Encouraging Car Free LeisureHow to influence visitor behaviour

A presentation by Olivia Morris – Policy and Campaigns Officer

October 2005

Introduction

• Rise in leisure traffic

• Why should we be concerned?

• Visitor Travel Plan research

• Lessons

• Challenges

• Questions

Facts about the National Trust

• Conservation charity with over 3.3 million members

• 250,000 hectares of countryside

• 600 miles of coastline

• 300 buildings and gardens

• 50 million visits to our coast and countryside properties annually

• 500,000 visits by schoolchildren

• Annual expenditure of £295 million

Tourism – a major economic sector

• £74 billion

• Employs 2.2 million people

• 8% of working population

• In Cornwall tourism contributes 24% of its GDP – 5 X national average

• Worth up to £100 billion by 2010

The rise in leisure travel in the UK

Traffic to increase by around 25% on non-urban roads between 2000 and 2010

Congestion to increase by 35% in rural areas 7 out of 10 tourism day trips and 8 out of 10

holiday visits are currently made by car Distance travelled for

day trips in the UK has

increased by a 1/3

since 1985

Tackling leisure traffic because:

• Undermines the asset base

• Undermines the tourism experience

• Costs of management

• creates opportunities for income generation

• Contributes to rural regeneration

• Leisure travel highly sensitive to motoring costs

Why is the Trust interested?

• AGM resolution: To reduce the proportion of property visits by

car from 90% to 60% by 2020• Traffic and car parking are major operational

issues eg maintenance of car parking• Implications for business, social and

conservation objectives • Participated in over 28 car free travel

schemes

HOWEVER

• Trust itself a major traffic generator

• 96% visitors came by car in 2004

• Piecemeal involvement

• No strategy

• Barriers to visitor travel plans e.g. funding, capacity, accessibility

The aim of the visitor travel research

• Identify the key lessons learnt so far from travel planning

• Begin to develop guidance on visitor travel plans

Research outputs

• 12 Case studies

• Develop framework for an effective visitor travel plan

• Summarise business case

• Summarise priorities for action

• List recommendations for government support

Visitor Travel Plan

• Like other travel plans – a site specific package of

measures to make it easier to reach the site by public transport, walking and cycling

• Combines both ‘hard’ measures – new services and site improvements with ‘soft’ measures such as awareness raising and marketing.

Applying the lessons from successful school and workplace travel plans

• Dedicated staff time and senior support

• Partnership working e.g. with transport operators and local authorities

• Promotion, marketing and awareness raising

• Financial incentives e.g. discounted travel

• Parking restraint e.g. restrictions or charges

BUT THERE ARE DIFFERENCES…

Special opportunities for visitor travel plans

Promote green travel through the existing marketing strategy

Leisure providers are already in the business of telling people how to get to their sites!

Special opportunities for visitor travel plans

Offer ‘travel as a treat’

• Fal River Links scheme in Cornwall links boats, buses and attractions (such as Trelissick Garden)

• Breeze up to the Downs – 750 passengers a day

Special opportunities forvisitor travel plans

Target leisure cyclists and walkers

• Make links with walking networks and National Cycle Network.

Special opportunities for visitor travel plans

Build on partnership potential

• Leisure sites can offer public transport operators the chance to grow off-peak travel

• Attractions can work together to offer combined days out

Special opportunities for visitor travel plans

Everyone likes Carrots, Rewards and incentives

• Offer discounts on admission, 2for1 deals - or a free cup of tea!

• Provide safe storage for heavy bags and cycling equipment and cycle parking facilities

Is there really much potential for change?

aspiring environmentalists

malcontented motorists

complacent car addicts

die-hard drivers

Challenges ahead

• Improve the infrastructure

• Create viable services

• Growing emphasis on road pricing and smarter choice measures needs better understanding of leisure travel

• Need for stable revenue funding critical

• Wide spread culture change in travel behaviour needed

Questions for ECCOMM

• Best practice?

• Barriers?

• Solutions?

• Are travel plans needed?

• What enables leisure destinations to develop travel plans for visitors?

• What changes visitor behaviour?