origin

Across the attractions sector, overseas visits were up by 10% in 2013. This was the same increase as reported in 2012. However, unlike in 2012 when this increase was driven almost entirely by London, the increases in 2013 were much more likely to be shared around the regions – only the South West saw a decline in overseas visitor admissions (see page 24).

Attractions reported local visitors within day trip distance up by +8% in 2013. This represents a major turnaround on the -5% decline observed in 2012 and is consistent with the +9% increase in day visits to attractions in 2013 reported by the Day Visit Survey. Although day visits to attractions were up across most regions, London led the way with a +29% increase, reversing the -7% decline seen in 2012 – perhaps the first region for residents to experience economic recovery (see page 26).

Local / day trip visitors also led the recovery in visits to paid admission attractions, with local visitors to these attractions up by +11% in 2013 (see page 27).

Up

Similar

Down

Base: All attractions responding ( c.1,260)

Up

Similar

Down

Overseas visitors

Compared with 2012 (%)

Local / day trippers

Compared with 2012 (%)

+10% in visits

+8% in visits

23

-27

-15

-24

-26

-24

-19

-17

-22

-25

Visitor admission trends 2013 – overseas visitors by attraction category and region

22

31

48

52

46

56

40

43

36

35

41

36

37

-16

-16

-18

-18

-19

-13

-28

-11

-31

-28

-22

-21

-20

Country parks

Farms

Gardens








Workplaces

Places of worship

Other

% down % up

Attraction Category: overseas visitors

Overseas visits increased to all types of attractions apart

from ‘other historic properties’ in 2013.

2012/13

% change

44

47

46

36

31

34

55

44

46

North West

North East

Yorks / Humber

East Midlands

West Midlands

East

London

South East

South West

% down % up

Region: overseas visitors

Only the South West saw a drop in overseas visitors in 2013, with increases being spread further away from London this year. The North East and East Midlands saw particularly strong increases in overseas visits to their attractions, albeit from a relatively low base. Increases in overseas visits to London attractions remained strong in 2013 at +15%.

2012/13

% change


2%

16%

14%

7%

15%

24

27%

6%

25%

18%

7%

3%

37%

7%

12%

8%

9%

14%

30%

5%

32%

5%

16%

Visitor admission trends 2013 – overseas visitors by size and admission charge

The increase in overseas visitors was driven primarily by free admission attractions, as was the case in 2012.

The increase in overseas visits in 2012 was driven largely by the large government funded London museums and galleries. However, in 2013, the increases in overseas visits seem to have been more evenly distributed, not only regionally, but also across a range of attraction types and sizes.

Indeed, overseas visits to the smallest attractions with less than 20,000 visits per annum increased at a faster rate in 2013 than the largest attractions with over 200,000 visitors per annum (although they still had a lower proportion of attractions reporting an increase in visitors).

39

44

39

40

47

49

-22

-23

-24

-24

-18

-20

% down % up

Admission Charge: overseas visitors

2012/13 %

change

Free

Paid

Up to 20k p.a.

20k – 50k p.a.

50k – 200k p.a.

Over 200k p.a.

Size: overseas visitors

% up % down

15%

3%

Base: All attractions responding ( c.1,260) 25

10%

3%

12%

17%

19

31

52

51

50

59

37

43

36

47

33

33

42

-27

-18

-27

-31

-25

-17

-17

-26

-25

Visitor admission trends 2013 – local / day trip visitors by attraction category and region

-8

-13

-23

-21

-18

-12

-32

-14

-31

-19

-19

-21

-23

Country parks

Farms

Gardens








Workplaces

Places of worship

Other

% down % up

Attraction Category: local visitors

2012/13

% change

44

46

45

35

32

40

52

41

43

North West

North East

Yorks / Humber

East Midlands

West Midlands

East

London

South East

South West

% down % up

Region: local visitors

2012/13

% change

Other than country parks and gardens, all attraction categories reported 2013 local visitor numbers up on 2012. The lower overall performance of attractions in terms of visit numbers in the North West and West Midlands appears to have been driven by declines in local visitors. These are the only two regions in which local visitor numbers fell in 2013.


