Visitor Attraction Trends in England 2015...Attractions reported a 2% annual increase in total...
Transcript of Visitor Attraction Trends in England 2015...Attractions reported a 2% annual increase in total...
Full Report
Visitor Attraction Trends in England 2015
Acknowledgements
1
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 and The National Trust as well as several Destination Management Organisations, councils and museum / attraction groups. 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 and relevant organisations. 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) © 2015 British Tourist Authority (trading as VisitBritain).
VisitEngland is grateful to Historic England for their financial support for the 2015 survey.
July 2016
IntroductionThis 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.”
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Sample and Response
VisitEngland tightened its definition and undertook a major review of attractions used for the 2013 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 therefore saw a slight shift in the attraction size profile of sites participating in the research in 2013.
Further, whilst country parks continue to be included in the survey findings, they have 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.
VisitEngland no longer rigorously monitors attractions openings and closures. The England attractions database was therefore updated in 2015 using Experian business data. This data was de-duplicated against the existing attractions database.
5,596 English visitor attractions were invited to take part in this year’s survey.
1,564 English visitor attractions responded to the survey in 2016, each providing 2015 visitor numbers:
• 812 completed online
• 407 completed by post
• 345 provided data through umbrella organisations
1,459 attractions provided admissions for both 2015 and 2014 and these attractions form the basis of this report’s visitor trend evaluation.
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CategoryNo. attractions
providing data for 2014 & 2015
Profile of attractions providing data
2015 2014
Country Parks 43 3% 4%
Farms 41 3% 4%
Gardens 81 6% 6%
Historic properties 477 33% 32%
Leisure / theme parks 23 2% 2%
Museums / art galleries 477 33% 33%
Steam / heritage railways 29 2% 2%
Visitor / heritage centres 85 6% 5%
Wildlife attractions / zoos 95 7% 5%
Workplaces 22 2% 2%
Places of worship 47 3% 4%
Other 39 3% 1%
Total 1,459
Response by attraction category
Sample and Response (1)
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Response by region
Category
No. attns. giving 2014 &
2015 data
Profile of attractions that provided data
2015 2014
Annual Visits
10,000 or less 461 32% 31%
10,001–20,000 197 14% 13%
20,001–50,000 284 19% 19%
50,001–100,000 156 11% 12%
100,001–200,000 147 10% 9%
Over 200,000 214 15% 15%
Total 1,459
Admission
Free 536 37% 38%
Paid 923 63% 62%
Total 1,459
Response by attraction size and admission type
Sample and Response (2)
Category
No. attns. giving 2014
& 2015 data
Profile ofattractions
providing data
2015 2014
North West 143 10% 10%
North East 89 6% 6%
Yorks/Humber 154 11% 10%
East Midlands 134 9% 9%
West Midlands 120 8% 9%
East 184 13% 13%
London 100 7% 7%
South East 281 19% 19%
South West 254 17% 18%
Total 1,459
Headlines (1)
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Attractions reported a 2% annual increase in total visits to visitor attractions in 2015 (adults and children), a slower rate of growth than reported in each of the past two years.
This slow down in growth was driven by a decrease in visits to London attractions, which fell by -3% in 2015. This decline is consistent with trends in inbound tourism, with expenditure by the overseas holiday market to London falling by -1% in 2015.
Conversely, spend on domestic overnight stays in England increased by +8% and on tourism day visits by +3%, helping to explain the better performance of attractions outside of London.
Weather-wise, 2015 was both notably sunnier – particularly April, June, September and October – but also 10% wetter than usual, driven by the remaining months. Despite this, outdoor attractions faired better than others, especially farms, gardens and leisure/theme parks.
With the notable exceptions of museums / art galleries and workplaces (which both reported falls of less than 0.5% in visitor admissions), all other attraction categories reported increasing visits in 2015. The drop in visits to museums / art galleries was in part driven by declines in visits to some of the larger free museums / art galleries in London.
Schoolchildren admissions saw their second consecutive year of declining by -1%. This is having a knock-on effect on the overall performance of attractions which rely on these schoolchildren visits.
Headlines (2)
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Gross revenue at attractions was up by +5% in 2015 – typical of growth levels reported over the last nine years. Commensurate with this was a +5% increase in adult admission fees, which was also consistent with previous years. However, once again, child admission charges increased at a higher rate, increasing by an average of +10% (+7% in 2014).
The long term decline in the proportion of attractions reporting increases in marketing expenditure appears to now have been reversed. The proportion of attractions reporting increases in marketing spend fell from 25% to 17% between 2005 and 2012 but recovered to 19% in 2015.
Use of digital communications (other than a website) continued to increase in 2015, with 85% of attractions now using at least one form of digital communications. Facebook and Twitter continue to lead the way, but there was also a notable increase in the provision of e-newsletters in 2015 – 43% now offer.
There has been little change in the provision of other activities and facilities by attractions since 2012. Only provision of corporate events has increased significantly, with 30% of attractions offering these in 2015 compared with 25% in 2012. 64% of attractions now offer a retail shop, 50% a café / restaurant and 58% some form of membership / friends scheme or season ticket.
More sites increased their permanent and seasonal employees than cut head counts in 2015 and attractions anticipate further increases in staff across all levels in 2016. However, museums / art galleries were a notable exception, with more seeing a cut in permanent staff than an increase in 2015. The trend of increasing volunteer staff continued into 2015 and looks set to remain, with 22% of attractions expecting to increase their use of unpaid volunteers in 2016.
2015 UK Weather Summary (source: Met Office)
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Until mid-November, 2015 saw mostly quiet weather. From late Autumn a succession of Atlantic storms brought exceptional rainfall to the North and West, resulting in severe flooding to many towns and cities. Overall, the year was sunnier than usual (6% above the 1981–2010 average) but also notably wetter, with 10% more rainfall than average.
Winter 2014/15: 2014/15 was relatively benign and quiet, although the North saw storms periodically during this period. It was the sunniest Winter on record, with sunshine 21% above average. However, rainfall was also 11% above average, albeit driven by a particularly wet north and west of the country.
