Wales Outdoor Recreation Survey 2011
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Wales Outdoor Recreation Survey 2011 Full report Wales Outdoor Recreation Survey 2011 Full report Wales Outdoor Recreation Survey 2011 Full report Foreword Background This publication is the main results report from the 2011 Welsh Outdoor Recreation Survey commissioned jointly by the Countryside Council for Wales and Forestry Commission Wales. A Technical Report accompanies this document and is available separately. Contact details For more information on the survey, contact: Sue Williams Senior Social Research Officer Uwch Swyddog Ymchwil Cymdeithasol Cyngor Cefn Gwlad Cymru: Countryside Council for Wales Maes Y Ffynnon Ffordd Penrhos Bangor LL57 2DN Ffon/Tel: 01248 387386 E-bost/E-mail: [email protected] Ar y We/ Website: www.ccw.gov.uk/enjoying-the-country/welsh-outdoor-recreation- surve.aspx Official Statistics This is an Official Statistics publication. For more information about Official Statistics and the UK Statistics Authority visit www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk. 3 Wales Outdoor Recreation Survey 2011 Full report Contents Foreward 03 Executive Summary 05 Crynodeb Gweithredol 08 Section 1: Survey Details 11 Section 2: Overall Participation 16 - amount and frequency of participation 17 - types of activities 24 - types of places 29 - barriers to participation 31 Section 3: Visits to the Outdoors 34 - what do people do? 35 - where do people go? 42 - who do people go with? 51 - why do they go? 54 Section 4: Future Participation 57 - latent demand 58 - barriers to increasing participation 62 Section 5: Conclusions 64 Appendix 1 – Questionnaire 66 Publishing Information Countryside Council For Wales Forestry Commission Wales © CCW / FCW August 2012 Maes y Ffynnon Welsh Government Penrhosgarnedd Rhodfa Padarn Bangor Llanbadarn Fawr Gwynedd Aberystwyth This is a report of research LL57 2DW Ceredigion commissioned by the Countryside T: 0845 1306 229 SY23 3UR Council for Wales and the Forestry F: 01248 385505 T: 0300 068 0300 Commission Wales. However, the views E: [email protected] F: 0300 068 0301 and recommendations presented in this W: ccw.gov.uk report are not necessarily those of CCW E: [email protected] / FCW and should, therefore, not be attributed to CCW / FCW. W: forestry.gov.uk 4 You may reproduce this document free of charge for non-commercial purposes in any format or medium, provided that you do so accurately, acknowledging Wales Outdoor Recreation Survey 2011 Full report Executive Summary Background This publication is the main report from the 2011 Wales Outdoor Recreation Survey (WORS) commissioned jointly by the Countryside Council for Wales and Forestry Commission Wales. A total of 6,393 telephone interviews were conducted between January 2011 and January 2012 with adults aged 16+ living in Wales. The approach followed was comparable to that used in the previous WORS survey when 6,045 interviews were undertaken between January 2008 and January 2009. Throughout this report, the focus is on statistically significant differences between sub- groups within the 2011 sample and statistically significant differences between the 2008 and 2011 results. Some figures may appear to represent a change between surveys or between the average across all respondents and a sub-group within the sample but due to sample sizes, cannot be said to be a statistically significant variation and might not be real. Key findings: Overall participation High proportions of the Welsh adult population visited the outdoors in 2011 with an average of 95% taking any visits in the last 12 months and 88% taking any visits in the 4 weeks prior to interview. This is based on recording participation in a very broad range of outdoor activities. These results are similar to the proportion of visits recorded in the 2008 survey. During 2011, variations were recorded in levels of visit taking (in either the last 4 weeks or last 12 months) amongst different age groups. In the last 12 months, 76% of those aged 75 and over had taken an outdoor visit compared to 98% of those aged 74 and under. Variations were also recorded on the basis of whether respondents had a long-term illness/disability or not (87% with, 97% without), academic qualifications (97% with, 82% without) and car access (96% with, 83% without). Similar variations were recorded in the 2008 survey. Walking was the most frequently undertaken activity in 2011, particularly in terms of visits taken in the last 4 weeks (undertaken on 84% of visits). In 2011 walking was the single main activity undertaken in 62% of visits, a lower proportion than in 2008 (66%). Around a quarter of adults (27%) visited the outdoors 'frequently' based on an average of 21 visits or more in the last 4 weeks. The frequency of participation recorded was at a similar level in both 2008 and 2011. 