6%

7%

6%

41%

10%

26

2%

9%

4%

1%

4%

29%

10%

18%

8%

4%

3%

10%

7%

21%

5%

12%

12%

2012/13 %

change

Visitor admission trends 2013 – local / day trip visitors by size and admission charge

Local visitors appear to have driven the increase in visits to paid admission attractions in 2013. Local visitors to these attractions increased by +11% in 2013 compared with an overall +7% increase in visits to paid attractions.

All sizes of attraction experienced an increase in local visitors in 2013, although the smallest attractions also experienced the smallest rate of increase in local visitors.

33

47

39

39

52

41

-27

-22

-25

-24

-20

-28

% down % up

Admission Charge: local visitors

Free

Paid

Up to 20k p.a.

20k – 50k p.a.

50k – 200k p.a.

Over 200k p.a.

Size: local visitors

% up % down

Base: All attractions responding ( c.1,260) 27

6%

11%

9%

8%

7%

2%

Admission charge and revenue trends

1

3

3

4

6

6

7

9

10

10

14

10

8

9

Adult admission charges 2013

41% of attractions charging admission, charge £5 or less for entry – a slight decline on the 43% observed in 2012. One in six charge over £10.

The average entry charge stands at £7.30 in 2013.

The average child admission charge amongst those sites charging is £5.18. A quarter of charging sites (23%) charge over £5 for child entry, with 6% now charging over £10.00.

Over £30.00

£20.01 - £30.00

£15.01 - £20.00

£12.01 - £15.00

£10.01 - £12.00

£9.01 - £10.00

£8.01 - £9.00

£7.01 - £8.00

£6.01 - £7.00

£5.01 - £6.00

£4.01 - £5.00

£3.01 - £4.00

£2.01 - £3.00

£2.00 or less

Base: Attractions charging for admission in 2013 (942)

%

29

4

3

-5

4

4

7

6

5

2

5

4

3

18

8

Adult admission charge trends 2013 – by attraction category

Country parks (driven by Go Ape attractions) charge an average of £25 per adult. Leisure/ theme parks (£11.80), steam/ heritage railways (£11.23) and wildlife attractions/ zoos (£10.02) have the highest average admission prices, with the latter breaking the average £10 barrier for the first time.

The average increase in adult admission fees is 4% this year – consistent with increases during the previous five years, with increases of 4% (2012), 5% (2011), 5% (2010), 4% (2009) and 5% (2008).

This remains above the rate of inflation, as the Consumer Price Index ran at an average of 2.0% for 2013.

Increases were again highest at places of worship (18%).

Average child admission charges increased by an average of 4% in 2013, slightly higher than the rate observed in 2012 (3%)

ALL ATTRACTIONS

Country parks

Farms

Gardens








Workplaces

Places of worship

Other

Base: Attractions providing admission charge data for both 2012 and 2013 (623)

Average

2013

charge

% increase in

adult charge

versus 2012

£7.30

£25.13

£6.48

£6.71

£7.13

£5.38

£11.80

£4.81

£11.23

£6.89

£10.02

£7.20

£8.88

£7.91

+4

0

+5

+7

+5

+3

+6

+5

+8

+2

+3

-2

+9

+1

2011/12

change

(%)

30

6

5

4

4

5

5

4

4

3

Adult admission charge trends 2013 – by region

London charging attractions remain the most expensive (at £9.67 on average), £0.91 more than the second most expensive region, the North West.

As in 2012, The East’s attractions reported admission prices which had increased the most (+6%).

Sites in the North East (£6.27) and Yorks /Humber (£6.11) charge the least on average.