Spring 2015: There was also a north-west / south-east rainfall divide in Spring with the former much wetter. Rainfall was slightly higher than average overall. However, sunshine was also well above average (17%), driven by a very sunny April.
Summer 2015: The summer months were cooler and wetter than either of the previous two summers, although significantly so. June was generally drier, especially in the south, but July and August were both much wetter than average, resulting in 12% more rainfall than average across the summer months.
Autumn 2015: September and October were generally dry and sunny, especially in the north and west meaning that rainfall was 14% below average across the period overall. However, November was much more unsettled with autumnal storms hitting the north and west in particular.
54
88
67
41
43
42
46
56
11
52
81
65
88
67
42
12
31
58
55
57
54
37
89
43
16
30
8
31
4
2
2
3
1
7
5
3
4
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
9Base: All attractions answering (1,347)
*Base size below 50
Just over half (54%) of attractions remain open all year round. This is consistent with last year (52%).
Country parks, places of worship, wildlife attractions and workplaces are the most likely to remain open year round. However, workplaces are less likely to be open all year round than in 2014.
Both farms and historic houses / castles have seen an increase in the proportion staying open all year round in 2015.
Steam and heritage railways and comfortably the most seasonal.
4% of sites closed for other reasons (such as restoration) during the year, the same proportion as in 2014.
% open all year
in 2014˄
52
93
53
42
25
40
43
59
14
55
80
79
86
60
^Underlined scores indicate 2015 % ‘open all year round’ significantly different from 2014
54
54
45
67
30
51
62
84
42
43
53
27
65
47
34
12
4
3
2
6
5
2
4
4
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
10Base: All attractions answering (1,347)
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 (defined as having 10,000 visitors a year or less) remain open for the whole year. These sites are less likely to attract sufficient visitors during off-peak periods to warrant staying open.
Visitor admission trends
Visitor admission trends
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-*
3 32
5
3 3
-1
54
2
Annual % change in visits Attractions reported a 2% annual increase in total visits in 2015 (adults and children), somewhat slowing the sector’s return to growth following disruption around the Olympics and Paralympics.
This slow down in growth is driven by a decrease in visits to London attractions, which fell by 3% in 2015.
This decline in London is consistent with trends in inbound tourism (which mainly impacts the London market), with expenditure by the overseas holiday market to London decreasing by 1% in 2015 (source: IPS).
Conversely, overnight stays in England among the domestic market improved, helping to explain the better performance by attractions outside of London. Both overnight trips and spend were up 8% in 2015 (source: GBTS).
Although domestic tourism day visits fell by 4%, expenditure increased by 3% (Source: DVS).
Base: All attractions providing visits data for current and previous year (1,459 in 2015)12
’02 ’03 ’04 ’05 ’06 ’07 ’08 ’09 ’10 ’11 ’12 ’13 ’14 ‘15
Visitor admission trends 2015 – by attraction category
Despite the wetter than average weather for parts of the year, outdoor attractions performed well (there were some notably dry months in the shoulder seasons - April, June, September and October). Farm attractions, gardens and theme parks all increased visits by 7% in 2015, with wildlife attractions and country parks also reporting above average increases.
Places of worship again saw a decline in visits, following a year of substantial visitor number growth in 2013. Visitor numbers are now similar to those observed in 2012.
Visits to the large museums / art galleries sector also declined slightly in 2015, driven by some of the larger free museums and art galleries, especially in London.
Base: All attractions providing visits data for both 2014 and 2015 (1,459)
*Base size below 50
4
7
7
2
2
7
-*
2
3
4
4
-*
2
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*
All attractions
average (+2)
2013/14 change
(%)
+5
+10
+5
+5
+3
+3
+3
+4
+10
+6
+1
-5
+10
13
Index of visits to attractions – sectors outperforming market
150153
175
240
191
260
216
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100
120
140
160
180
200
220
240
260
280
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89
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90
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91
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20
15
TOTAL ENGLAND ATTRACTIONS Museums/art galleries
Country parks* Visitor/heritage centres
Workplaces* Farms*
Gardens
14Base: All attractions providing visits data for both 2014 and 2015 (1,459)
*Base size below 50
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 50% 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 in that time.
Visits to museums / art galleries overall are now over 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
150
124
116
134131
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
220
240
260
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89
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90
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20
14
20
15
TOTAL ENGLAND ATTRACTIONS Historic properties
Leisure / theme parks* Steam / heritage railways*
Wildlife attractions / zoos
16Base: All attractions providing visits data for both 2014 and 2015 (1,459)
*Base size below 50
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. 2014 heralded a turning point, with visitor growth matching the sector average in each of the past two years.
It was also a positive year for wildlife attractions/ zoos, which reported an above average increase in visitor numbers this year (+4%), continuing their positive performance since 2012.
Visits to leisure / theme parks also had a positive year (N.B. Merlin Entertainments attractions do not participate in the survey), with visits up by 7% in 2015. This follows several years of relative stagnation.
Historic properties followed overall sector trends in 2015, with visits up by 2% overall. Their popularity continues to grow following their nadir in 2001.
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Visitor admission trends 2015 - by region
4
3
2
6
6
3
-3
3
6
2015 saw growth in all regions with the notable exception of London (which declined by 3%). This follows strong post-Olympic growth of 8% in 2013 and a more modest improvement of 2% in 2014.
Visits to London attractions were suppressed by the stagnation of expenditure within the overseas inbound market to London which declined by 1% in 2015. Although domestic visits to London were up – among both day and staying visitors – this did not translate to increases in visits to London attractions.
Instead, it was the East and West Midlands and South West regions that saw the most significant growth, reflecting the fact that these three regions saw the greatest increases in domestic day visit expenditure in 2015 (Source: GBDVS).
+6
+7
+2
+3
+5
+10
+2
+6
+2
2013/14
change (%)
All attractions
average (+2%)
North West
North East
Yorks / Humber
East Midlands
West Midlands
East
London
South East
South West
18Base: All attractions providing visits data for both 2014 and 2015 (1,459)
1
2
4
5
-1
1
4
3
1
Visitor admission trends 2015 – by admission charge, geographic location and size
In 2015 visitor numbers grew at a consistent level between free and paid attractions.