5 Wales Outdoor Recreation Survey 2011 Full report Those who had not taken visits in the last 12 months in 2011 were likely to mention physical health barriers including disabilities (29%), other health issues (27%) and old age (14%) as reasons for non-participation. However, these factors were mentioned less often in relation to reasons for not taking visits during the last 4 weeks, with a lack of time (31%) more likely to restrict visit taking in this shorter time period. Visits to the outdoors In terms of the potential health benefits of outdoor recreation, in just over two-thirds of outdoor visits taken in 2011, participants reported that the main activity was enough to raise their breathing rate (68%) and in over half of these cases (58%) the activity was intense enough to make the participant out of breath or to cause them to sweat. In terms of the main destinations of visits, the most visited types of place were woodland/ forests (18%), local parks (12%), hills, mountains and moorland (11%) and beaches (11%). The proportions of visits where woodland/ forests or beaches were the main destination type were higher in 2011 than in the previous survey (increasing from 14% to 18% and 7% to 11% respectively), while local parks and roadside pavements or tracks were less likely to be the main destinations visited (decreasing from 15% to 12% and 12% to 9% respectively). The majority of the visits recorded in both surveys were taken within 5 miles of their starting point, with an increase in the proportion of such visits during 2011 (73% in 2008 to 78% in 2011). A car was the main form of transport used in just over half of visits (55%), an increase from 44% in 2008 despite the higher proportion of ‘close to home’ visits. In 2011, the most frequently provided reasons for taking visits to the outdoors were health and exercise (26%), exercising a dog (25%), fresh air or to enjoy pleasant weather (16%) and pleasure or enjoyment (16%). While a similar range of responses were provided in 2008, the results are not directly comparable due to the addition of new answer options in the 2011 survey. Future participation During 2011, six in ten members of the adult population in Wales stated that they would like to visit the outdoors more often (60%), the same proportion as recorded in 2008. Around a quarter of Welsh adults (26%) would like to visit beaches more often, 17% would like to visit hills, mountains or moorland and 13% would like to visit other coastal areas or a woodland/ forest. In terms of activities, 30% of Welsh adults would like to take part in walking more often, 8% would like to take part in off-road cycling and 6% would like to do more road cycling or sightseeing. 6 Wales Outdoor Recreation Survey 2011 Full report A lack of time was the most frequently mentioned barrier to participating more often in 2011, mentioned by around a third of respondents (32%). Notably this reason was less likely to be provided as a barrier than was the case in 2008 (39%). Poor weather was also given as a reason for not participating - mentioned by 11% of adults in 2011, a lower proportion than in 2008 (20%). The higher proportion of respondents providing this as a reason in 2008 may have been influenced by the heavy flooding experienced by parts of Wales that year. 7 Wales Outdoor Recreation Survey 2011 Full report Crynodeb Gweithredol Cefndir Y cyhoeddiad hwn yw'r prif adroddiad o Arolwg 2011 o Hamdden Awyr Agored yng Nghymru a gomisiynwyd ar y cyd gan Gyngor Cefn Gwlad Cymru a Chomisiwn Coedwigaeth Cymru. Cynhaliwyd cyfanswm o 6,393 o gyfweliadau dros y ffôn rhwng mis Ionawr 2011 a mis Ionawr 2012 gydag oedolion 16+ oed sy'n byw yng Nghymru. Roedd y dull a ddefnyddiwyd yn debyg i'r un a ddefnyddiwyd yn yr Arolwg blaenorol o Hamdden Awyr Agored yng Nghymru pan gynhaliwyd 6,045 o gyfweliadau rhwng mis Ionawr 2008 a mis Ionawr 2009. Mae'r ffocws ym mhob rhan o'r adroddiad ar y gwahaniaethau sy'n arwyddocaol yn ystadegol rhwng is-grwpiau o fewn sampl 2011 a gwahaniaethau sy'n arwyddocaol yn ystadegol rhwng canlyniadau 2008 a 2011. Gall rhai ffigurau ymddangos i fod yn newid rhwng arolygon neu rhwng y cyfartaledd ar draws pob ymatebydd ac is-grŵp o fewn y sampl hwnnw ond oherwydd maint y samplau, ni ellir dweud eu bod yn wahaniaethau sy'n arwyddocaol yn ystadegol a dylid eu hystyried fel dangosol yn unig. Darganfyddiadau allweddol: Cymryd rhan yn gyffredinol Roedd cyfrannau uchel o boblogaeth oedolion Cymru yn mynd allan i'r awyr agored yn 2011 gyda chyfartaledd o 95% wedi mynd allan i'r awyr agored yn y 12 mis diwethaf a 88% wedi mynd allan i'r awyr agored yn y 4 wythnos cyn y cyfweliad. Mae hyn yn seiliedig ar gofnodi cymryd rhan mewn ystod eang iawn o weithgareddau awyr agored.