North West

North East

Yorks / Humber

East Midlands

West Midlands

East

London

South East

South West

Base: All attractions providing admission charge data for both 2012 and 2013 (623)

Average

2013 charge

All attractions

average (4%)

£8.76

£6.27

£6.11

£6.60

£7.09

£6.41

£9.67

£7.87

£7.17

+3

+3

+4

+2

+3

+6

+4

+5

+4

2011/12

change (%)

31

% change in adult admission charge

4

2

5

6

7

Adult admission charge trends 2013 – by attraction size

Site admission charges increase in line with the number of visitors attracted, with those bringing in more than 200,000 visitors a year now charging over £12 on average.

The largest sites (those with over 200,000 visitors) continue to be more bullish about pricing, making larger increases to admission charges in 2013 - +7% compared with +4% increase overall.

20,000 or less p.a.

20,001 – 50,000 p.a.

50,001 – 100,000 p.a.

100,001 – 200,000 p.a.

Over 200,000 p.a.


Average

2013 charge All attractions

average (4%)

£5.43

£7.54

£8.28

£9.62

£12.48

+3

+3

+5

+5

+6

2011/12

change (%)


Annual visits

32

4

4

5

4

4

4

5

Adult admission charge trends 2013 – by geographic location and child admissions

Attractions at rural destinations are around £1.63 more expensive on average than those in urban areas and almost £2 more expensive than those in coastal areas. Change in admission pricing is similar across each of these area types, although pricing at urban attractions has again increased the most (by +5%).

Price rises remain consistent between sites attracting families/ non-family and domestic/ overseas audiences.

Coastal

Rural

Urban

30% or less child visits

Over 30% child visits

30% or less overseas visits

Over 30% overseas visits


Average 2013

charge

£6.03

£7.94

£6.31

£7.43

£6.78

£6.47

£9.03

2011/12

change (%) All attractions

average (4%)

Attractions with…

+4

+4

+6

+4

+4

+4

+4

33


5 5

8

5 5

1

5

2007200820092010201120122013

Gross revenue trend

Following the significant slowing of the rate of increase in gross revenue in 2012, 2013 saw a return to the longer term average annual increase of +5%.

Almost half (46%) of attractions reported an increase in gross revenue in 2013 compared with only 15% reporting a decrease. In contrast, back in 2012 more attractions reported a decrease than an increase in gross revenue.

Revenue is correlated with change in adult admission prices, with larger price increases generating more revenue.

% change in gross revenue

Base: All attractions responding (1,148) 34

5

3

2

Gross revenue up

Gross revenue similar

Gross revenue down

% change adult admission charges

3

8

4

6

12

18

4

9

5

2

0

4

7

Gross revenue trend 2013 – by attraction category

Other than workplaces, all categories managed to increase gross revenue in 2013.

Growth was particularly strong for leisure / theme parks – perhaps seeing growth in secondary spend, accommodation, annual passes / memberships etc. – and for other historic properties.

Country parks

Farms

Gardens








Workplaces

Places of worship

Other

-1

+2

-9

+2

-5

+2

+3

-1

-3

+8

+6

0

-4

2011/12 %

change All attractions (+5%)

35 Base: All attractions responding (1,148)

Gross revenue trend 2013 – by region

In line with an overall decrease in visitor numbers at North West attractions, gross revenue at these attractions also only increased by an average of +2%.

Despite West Midlands attractions also only increasing visitor numbers by +1%, their attractions were more successful at achieving strong increases in gross revenue.

2

7

8

3

8

5

8

6

5

North West

North East

Yorks / Humber

East Mids

West Mids

East

London

South East

South West

% change in gross revenue

Base: All attractions responding (1,148) 36

3

7

5

6

5

5

5

7

5

Gross revenue trend 2013 – by admission charge and visit volume

In line with increases in visitor admissions, paid attractions have seen more growth in gross revenue than those free to enter. This represents a return to the pre-2012 trend.

2013 represented a better year for coastal and rural attractions in terms of gross revenue. Having somewhat stagnated in 2012, gross revenue was up by +5% and +6% respectively in 2013.