As was the case in 2014, both coastal and rural attractions grew their visits at a rate above the sector average. Mainly driven by the decline in London attractions (but also the wider South East), visits to urban attractions also fell in 2015.
While attractions with fewer than 20,000 visits continue to grow at the slowest rate, these were joined by the largest attractions with over 200,000 visits in 2015, whose visits also only increased by 1%. Again, the large London attractions were largely responsible for these suppressed visits in 2015.
Free
Paid
Coastal
Rural
Urban
20,000 visits or less
20,001-50,000 visits
50,001-200,000 visits
Over 200,000 visits
+4
+4
+7
+5
+3
+1
+3
+5
+4
2013/14
change (%)
All attractions
average (+2%)
19Base: All attractions providing visits data for both 2014 and 2015 (1,459)
Visitor admission trends 2015 – paid and free attractions
Paid attractions reported a +2% increase in visits for 2015. The year saw increases across most categories of paid attractions, with particular growth in farms, gardens and visitor/ heritage centres.
There was also a slight increase in visitor admissions to free attractions in 2015 (+1%). 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 declined slightly by -1% in 2015, although strong performances across several other categories compensated for this in 2015. Visits to free historic houses/ castles also declined in 2015 (by -4%).
1
5
10
30
-4
4
17
-1
15
2
1
11
10
2
ALL FREE ATTRACTIONS (536)
Country parks* (33)
Farms* (14)
Gardens* (8)
Historic houses / castles* (23)
Other historic properties* (31)
Leisure / theme parks* (6)
Museums / art galleries (270)
Steam / heritage railways* (3)
Visitor / heritage centres* (44)
Wildlife attractions/zoos* (36)
Workplaces* (10)
Places of worship* (41)
Other* (17)
Free Attractions2013 / 14
change (%)
+4
+5
+11
+2
+13
-1
+3
+3
0
+8
+5
+2
0
+12
2
-6
5
6
2
2
4
3
1
5
4
-2
-6
3
Base: All attractions providing visits data for both 2014 and 2015 (1,459)
N.B. Figures in brackets represent sample sizes of attractions upon which data is based. *Base size below 50 (greyed out)
+3
+4
+13
+6
+4
+5
+3
0
+4
+12
+5
-1
-10
+4
2013 / 14
change (%)Paid Attractions
ALL PAID ATTRACTIONS (923)
Country parks* (10)
Farms* (27)
Gardens (73)
Historic houses / castles (314)
Other historic properties (109)
Leisure / theme parks* (17)
Museums / art galleries (207)
Steam / heritage railways* (26)
Visitor / heritage centres* (41)
Wildlife attractions/zoos (59)
Workplaces* (12)
Places of worship* (6)
Other* (22)
20
Visitor admission trends 2015 – other regional dimensions
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2
4
6
7
4
-3
2
5
2
6
1
6
5
2
-3
3
6
3
10
4
1
10
2
10
5
3
5
3
6
5
5
-1
-*
11
6
3
-3
-2
4
North West
North East
Yorks / Humber
East Midlands
West Midlands
East
London
South East
South West
All attractions +1% +2% +4% +5% -1%
Free Paid Coastal Rural Urban
% change 2014 / 2015
21Base: All attractions providing visits data for both 2014 and 2015 (1,459)
Small
base
Small
base
n/a
n/a
Small
base
Visitor admission trends 2015 – child visits summary
Family attractions performed at a similar level to attractions as a whole in 2015. Child visits to attractions also increased at a similar rate to admissions overall, with child admissions up 1% in 2015. This contrasts with a much stronger performance by family attractions in 2014, when 7% more children visited attractions than in 2013.
Schoolchildren visits continued their decline, with -1% fewer visits made by schoolchildren in 2015. This was the same level of decline as reported in 2014. This is having a knock-on effect on attractions for which schoolchildren account for over 30% of their visits, whose total admissions declined by -2% in 2015.
4
4
4
-2
1
-1
All attractions
average (+2%)
2013/14
% change
+4
+5
+5
+4
+7
-1
30% or less children
Over 30% children
30% or less
schoolchildren
Over 30%
schoolchildren*
Child admissions
Schoolchildren
admissions
Attractions with…
22Base: All attractions providing visits data for both 2014 and 2015 (1,459)
*Base size below 50
35
34
31
39
31
30
Visitor admission trends 2015 – by visitor origin
Across the attractions sector, overseas visits were up by only 4% in 2015, following growth of 8% in 2014 and 10% in each of the previous two years. However, unlike in 2012 when this increase was driven almost entirely by London, the increases in each of the following years have been much more likely to be shared around the regions.
Yorks/Humber saw the largest decline in overseas visitor admissions compared to 2014 (see page 24), after receiving a boost in that year associated with the Grand Depart of the Tour de France.
Attractions also reported local visitors within day trip distance up by +4% in 2014. This growth was the same as in 2014 and has slowed since 2013 (+8%), but is a positive result, given a decline in day visits (-4% in 2015, Source: DVS).
Up
Similar
Down
Base: All attractions responding ( c.1,200)
Up
Similar
Down
Overseas visitors
Compared with 2014 (%)
Local / day trippers
Compared with 2014 (%)
+4%in visits
+4%in visits
23
-25
-42
-35
-33
-35
-35
-34
-27
-28
34
34
47
27
26
39
39
44
39
28
43
30
33
Visitor admission trends 2015 – overseas visitors by attraction category and region
-19
-24
-20
-47
-42
-22
-29
-28
-18
-21
-17
-30
-21
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*
% down % up
Attraction Category: overseas visitors
Overseas visits increased to most types of attractions apart from historic properties, places of worship and leisure/theme parks in 2015.
2014/15
% change
43
33
29
32
33
27
37
38
37
North West
North East
Yorks / Humber
East Midlands
West Midlands
East
London
South East
South West
% down % up
Region: overseas visitors
Continuing the trend from recent years , overseas visitors were venturing across some regions of the country in 2015. The North West East Midlands saw the strongest increases in overseas visits in 2015.
The South West saw another drop in overseas visitors this year, although the -2% decline was less marked than in the previous two years (-6% and -18%).