Despite a growth in visitor numbers, and increase in admission prices, the larger attractions saw revenues hit worst in 2012. 2013 has seen a recovery, with revenues up by +7% among attractions with between 50k and 200k visitors and by +5% among attractions with over 200k visitors per annum.

+3

0

0

-2

+5

+2

+2

-2

-1

2011/12 %

change All attractions (+5%)

Free

Paid

Up to 20k p.a.

20k – 50k p.a.

50k – 200k p.a.

Over 200k p.a.

Admission Charge

Annual visit volume

37 Base: All attractions responding (1,148)

Coastal

Rural

Urban

Destination type

Marketing and communications trends

Marketing expenditure trend

Between 2005 and 2012, the proportion of attractions reporting increases in marketing expenditure had been in gradual decline, with nearly as many attractions decreasing their marketing investment as there are increasing.

This decline has been arrested somewhat in 2013, with a slight increase in the proportion of attractions raising their marketing spend and a notable drop in those who reduced their spend in this area.

This switch appears to be being driven by the smaller attractions. Attractions with fewer than 20k visitors per annum were twice as likely to increase as decrease their marketing spend in 2013, whereas those with 200k or more visitors were as likely to decrease as increase their spend.

18

17

19

20

21

21

22

24

25

18

19

19

17

-12

-16

-13

-14

-11

-11

-12

-11

-10

-9

-14

-14

-18

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

20,000 visits or less

20,001-50,000 visits

50,001-200,000 visits

Over 200,000 visits

% down % up

% down % up

2013

Base: Attractions answering marketing question (1,353) 39

Marketing expenditure trends 2013 –by attraction category

46

31

19

12

16

28

16

23

18

23

22

18

21

-13

-16

-20

-9

-5

-22

-14

-20

-12

-13

-11

-11

-11

Country parks

Farms

Gardens








Workplaces

Places of worship

Other

% down % up

With the exception of gardens, all attractions categories were more likely to increase than decrease marketing expenditure in 2013.

40 Base: Attractions answering marketing question (1,353)

Marketing expenditure trends 2013 – by region and admission charge

As reported in recent years, paid attractions continue to be more likely to increase their marketing expenditure than free attractions.

Increases in marketing spend appear to have been most likely among London attractions, with 21% seeing an increase and only 7% a decrease in marketing spend.

Conversely, the two regions which saw visitor numbers most struggle to increase in 2013 – the North West and West Midlands – also were two of the regions most likely to see decreases in marketing spend.

-17

-15

-15

-10

-15

-10

-7

-13

-10

-13

-12

20

11

17

21

15

19

21

19

19

15

21

North West

North East

Yorks / Humber

East Midlands

West Midlands

East

London

South East

South West

Free

Paid

% down % up

% down % up

41 Base: Attractions answering marketing question (1,353)

Impact of marketing expenditure - summary

As in 2012, attractions increasing their marketing expenditure in 2013 were more likely to report increases in visitor numbers and gross revenue.

Visitor admissions increased by +8% among those increasing their marketing spend compared with only +1% amongst those who cut back on marketing.

The impact of marketing is evident amongst both local and overseas audiences in 2013. Local visits were up by +5% amongst attractions increasing their marketing spend vs. a decline of -1% amongst those cutting back. Similarly, overseas visits were up by +17% amongst attractions increasing their marketing spend vs. an smaller increase of +12% amongst those cutting back.

Gross revenue followed the same pattern, increasing by +10% amongst those increasing their marketing spend and increasing by only +2% amongst attractions reducing their marketing spend.

Marketing spend in 2013

2012 / 13 change in… Up Down

Total visitor admissions +8% +1%

Local visits +5% -1%

Overseas visits +17% +12%

Gross revenue +10% +2%

42

Website and online booking facilities

Almost all attractions (94%) now have a website. Only the very smallest attractions with less than 10,000 visits per annum are significantly less likely to have a website (88%). Free attractions are also still less likely to offer a website. In category terms, only workplaces and places of worship have less than 90% of their attractions offering a website (see page 45).