2014/15
% change
Base: All attractions responding ( c.1,200)
*Base size below 50
23%
5%
11%
4%
24
2%
2%
2%
4%
41%
15%
31%
7%
6%
*%
10%
14%
1%
*%
3%
9%
1%
1%
Visitor admission trends 2015 – overseas visitors by size and admission charge
The increase in overseas visitors was driven primarily by free admission attractions, as was the case in each of the previous three years.
As in 2014, large government funded attractions, with over 200,000 visitors a year, saw the biggest increases in overseas visitor numbers. This is in contrast to 2013, when smaller attractions were more successful in growing international visits.
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34
28
37
41
49
-26
-35
-33
-36
-28
-24
% down % up
Admission Charge: overseas visitors
2014/15 %
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
7%
Base: All attractions responding ( c.1,200)25
5%
4%
5%
1%
1%
38
46
56
37
25
57
40
45
36
40
36
46
34
-29
-32
-35
-23
-22
-34
-32
-33
-25
Visitor admission trends 2015 – local / day trip visitors by attraction category and region
-18
-22
-18
-41
-42
-17
-30
-31
-19
-20
-9
-17
-24
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*
% down % up
Attraction Category: local visitors
2014/15
% change
45
45
30
46
45
34
35
38
39
North West
North East
Yorks / Humber
East Midlands
West Midlands
East
London
South East
South West
% down % up
Region: local visitors
2014/15
% change
All attraction categories apart from those categorised as ‘other’ reported growth in the local market in 2015. Growth was particularly strong among visitor/heritage centres and places of worship.
Local visitor numbers held steady or increased across the whole of the UK, with particular growth in the South West.
Base: All attractions responding ( c.1,200)
*Base size below 50
1%
6%
7%
26
2%
9%
1%
2%
14%
1%
6%
7%
8%
4%
20%
9%
10%
4%
2%
8%
2%
2%
19%
2014/15%
change
Visitor admission trends 2015 – local / day trip visitors by size and admission charge
Both free (+4%) and paid admission (+5%) attractions saw similar increases in local visits in 2015.
The smallest attractions managed to turn a slight decline (-1%) in local visitors experienced in 2014 into a slight increase in 2015 (+1%). The largest attractions were most successful at increasing local visitors in 2015, increasing visits from this segment by +6%.
36
41
34
40
45
48
-27
-31
-30
-33
-26
-27
% 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.1,200)27
4%
5%
6%
2%
2%
1%
Admission charge and revenue trends
3
1
4
6
7
8
6
11
10
10
13
9
6
7
Adult admission charges 2015
35% of attractions charging admission, charge £5 or less for entry – this has been slowly declining in recent years (43% in 2012, 41% in 2013 and 39% in 2014).
The most notable shift this year has been in the proportion of paid admission attractions charging over £10. This has increased from 16% in 2014 to 21% in 2015.
The average entry charge stands at £8.21 in 2015.
The average child admission charge amongst those sites charging is £5.45. A quarter of charging sites charge over £5 for child entry, with 7% 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 2015 (908)
%
29
4
5
6
6
5
4
4
4
4
3
1
5
5
*
Adult admission charge trends 2015 – by attraction category
Adult and child entrance fees both increased in 2015, with fairly consistent increases across categories.
The average increase in adult admission fees was 4% – consistent with increases during the previous years, with increases of 4% (2014), 4% (2013), 4% (2012), 5% (2011), 5% (2010) and 4% (2009). This remains significantly above the rate of inflation.
Average child admission charges increased by more - 10% on average. This rate of increase is growing year-on-year (7% in 2014, 4% in 2013, 3% in 2012). Historic properties increased their child admission charges the most – by 15% in 2015.
Leisure/ theme parks (£18.07) and steam/ heritage railways (£9.21) have the highest average admission prices. The figure for country parks is driven by a single multi-attraction operator who classify their attractions as country parks.
ALL ATTRACTIONS
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*
Base: Attractions providing admission charge data for both 2014 and 2015 (908)
*Base size below 50
Average
2015
charge
% average increase
in adult charge
versus 2014
£8.21
£26.35
£7.60
£7.50
£8.11
£6.55
£18.07
£5.89
£9.21
£6.01
£8.74
£8.69
£9.00
£8.66
+4
+4
+5
+3
+3
+5
+5
+6
+2
+5
+3
+5
+3
+4
2013/14
change
(%)
30
3
5
5
5
6
4
5
3
5
Adult admission charge trends 2015 – by region
London charging attractions remain the most expensive (at £11.15 on average), with this gap compared with other regions opening again after narrowing in 2014.
Only attractions in the East of England charge an average adult admission of below £7, although these attractions have been increasing their prices most rapidly in recent years (+4% in 2015, +5% in 2014, +5% in 2013 and +6% in 2012).
Other regions increased their adult admission charges by between +3% and +6% in 2015, with West Midlands attractions the most bullish.
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 2014 and 2015 (908)
*Base size below 50
Average
2015 charge
All attractions
average (4%)
£8.22
£7.20
£7.22
£7.21
£8.62
£6.78
£11.15
£9.01
£8.34
+4
+4
+5
+3
+3
+5
+3
+4
+4
2013/14
change (%)
31
% change in adult admission charge
4
4
5
4
5
Adult admission charge trends 2015 – 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 charging over £13 on average, vs. an average entrance fee of a little under £6 for attractions with 20,000 visitors or fewer.
There is little variation in entrance price inflation by attraction size, although the largest sites (those with over 200,000 visitors) continue to be more bullish, increasing adult charges by +5% in 2015.
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.
Base: All attractions providing admission charge data for both 2014 and 2015 (908)
Average
2015 chargeAll attractions
average (4%)
£5.92
£8.41
£9.62
£10.00
£13.62
+4
+4
+3
+3
+5
2013/14
change (%)
% change in adult admission charge
Annual visits
32
4
4
4
5
4
4
3
Adult admission charge trends 2015 – by geographic location and child admissions
Change in admission pricing is consistent across the different types of areas, and between sites attracting families/ non-family and domestic/ overseas audiences.
Sites with a high proportion of overseas visitors and children tend to set their entrance fees higher, with coastal attractions charging the least.