21% offered an online booking facility for tickets / events in 2013, including 26% of paid attractions. This varies significantly by attraction size, with half (52%) of attractions reporting visits of over 200,000 per annum offering this facility compared with just 7% of those with visits of less than 10,000 per annum. Online booking is most likely to be offered within the leisure / theme park and steam / heritage railway sectors (see page 45).

94

21

% offered Website Online

Booking

Under 10k visits p.a. 88 7

10k - 20k visits p.a. 95 17

20k - 100k visits p.a. 97 22

100k - 200k visits p.a. 97 37

Over 200k visits p.a. 99 52

Free attractions 91 14

Paid attractions 96 26

% offered in 2013

Base: All answering digital communications question (1,400) 43

Website

Online booking facility (tickets, events)

Other digital communications offered

The proportion of attractions offering some form of digital communications other than a website increased significantly in 2013, from 67% in 2012 to 77% in 2013.

Provision of individual forms of digital communications has also continued to increase. The strongest rate of growth has been for mobile apps, with 18% of attractions now offering these compared with only 7% in 2012. Provision of apps is very strong within the heritage sector (see page 45).

Facebook and Twitter are now in common use, even amongst smaller attractions. However, the rate of growth of Twitter has slowed somewhat in 2013.

77

62

51

31

19

19

11

13

10

18

% offered Number of visits p.a

20k or less 20k-100k Over 100k

ANY 61 90 95

Facebook page 43 75 87

Twitter account 31 64 80

E-newsletter 17 34 60

YouTube 9 18 41

Online blogs 9 19 41

Instagram/Pinterest 6 12 24

Mobile website 11 15 18

Other social media 7 9 20

Mobile apps 14 20 23

% offered in 2013


ANY

Facebook page

Twitter account

E-newsletter

YouTube

Online blogs

Instagram/Pinterest

Mobile website

Other social media

Mobile apps

%‘12

67 66

55 51

45 29

29 24

17 12

16 23

n/a n/a

10 13

10 8

7 8

%‘11

Digital communications offered in 2013 – by attraction category

% offering Country Parks

Farms Gardens Historic houses / castles

Other historic

properties

Leisure / theme

parks

Museums / art

galleries



Wildlife / zoos

Work-places

Places of

Worship Other

ANY 87 87 83 84 72 94 75 87 66 89 57 57 81

Facebook 82 83 72 48 42 89 66 80 59 84 50 42 73

Twitter account

66 66 68 42 31 67 55 60 47 68 46 40 51

E-newsletter 52 40 49 18 14 39 36 40 22 48 32 29 19

Online blogs 39 26 28 12 10 33 21 13 9 35 18 6 14

Mobile website

1 6 4 34 28 11 6 10 3 10 7 7 9

YouTube 42 28 17 12 8 39 20 33 13 32 7 8 21

Instagram/ Pinterest

36 11 13 10 4 17 14 10 6 15 4 0 5

Mobile apps 42 2 11 42 34 0 8 7 9 10 0 3 8

Other social media

36 6 7 7 8 6 11 7 3 18 4 3 13

WEBSITE 97 100 99 96 92 100 92 97 93 98 86 88 94

ONLINE BOOKING

37 21 20 17 18 44 18 57 21 30 21 17 33


Impact of digital communications - summary

Those attractions offering some form of digital communications platform (excluding just a website or online booking facility) in 2013 reported stronger increases in overall gross revenue and in child admissions.

Gross revenue increased by +6% amongst those offering digital communications, but by only +3% amongst sites not offering.

There was no impact on total admissions of offering digital communications, although the impact on child admissions was significant – increasing by +7% among those offering digital communications and declining by -5% among those who did not. Digital communications are a clear priority for the success of family attractions.

Offer any digital communications

(exc. website / online booking)?

2012 / 13 change in… Yes No


Children admissions +7% -5%

Local visits +9% -1%



46

Deals and Discounts

Deals or discounts offered in 2013

Almost half (44%) of attractions offered some form of deal or discount in 2013. This increases to 61% among charged admission attractions.

However, there are also 18% of free attractions which claim to offer deals or discounts. These are often attractions which have some form of paid entry occasionally (perhaps temporary exhibitions) and those which offer discounts on secondary spend areas such as catering or retail.

Among attractions charging for admission, offers primarily consisted of extra person discounts (37%) or reduced entry price discounts (32%).

44

24

21

12

10

8

14

61

37

32

16

15

12

17

18

4

4

6

4

1

8

Total Charging Attractions Free Attractions

% offered in 2013

Base: All answering deals/discounts question (1,421) 48

ANY

Extra person e.g. 2 for 1 entry

Reduced entry price discounts

Added value e.g. reduced exhibition entry, catering/retail discounts

Discounts through offer sites e.g. Groupon

Multi-attraction pass e.g. London Pass

Other

Deals or discounts offered by charging attractions 2013 – by attraction category

Among charging attractions, it is the attractions which tend to focus upon the family market - leisure / theme parks (87%), wildlife attractions / zoos (87%) and farms (84%) – which are most likely to offer deals and discounts. Reduced entry discounts are most popular among these sectors, closely followed by extra person discounts.

Extra person discounts are most prevalent within the gardens sector, with 60% of gardens offering this type of deal.

Although at lower levels to other types of discounts, discounts through offer sites such as Groupon are most popular amongst attractions which primarily focus upon families – farms, leisure / theme parks and wildlife attractions.

Farms

Gardens








Workplaces

Other

Offer sites

Added value

Multi-attraction pass

Extra person Reduced entry

0% 60% 40 50

49

30 10 20

Base: All charging attractions answering deals/discounts question (853)

N.B. Country parks and places of worship do not appear as base sizes are too small

84%

73%

46%

37%

87%

70%

73%

59%

87%

40%

60%

ANY

Other

Deals or discounts offered by charging attractions in 2013– by visitor volume

Among charging attractions, offering deals and discounts is common across the range of attraction sizes. Even half of attractions with fewer than 10,000 visitors per annum offer some form of deal or discount.

However, likelihood to offer deals and discounts does increase among larger attractions, culminating with these being offered by 75% of attractions with over 100,000 visitors per annum.

Added value discounts and discounts through offer sites are more likely to be offered by the larger attractions with over 100,000 visitors per annum.

However, the presence of smaller attractions within multi-attraction pass schemes is notable.

Visit Volume

% offering Under 10k

10k-20k

20k-50k

50k-100k

Over 100k

ANY 49 57 67 69 75

Extra person e.g. 2 for 1

entry

26 36 42 47 46

Reduced entry price discounts

21 31 39 41 37

Added value e.g. reduced

exhibition entry, catering/retail discounts

6 8 17 23 34


8 9 18 17 26


4 11 14 20 22

Other 11 13 19 22 26

50 Base: All charging attractions answering deals/discounts question (853)

Deals or discounts offered by charging attractions in 2013 – by region

Region (%)

NW NE Y+H EM WM EAST LON SE SW

ANY 68 45 57 58 67 56 68 62 63

Extra person e.g. 2 for 1 entry

42 26 29 33 35 31 51 41 40

Reduced entry price discounts 27 37 24 28 39 29 37 33 35

Added value e.g. reduced exhibition

entry, catering/retail discounts 27 11 10 14 15 16 29 14 13


13 16 14 14 14 9 32 13 18


18 5 13 14 4 6 49 10 11

Other 13 11 19 19 17 21 24 15 17

51 Base: All charging attractions answering deals/discounts question (853)

Offering deals and discounts is common among charging attractions across England, although notably lower in the North East.

London stands out as the region where attractions offer the broadest variety of deals and discounts, reflecting the greater range of competition. Discounts through offer sites and multi-attraction passes are particularly high in London compared with other regions.

Impact of offering deals and discounts - summary

Those attractions that offer deals / discounts report stronger increases in visitor admissions than those which do not.