Coastal
Rural
Urban
30% or less child visits
Over 30% child visits
30% or less overseas visits
Over 30% overseas visits*
Base: All attractions providing admission charge data for both 2014 and 2015 (908)
*Base size below 50
Average 2015
charge
£6.36
£8.91
£7.53
£7.00
£8.07
£8.12
£10.53
2013/14
change (%)All attractions
average (4%)
Attractions with…
+5
+4
+4
+5
+4
+4
+4
33
% change in adult admission charge
5 5
8
5 5
1
5 5 5
200720082009201020112012201320142015
Gross revenue trend
Gross revenue at attractions was up by +5% in 2015, following the general trend over the last eight years (with exceptions in 2009 and 2012).
Almost half (46%) of attractions reported an increase in gross revenue in 2015 compared with only 19% reporting a decrease.
Revenue tends been correlated with change in adult admission prices, with larger price increases generating more revenue. Indeed, in 2015 those attractions whose gross revenue increased put up their admission charges by an average of 5% whereas those whose gross revenue decreased only put their admission charges up by 3%.
% change in gross revenue
Base: All attractions responding (1,061)34
5
4
3
Gross revenue up
Gross revenue similar
Gross revenue down
% change adult admission charges
3
11
5
1
3
7
7
3
13
7
1
2
1
Gross revenue trend 2015 – by attraction category
All categories managed to increase gross revenue in 2015, although there was notable variation.
Farm attractions and visitor/heritage centres reported the strongest increases in gross revenue (up by 11% and 13% respectively).
Gross revenue increases were weaker among historic properties, steam/heritage railways, workplaces and places of worship.
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*
+6
+7
+6
+4
+6
+10
+4
+6
+8
+8
+1
+3
+18
2013/14 %
changeAll attractions (+5%)
35Base: All attractions responding (1,061)
*Base size below 50
Gross revenue trend 2015 – by region
Changes in gross revenue did not vary significantly by region. The strongest increases in revenue were reported by South East attractions (7%) and weakest in the North West (3%). Commensurate with this, the North West also reported the lowest increases in adult admission charges in 2015.
3
4
4
4
6
6
5
7
4
North West
North East
Yorks / Humber
East Mids
West Mids
East
London
South East
South West
Base: All attractions responding (1,061)36
+8
+5
+8
+3
+4
+3
+7
+5
+5
2013/14 %
changeAll attractions (+5%)
5
5
8
5
4
5
3
7
6
Gross revenue trend 2015 – by admission charge, destination type and visit volume
Revenues grew in 2015 across all sizes of category, destination types and free versus charging attractions.
Revenue growth was no more significant at large attractions with over 200,000 visitors than smaller attractions this year, again reflecting the smaller increases in visitor admissions that this larger size of attraction experienced this year.
Coastal attractions reported the strongest revenue gains in 2015, a reversal of fortune on 2014 when they reported the weakest increases. In line with the fall in visitor admissions, gross revenue to urban attractions was weakest in 2015.
+5
+6
+3
+6
+5
+4
+6
+6
+7
2013/14 %
changeAll 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
37Base: All attractions responding (1,061)
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 seems to have not only halted for now, but is seeing a slight reversal. Only 9% of attractions reported a decline in marketing expenditure in 2015 compared with 16% back in 2012.
Marketing expenditure of large attractions (with over 200,000 visitors) has again been polarised in 2015 – this category is the joint most likely to have increased marketing expenditure, and also the most likely to have spent less on marketing in 2015. It is possible that this may reflect a shift in marketing activity at some attractions, with more emphasis placed on cheaper digital marketing platforms.
19
18
18
17
19
20
21
21
22
24
25
17
18
23
23
-9
-11
-12
-16
-13
-14
-11
-11
-12
-11
-10
-9
-9
-8
-14
20,000 visits or less
20,001-50,000 visits
50,001-200,000 visits
Over 200,000 visits
% down % up
% down % up2015
Base: Attractions answering marketing question (1,276)39
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
Marketing expenditure trends 2015 –by attraction category
15
22
27
13
18
39
19
32
27
21
4
14
24
-18
-10
-8
-7
-5
-9
-11
-18
-10
-5
-13
-5
-21
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*
% down
(All attractions 9%)% up
(All attractions 19%)
As in 2014, leisure/ theme parks are the most likely to have increased their marketing spend, with four in ten attractions doing so and only one in ten reducing spend. This category also experienced above average growth in both visitor numbers and gross revenue in 2015.
Farm attractions and gardens were also more likely than the sector average to increase their marketing expenditure in 2015. This also seems to have fed through into a more positive performance in terms of visitor admissions and has allowed these attraction categories to increase admission charges beyond the sector average (bothy increasing by 6% in 2015).
Only country parks and workplaces reported a net reduction in marketing spend (where the proportion decreasing exceeded the proportion increasing marketing spend).
40Base: Attractions answering marketing question (1,276)
*Base size below 50
Marketing expenditure trends 2015 – 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. However, they are no less likely to have reduced marketing spending.
London attractions have been most likely to increase marketing spend in 2015. However, this has not translated into increased visitor admissions this year.
-14
-11
-6
-10
-12
-8
-7
-8
-10
-10
-9
16
12
21
17
17
17
24
21
22
15
22
North West
North East
Yorks / Humber
East Midlands
West Midlands
East
London
South East
South West
Free
Paid
% down % up
41Base: Attractions answering marketing question (1,276)
% down
(All attractions 9%)% up
(All attractions 19%)
Impact of marketing expenditure - summary
As in previous years, attractions increasing their marketing expenditure in 2015 were more likely to report increases in visitor numbers and gross revenue.
Visitor admissions increased by +7% among those increasing their marketing spend compared with only +3% amongst those who cut back on marketing, with this pattern seen in both local and overseas visits.
The difference in gross revenue between sites expanding or reducing their marketing is even more marked; it grew by +15% amongst those increasing their marketing spend but increased by only +2% amongst attractions reducing their marketing spend.
Marketing spend in 2015
2014 / 15 change in… Up Down
Total visitor admissions +7% +3%
Local visits +10% +4%
Overseas visits +1% -3%
Gross revenue +15% +2%
42
Website and online booking facilities
Almost all attractions (93%) 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 (86%). Free attractions are also still less likely to offer a website.
In category terms, only workplaces and visitor/heritage centres have less than 90% of their attractions offering a website (see page 45).
Almost a third of attractions offered an online booking facility for tickets / events in 2015, up from 25% in 2014 and 21% in 2013. This varies significantly by attraction size, with over half (59%) of attractions reporting visits of over 200,000 per annum offering this facility compared with just 10% 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).
93
29
% offeredWebsite Online
Booking
Under 10k visits p.a. 86 10
10k - 20k visits p.a. 96 25
20k - 100k visits p.a. 97 31
100k - 200k visits p.a. 99 46
Over 200k visits p.a. 98 59
Free attractions 90 22
Paid attractions 96 34
% offered in 2015
Base: All answering digital communications question (1,350)43
Website
Online booking facility (tickets, events)
83 77
69 62
57 51
31 31
28 19
27 19
16 11
18 18
8 13
11 10
Other digital communications offered
Use of digital communications (other than a website) continued to increase in 2015, albeit at a slower pace, with 85% of attractions now using at least one form of digital communications.
Facebook and Twitter remain the most popular platforms and continue to grow significantly year-on-year.
In 2015, the growth of e-newsletter provision has perhaps been the most noteworthy, with almost half of attractions now offering this form of communications. Growth in the use of Instagram/Pinterest has also been higher than average, albeit at lower absolute levels. However, the increase in use of YouTube and Online blogs has slowed this year.
Provision of mobile apps more than doubled between 2012 and 2013, but developments in this area seem to have stalled in the past couple of years.
85
78
67
43
32
32
22
20
12
10
% offeredNumber of visits p.a
20k or less 20k-100k Over 100k
ANY 75 94 97
Facebook page 65 88 94
Twitter account 51 76 89
E-newsletter 31 48 65
YouTube 19 36 53
Online blogs 21 35 52
Mobile apps 13 24 30
Instagram/Pinterest 10 25 45
Other social media 5 8 21
Mobile website 6 15 20
% offered in 2015
Base: All answering digital communications question (1,350)44
ANY
Facebook page
Twitter account
E-newsletter
YouTube
Online blogs
Instagram/Pinterest
Mobile apps
Mobile website
Other social media
%‘13%‘14
Digital communications offered in 2015 – by attraction category
% offeringCountryParks
Farms GardensHistoric houses /castles
Other historic
properties
Leisure / theme
parks
Museums / art
galleries
Steam / heritage railways
Visitor /heritage centres
Wildlife / zoos
Work-places
Places of
WorshipOther
ANY 79 100 86 91 80 96 84 93 84 90 88 65 83
Facebook 74 95 75 84 78 96 77 93 78 67 67 58 78
Twitter account
50 76 75 79 70 67 65 72 57 61 58 42 60
E-newsletter 31 51 46 58 44 58 41 34 30 36 25 38 28
YouTube 14 32 15 46 43 58 29 34 17 30 4 21 28
Online blogs 17 17 26 48 39 33 28 24 13 51 17 10 18
Instagram/ Pinterest
10 37 31 22 14 38 26 17 14 16 21 8 30
Mobile apps 12 2 22 48 39 17 8 17 11 8 8 10 10
Mobile website
7 17 15 10 10 29 8 10 6 40 8 2 28
Other socialmedia
10 12 8 9 6 21 12 14 7 13 - - 13
WEBSITE 90 98 97 97 90 96 94 100 88 91 83 90 95
ONLINE BOOKING
36 39 28 27 23 71 27 69 19 32 42 19 43
Base: All answering digital communications question (1,350)45
Impact of digital communications - summary
Those attractions offering some form of digital communications platform (excluding just a website or online booking facility) in 2015 reported stronger performance across several dimensions.
Total visitor admissions increased by +3% among those offering digital communications but by less than 0.5% among those not offering these forms of communication.
For child admissions the contrast is even more pronounced. Whilst child admissions increased by +2% among those offering digital communications, they declined by -11% among those who did not.
Gross revenue increased by +6% amongst those offering digital communications, but by only +2% amongst sites not offering.
The impact was also a positive one in terms of attracting local visitors, this dimension increasing by +5% among those with a digital offering but only by less than 0.5% among those without one.
Offer any digital communications
(exc. website / online booking)?
2014 / 15 change in… Yes No
Total visitor admissions +3% +*%
Children admissions +2% -11%
Local visits +5% +*%
Overseas visits +4% +7%
Gross revenue +6% +2%
46
Other activities offered by attractions
Other activities offered by attractions in 2015
Two thirds of both free and charging attractions now provide a retail shop.
Membership schemes are offered by well over half of all attractions and three-quarters of all charging attractions.
Public events are also now common, with over half of attractions offering at least one public event in 2015.
Catering facilities are also made available by half of attractions, although these are more common among charging (56%) than free (41%) attractions.
Conversely, temporary exhibitions are offered by over half (55%) of free attractions but only a third (37%) of charging attractions.
92
64
58
54
50
45
40
35
30
21
8
95
65
74
55
56
37
42
35
31
19
11
89
63
34
53
41
55
37
36
29
23
3
ANY
Retail shop
Membership scheme
Public events
Café/ restaurant
Temporary exhibitions
Activity/ play area for children
Public venue hire
Corporate events
Late or unusual opening hours
Multi-attraction pass
Total
Charging Attractions
Free Attractions
% offered in 2015
Base: All answering additional activities question (1,336)48
49
Other activities offered – 2015 vs. 2012
Base: All answering additional activities question (1,336)
64
58
54
50
45
40
35
30
21
8
Retail shop
Membership scheme
Public events
Café/ restaurant
Temporaryexhibitions
Activity/ play areafor children
Public venue hire
Corporate events
Late or unusualopening hours
Multi-attraction pass
68
56
57
51
44
39
38
25
Retail shop
Membership scheme
Public events
Café/ restaurant
Temporaryexhibitions
Activity/ play areafor children
Public venue hire
Corporate events
Late or unusualopening hours
Multi-attraction pass
2015 (%)2012 (%)
Not asked for 2012
Not asked for 2012
The proportions of attractions offering each of these additional activities has remained fairly similar since the last time that this question was asked in 2012. The one area that has seen notable growth is corporate events, which was offered by only 25% of attractions in 2012 but 30% in 2015.