Visitor admissions in 2013 were up +7% among those offering deals / discounts but only by +3% among those which did not.

The impact was particularly strong on child admissions, with visits up by +16% among attractions offering deals and discounts, but declining by -4% among attractions not making any offers available.

Although the impact on visitor admissions of offering deals and discounts is notable, there is a less clear impact upon overall gross revenue. Attractions offering deals and discounts reported a +6% increase in gross revenue compared with a +5% increase among those not offering any of these discounts.

Offer deals / discounts?

2012 / 13 change in… Yes No


Child admissions +16% -4%


Local visits +13% +3%


52

Employment trends

8

4

9

10

25

8

4

9

10

22

Employment trends

Proportions of attractions employing any of the following employees in 2013:

• 80% full-time permanent

• 45% full-time seasonal

• 79% part-time permanent

• 58% part-time seasonal

• 82% unpaid volunteers

Despite the improving financial climate in 2013 there continues to be a shift towards employees from the voluntary sector. Attractions predict this to continue during 2014.

Within the 2012 survey the decline in full-time permanent staff was predicted to be arrested in 2013. This has proved correct, with 8% of attractions increasing their full-time permanent staff and only 6% reducing these staff. Attractions also predict this trend to continue in 2014.

Indeed, attractions are more likely to predict increases than decreases in staff across all categories in 2014, reflecting the improving financial climate.

-6

-2

-6

-3

-4

-5

-2

-5

-3

-2

Full-time permanent

Full-time seasonal

Part-time permanent

Part-time seasonal

Unpaid volunteers

% down % up

% down % up

Anticipated change in employees in 2014

Change in employees since 2012

Full-time permanent

Full-time seasonal

Part-time permanent

Part-time seasonal

Unpaid volunteers

Base: All answering employment questions

54

24

27

30

26

23

0

26

28

33

29

0

27

17

29

22

50

75

86

79

71

50

90

97

83

86

58

96

59

Country parks

Farms

Gardens








Workplaces

Places of worship

Other

Employment trends – unpaid volunteers summary (2012 to 2013)

% down % up

% up

2012 to 2013

Free

Paid

-2

-7

-5

-5

-3

0

-5

-7

-2

-6

-4

-3

0

-4

-4

% down

Under 20k visits

20k-50k visits

50k-200k visits

Over 200k visits

% down % up

22

24

32

29

87

78

% any volunteers

in 2013

% any volunteers

in 2013

82

78

83

86

% any

volunteers

in 2013 2012 to 2013

55

Base: All answering employment questions

-6

-4

-3

-3

Whilst unpaid volunteers are up across the board, they are again most likely to have increased at the larger attractions.

Volunteering is also now more likely to have increased at free attractions than those with paid admission.

With exception of workplaces, all attraction categories were more likely to have reported increases than decreases in volunteers in 2013.

17

30

32

25

22

6

22

21

23

23

8

14

10

23

21

-2

-2

-2

0

Country parks

Farms

Gardens








Workplaces

Places of worship

Other

Employment trends – unpaid volunteers summary (2014 predictions)

% down % up

% up

2014 predictions

Free

Paid

-2

-7

-2

-1

-1

0

-2

0

-2

-3

-4

-4

0

-2

-2

% down

Under 20k visits

20k-50k visits

50k-200k visits

Over 200k visits

% down % up

21

16

27

27

The trend towards unpaid volunteers is predicted to continue again in 2014, with larger attractions still driving this increase.

Farms and gardens are the attraction categories most likely to predict the number of volunteers to increase in 2014, although a notable minority of farms (7%) are predicting a drop in volunteers in 2014.