Other activities offered in 2015 – by attraction category
There is significant variation between attraction categories in terms of the other activities they offer.
For example, catering facilities are much more likely to be offered by leisure/them parks, farms and steam/heritage railways than by other attraction categories.
Leisure/ theme parks*
Farms*
Steam/ heritage railways*
Historic houses / castles
Museums/ art galleries
Visitor / heritage centres
Wildlife attractions / zoos
Country parks*
Other historic properties
Gardens
Places of worship*
Workplaces*
Other*
0% 50%
50
100%
100%
97%
95%
94%
93%
91%
90%
87%
87%
85%
79%
79%
% ANY
Corporate events
Activity/play area for children Temporary exhibitions
Membership scheme Public venue hire
Café/ restaurant
100%75%
Base: All answering additional activities question (1,336)
*Base size below 50
Multi-attraction pass
Public events
Late/ unusual opening hours
Retail shop
25%
Other activities offered by attractions in 2015 – by visitor volume
There is a strong relationship between provision of other activities and the annual visitor volume of attractions. Provision of these other activities tends to drop off most significantly once an attractions attracts fewer than 10,000 visitors per annum.
Visit Volume
% offeringUnder 10k
10k-20k
20k-50k
50k-100k
Over 100k
ANY (2015) 83 95 95 98 99
Retail shop 43 60 71 79 86
Membership scheme 42 60 62 71 71
Public events 39 56 55 65 70
Café/ restaurant 21 41 52 75 86
Temporary exhibitions 39 38 43 46 59
Activity/ play area for children 17 31 43 60 69
Public venue hire 19 30 38 39 61
Corporate events 12 32 29 40 53
Late or unusual opening hours 14 14 18 22 37
Multi-attraction pass 2 9 9 11 13
51Base: All answering additional activities question (1,336)
Other activities offered by attractions in 2015 – by region
Region (%)
% offering NW NE Y+H EM WM EAST LON SE SW
ANY 96 88 92 92 89 92 98 92 92
Retail shop 69 49 65 67 61 57 75 66 65
Membership schemes 60 60 50 52 67 56 59 58 61
Public events 51 67 55 47 53 56 72 49 52
Café/ restaurant 60 44 43 54 57 40 52 51 51
Temporary exhibitions 59 45 45 44 37 43 56 38 45
Activity/ play area for children 46 39 40 38 48 33 35 36 46
Public venue hire 46 36 37 37 39 27 51 32 30
Corporate events 39 31 32 27 39 26 52 26 23
Late or unusual opening hours 21 23 16 13 22 22 31 19 23
Multi-attraction pass 10 3 14 8 3 2 38 2 8
52
London leads the way for provision of retail shops, public events, public venue hire, late or unusual opening hours and corporate venue hire as well as offering multi-attraction passes (primarily the London Pass).
Base: All answering additional activities question (1,336)
Impact of other activities - summary
In terms of increasing overall visits in 2015, there is little discernible difference between those which offer other activities and those which do not. Visitor admissions increased by +3% among those who offered at least one of these activities in 2015 and +2% among those that offered none. There was also little difference in terms of gross revenue.
However, those that offered these additional activities did perform better in terms of attracting both child visitors and local visitors. Child visitors increased by +5% among those offering other activities but decreased by -8% among those that did not offer any.
Other activities offered?
2014 / 15 change in… Yes No
Total visitor admissions +3% +2%
Child admissions +2% -8%
Local visits +5% 0%
Gross revenue +5% +4%
53
Employment trends
12
10
21
10
10
22
Employment trends
Proportions of attractions employing any of the following employees in 2015:
• 87% permanent
• 66% seasonal
• 85% unpaid volunteers
The trend of increasing voluntary workers continued into 2015 and looks set to remain, with 22% of attractions expecting to increase their use of unpaid volunteers in 2016 (although this is slightly down from the 28% reported in 2014).
More attractions increased their permanent and seasonal employees than cut head counts in 2015 and attractions anticipate further increases in both permanent and seasonal staff in 2016.
-7
-3
-4
-5
-3
-2
Permanent
Seasonal
Unpaid volunteers
% down % up
% down % up
Anticipated change in employees in 2016
Change in employees since 2014
Base: All answering employment questions
55
Permanent
Seasonal
Unpaid volunteers
7
29
17
10
13
32
8
8
8
24
9
18
23
8
14
-5
-7
-9
-10
Under 20k visits
20k-50k visits
50k-200k visits
Over 200k visits
98
100
95
97
86
100
79
73
67
94
91
87
88
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*
Employment trends – Permanent employees summary (2014-2015)
% down % up
% up
2014 to 2015
Free
Paid
-24
-7
-2
-5
-1
-5
-10
-4
-3
-6
-14
-5
-5
-10
-5
% down
% down % up
7
13
16
24
80
91
% any Perm in
2015
73
98
100
99
Although there are more attractions increasing than decreasing full-time permanent staff overall, this masks some differences by type of attraction.
Farms continue to boost their permanent staff count. In 2014-15 almost a third of farm attractions increased permanent staff and only 7% reduced staff. Leisure/theme parks and wildlife attractions were also much more likely to increase permanent staff this year. However, museums and art galleries, as in 2013-14, were more likely to reduce permanent staff.
Permanent staff continue to reduce at free attractions, but numbers have increased in the charging attractions category.
The larger the attraction the more likely they are to increase permanent staff in 2015. 24% of attractions with over 200k visits increased these staff members compared with only 7% of attractions with fewer than 20k visits.
% any Perm
in 2015
% any Perm
in 20152014 to 2015
56Base: All answering employment questions
*Base size below 50
15
31
13
10
6
36
7
16
11
11
14
11
14
9
11
-5
-7
-10
-11
Under 20k visits
20k-50k visits
50k-200k visits
Over 200k visits
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*
Employment trends – Permanent employees summary (2016 predictions)
% down % up
% up
2016 predictions
Free
Paid
-13
-5
-2
-4
-1
-5
-8
-4
-1
-4
-5
-3
-3
-7
-4
% down
% down % up
6
9
13
23
2016 predictions
Large, charging attractions (with over 200,000 visitors) are the most likely to be anticipating increases in permanent staff in 2016.
Again, farms and leisure/theme parks are most likely to feel that they will take on more permanent staff in 2016.
Museums & art galleries is the only category more likely to anticipate cuts in permanent staff than increases, although country parks also have a notable proportion of attractions predicting a cut in permanent staff.
57Base: All answering employment questions
*Base size below 50
13
19
25
9
9
43
6
8
7
18
0
17
5
6
12
-2
-4
-2
-4
Under 20k visits
20k-50k visits
50k-200k visits
Over 200k visits
67
88
87
88
71
96
45
48
45
74
62
66
76
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*
Employment trends – Seasonal employees summary (2014-2015)
% down % up
% up
2014 to 2015
Free
Paid
-3
-5
0
-2
-2
-4
-2
0
0
-3
-14
-3
-8
-2
-3
% down
% down % up
4
13
15
20
45
78
% any Seas in
2015
52
72
77
85
Although there are more attractions increasing than decreasing seasonal staff overall, this also masks some differences by type of attraction.
Leisure/theme parks were much more likely to take on more seasonal staff in 2015, with 43% taking on more and only 4% taking on fewer. There were also strong increases in seasonal staff among gardens, farms, wildlife attractions and places of worship.
Conversely, workplaces were more likely to cut back on seasonal staff.
Again, charging attractions were more likely to take on additional seasonal staff than free attractions and larger attractions with over 200k visits more likely to take additional seasonal staff than smaller attractions in 2015.
% any Seas
in 2015
% any Seas
in 20152014 to 2015
58Base: All answering employment questions
*Base size below 50
19
21
18
10
7
30
5
13
9
17
5
9
16
7
11
-2
-3
-3
-6
Under 20k visits
20k-50k visits
50k-200k visits
Over 200k visits
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*
Employment trends – Seasonal employees summary (2016 predictions)
% down % up
% up
2016 predictions
Free
Paid
-8
-10
-2
-3
-1
-9
-2
0
-3
-2
-5
0
-3
-3
-3
% down
% down % up
5
13
11
18
2016 predictions
Leisure/theme parks are again most bullish about taking on additional seasonal staff in 2016, with 30% predicting that they will increase their staff levels. Only workplaces feel that they are as likely to cut as take on additional seasonal staff.
Charging attractions and those with over 200k visits per annum are also more likely to feel that they will take on additional seasonal staff in 2016.
59Base: All answering employment questions
*Base size below 50
Under 20k visits
20k-50k visits
50k-200k visits
Over 200k visits
-5
-4
-3
-5
21
17
27
15
16
10
22
31
31
34
9
22
9
24
18
77
69
79
89
86
29
89
97
85
87
45
93
58
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*
Employment trends – unpaid volunteers summary (2014 to 2015)
% down % up
% up
2014 to 2015
Free
Paid
-8
-5
-3
-5
-5
-5
-4
0
-6
-1
-9
-4
-3
-5
-4
% down
% down % up
86
84
% any volunteers
in 2015
% any volunteers
in 2015
84
84
89
82
% any
volunteers
in 20152014 to 2015
60Base: All answering employment questions
*Base size below 50
Increases in volunteers in 2015 were more likely to be reported by wildlife attractions, steam/heritage railways, visitor/heritage centres and gardens. Again, workplaces were as likely to report cuts to volunteers as increases.
Free attractions were most likely to have taken on additional volunteers.
The larger the attraction the more likely they were to take on additional volunteers in 2015.
16
20
28
30
31
19
25
20
16
10
23
34
32
29
18
15
14
27
19
-3
-2
-2
-1
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*
Employment trends – unpaid volunteers summary (2016 predictions)
% down % up
% up
2015 predictions
Free
Paid
0
-5
0
-2
-1
0
-3
0
-4
0
-5
0
-3
-3
-2
% down
Under 20k visits
20k-50k visits
50k-200k visits
Over 200k visits
% down % up
19
22
25
29
Predictions for taking on more volunteers in 2016 reflect the reported patterns of behaviour in 2015. So wildlife attractions, steam/heritage railways, visitor/heritage centres and country parks all showing strong propensity to take on more volunteers in 2016.
Prediction for increases in unpaid volunteers is also highest amongst free attractions and the larger attractions.
2015 predictions
61Base: All answering employment questions
*Base size below 50
Attracting visitors to the area
Attracting visitors to the area
The past three 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’.
64
17
31
14
20
13
6
None
1-5%
6-10%
11-20%
21-50%
Over 50%
Attracting visitors to the area (2015)
Around five in six sites believe they serve to attract at least some non-local visitors to the area.
On average, attractions draw in 15% of their visitors to the area (see slide 65).
This calculation takes into account the actual number of non-local visitors to each site, and sites’ estimations of what percentage of their non-local visitors decided to visit the area mainly because of their attraction.
Base: All attractions responding (1,016)
Visitors staying in the area as a
result of the attraction (%)
17
37
14
10
15
7
% in
2014
17
40
12
10
13
8
% in
2013
65
15
22
13
12
14
15
16
13
27
13
16
23
19
14
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*
Attracting visitors to the area – by attraction type (2015)
Base: All attractions responding (1,016)
*Base size below 50
Visitors staying in the area as a
result of the attraction (average 15%)
Steam/heritage railways, workplaces and country parks seemingly have the biggest draw in 2015, with around a quarter of visitors thought to be visiting the area in order to experience these attractions.
66
15
18
14
14
11
15
17
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 (2015)
As we would expect, the larger the attraction, the greater its gravitational pull, with our estimations suggesting that sites with over 200,000 visitors a year attract around one in four visitors to the area.
There is little difference in the performance of coastal, rural and urban attractions on this basis, although coastal attractions are slightly more likely to pull in visitors to an area than others.
Base: All attractions responding (1,016)
Visitors staying in the area as a result
of the attraction (average 15%)
67
Questionnaire