2014 predictions

56 Base: All answering employment questions

4

15

3

11

6

0

5

17

12

11

4

10

10

6

9

-4

-6

-8

-11

Under 20k visits

20k-50k visits

50k-200k visits

Over 200k visits

97

100

97

92

67

100

68

79

70

95

88

76

82

Country parks

Farms

Gardens








Workplaces

Places of worship

Other

Employment trends – full time permanent employees summary (2012-2013)

% down % up

% up

2012 to 2013

Free

Paid

-12

-17

-11

-6

-4

0

-6

0

-2

-9

-8

-2

-4

-7

-6

% down

% down % up

4

8

12

12

74

84

% any FT

perm in 2013

60

92

97

99

Although there are more attractions increasing than decreasing full-time permanent staff overall, this masks some differences by type of attraction.

Heritage attractions appear to have driven the increase in full-time permanent staff, plus visitor / heritage centres and places of worship. Conversely, museums and art galleries, country parks, gardens, farms and workplaces continue to be more likely to be reducing these members of staff.

Paid admission attractions have led the drive in taking on full-time permanent staff in 2013.

There is a fairly balanced pattern by attraction size with slightly more attractions taking on staff as cutting back across all size categories except the very smallest.

% any FT

perm in 2013

% any FT

perm in 2013 2012 to 2013


0

26

10

8

3

17

6

17

12

15

12

4

4

7

9

5

7

10

11

Under 20k visits

20k-50k visits

50k-200k visits

Over 200k visits

Country parks

Farms

Gardens








Workplaces

Places of worship

Other

Employment trends – full time permanent employees summary (2014 predictions)

% down % up

% up

2014 predictions

Free

Paid

-13

-11

-5

-3

-3

0

-6

-4

-3

-6

-4

-4

-1

-7

-4

% down

% down % up

5

7

11

14

2014 predictions

The trend towards taking on more full-time permanent staff is predicted to continue again in 2014, with larger and paid admission attractions predicted to drive this increase.

In particular, full-time permanent staffing levels are expecting to increase in the farms, steam/ heritage railways, leisure/ theme parks and wildlife attractions categories.

Museums and art galleries are less bullish about taking on full-time permanent staff, being as likely to say they will reduce as increase these staff members.


Attracting visitors to the area

Attracting visitors to the area

The past two years have see a question added to the Visits to Visitor Attractions survey to try to tease out the ‘pull’

of attractions to an area.

‘Thinking just about your visitors who are staying away from home in the area, what percentage of these visitors

would you estimate decided to visit the area mainly because of your attraction?‘

These results are unaudited, and we don’t know what sites based this information on – whether it is data from other

surveys they run, or simply ‘gut feel’.

61

17

40

12

10

13

8

None

1-5%

6-10%

11-20%

21-50%

Over 50%

Attracting visitors to the area (2013)

Around four in five sites believe they serve to attract at least some non-local visitors to the area.

On average, 15% of visitors are estimated to have been attracted to the area by attractions (see page 58).

This calculation takes into account the actual number of non-local visitors to each site, and sites’ estimations of what percentage of their visitors decided to visit the area mainly because of their attraction.

Base: All attractions responding (943)

Visitors staying in the area as a

result of the attraction (%)

19

36

15

11

12

7

% in 2012

62

15

12

10

15

15

16

12

15

22

15

18

12

20

21

ALL

Country parks

Farms

Gardens








Workplaces

Places of worship

Other

Attracting visitors to the area – by attraction type (2013)

Steam / heritage railways and places of worship appear to have the biggest draw for non-local visitors, followed by wildlife attractions. These were also the three strongest categories in the 2012 survey.



result of the attraction (average %)

63

15

16

16

15

12

15

19

26

ALL

Coastal

Rural

Urban

Under 20k visitors

20k to 50k visitors

50k to 200k visitors

Over 200k visitors

Attracting visitors to the area – by destination type & attraction size (2013)

As we would expect, the larger the attraction, the greater its gravitational pull.

Sites receiving more than 200,000 visitors a year reported figures that suggest they attract twice as many visitors to the area as attractions with fewer than 20,000 visitors.



result of the attraction (average %)

Questionnaire

64

visitor attraction trends in england 2013 · 2015-03-31 · trends in england 2013 . ... been...

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