2013 ASVA Visitor Trend Report Dashboard Summary Usable data was received from 249 sites. The total number of visits recorded in 2013 Scotland Total was 32,542,556; this compares to 32,393,441 in 2012 (up 0.5%). 2013 (incl. Country Parks) 32,542,556 0.5% p Acknowledgements 2013 (excl. Country Parks) 22,971,222 0.1% p After many years of publishing monthly benchmarking reports, ASVA has been able to achieve the direct comparison of annual data from its members for 2013 and 2012 for the first time. We’d like to take the opportunity to thank Scottish Enterprise for its support which has allowed this to happen. We’d also like to Per Region thank the team at LJ Research who designed the online survey (complete with embedded algorithms) and for collating this data on our behalf. And last but not least, a big thank you to all our members who contributed to Northern Scotland 2,669,893 7.7% p this survey as without your support there would be no publication. Eastern Scotland 12,403,741 0.2% p Southern Scotland 864,768 6.1% p Western Scotland 16,604,154 -0.7% q ASVA's Commentary and Observation for 2013 For the third year, the National Museum of Scotland was the most visited attraction with 1,768,090 visits recorded. Edinburgh Castle was the highest paid entry attraction with 1,420,027 visits. (See table , page 4, for top 20 sites.) Per Attraction Category The 0.5% increase in the table above does appear modest. However it should be pointed out that the increase is a headline figure and doesn’t always fully explain influences on the figures. 2011 saw the opening / re-opening of 3 Heritage/historic large attractions: property/stately • National Museum of Scotland house 5,902,366 7.0% p • Riverside Museum (formerly the Transport Museum/ now on iconic new site) Museums & Galleries 9,712,454 -4.4% q • Scottish National Portrait Gallery Zoo/wildlife/safari All saw substantial figures in 2012 post opening and, as might be expected in 2013, the visitor numbers fell; but in all park/aquarium 1,460,377 -2.6% q three sites, numbers are considerably higher than before the opening/re-opening. To give a different perspective, if Sports & activities 453,307 10.3% p the numbers for these sites for both years are removed from the equation, the national figure shows a larger Forest park/regional increase of 2.3%. park/country park 9,571,334 1.3% p Gardens 932,535 -3.8% q Science Centre 452,348 -3.8% q Distillery/whisky Weather related 755,164 10.8% p p As ever in Scotland, the unpredictable nature of our weather was a factor in 2013. The first part of the year (up to Visitor Centre 1,576,988 0.2% p and including May) saw largely cold and wet weather. In fact March was the coldest in 50 years. This meant that an Boat Trip/Marine 879,466 3.3% early Easter at the end of March did not bring any lift in visitor numbers and overall the numbers in the first part of the year were down by almost -4%. The peak summer trading months, through to September, enjoyed largely good weather and this contributed to an increase in visitor numbers. This was more marked in outdoor sites and some Expenditure Figures indoor sites such as museums and science centres saw numbers drop as people enjoyed the good weather. In the latter part of the year (October – December) the weather was mixed but visitor numbers held up favourably (but Ticket SPV 3.87 (152) -3.2% q modestly)until the end of December when the low pressure swept in bringing high winds and rainfall. Spent per ticket sold 6.90 (75) 5.8% p Retail SPV £1.53 (103) -6.7% q Catering SPV £0.75 (53) -12.7% q See overleaf for more information For further information, contact ASVA at: e-mail: [email protected] Tel: 0141 229 0923 2 Major Exhibitions and Events National Museum of Scotland – NMS has invested in a comprehensive exhibitions’ and events’ programme to keep refreshing the product and giving visitors a reason to return. Amongst the very successful exhibitions were Vikings! and Mary, Queen of Scots. There was also additional marketing investment. The decrease is much less than had been anticipated and three years on from re-opening and the figures are still double what they used to achieve annually. Since its re-opening in summer 2011 the Museum has welcomed over five million visitors - a remarkable achievement for a country of only five million people. Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum – The Jack Vettriano retrospective was Kelvingrove’s most successful special exhibition attracting more than 123,000 visitors in its 23 week run. And such was its popularity that opening hours were extended to 8pm most evenings to meet the considerable demand. Paisley Museum –The Brick City exhibition was a display of the world’s most iconic buildings and landmarks by LEGO artist, Warren Elsmore. It ran for 16 weeks, attracted 50,000 people and had to be extended by 2 weeks. And although just 6 of these weeks were in 2013, Paisley Museum’s figures for 2013 were almost 70% up on the previous year. Linlithgow Palace – Two jousting weekends took place over two weekends in the summer. These were backed by a targeted marketing campaign and as well as increasing awareness and visitors, a primary aim was to increase online bookings. Visitor figure targets were exceeded and online sales were up 56% year on year. Annual visitor figures were up by just under 20% on the previous year. Micro 'Hot Spots' Inveraray – The two member sites in Inveraray – the Castle and the Jail – were up collectively by 13%. A few reasons have been suggested: • The ‘Downton Abbey’ effect where the Castle featured in the drama series as ‘Duneagle’. • Cruise ships berthing at Oban for the day have been bringing visitors to the area • Increased promotion to the travel trade • Local hotels have been proactive in taking part in off-peak promotional activities with Voucher Code organisations such as Itison and Groupon and doing some joint ticketing with the Jail. • ‘Best in the West’ Festival (mid-September) is growing year on year and brings a considerable number of additional people to the area over that weekend. (All accommodation sold out) St Andrews – Collectively the 4 member sites in St Andrews were almost 9% up on 2012. Although the Ladies Open Golf Championship was held there, it wasn’t felt that this was a major contributor to the increase. Reasons suggested are: • Good weather – St Andrews seen as good seaside day destination therefore more visitors in total to the town and taking the opportunity to visit the town’s attractions • Increased promotion to the travel trade and groups Loch Ness – Collectively the two member sites – Urquhart Castle and Jacobite Tours - on Loch Ness are showing a collective increase of just over 11%. Reasons suggested for this are: • Good summer weather was perfect to cruise Loch Ness • A new Jacobite boat this year meant there was additional capacity and the good weather was serendipitous helping create additional demand to fill the capacity • Increased promotion/ marketing activity to the travel trade and including day tours from the Central Belt • Many visitors chose to take the boat trip which includes a joint ticket to visit Urquhart Castle (thus boosting those numbers) Glencoe – Visitor numbers to this iconic site were up by over 37%. Some of the ‘Skyfall’ Bond movie scenes were filmed in the glen (featuring Daniel Craig!) thus raising awareness of the area and inspiring visits. Ski areas – CairnGorm Mountain and Nevis Range both had a very good year in 2013 with figures up 9.5% and 8% respectively. The combination of low temperatures and snow at altitude offered good conditions on the hill which in turn attracted additional visitors. Bucking the Trend The built heritage sector is showing an above average increase of 8.0%. Almost 60% of respondents in this sector show an increase and this include slarger sites such as Edinburgh Castle, Glasgow Cathedral, Inveraray Castle, Linlithgow Palace, St Giles Cathedral and Urquhart Castle. The Whisky related sector too is showing an above average increase of 10.8%, with just 15% of sites within this sector showing a decrease. 2 3 Edinburgh: Success breeds Success In the top 20 Visitor Attraction table the dominance of Edinburgh as a destination can be seen with 11 of the city’s sites included in the list. Although this piece of research did not look specifically at what appears to be the growing significance of the city as a destination, proportionately Edinburgh has increased its market share in recent years. Whilst some of this can be attributed directly to substantial increases at many of the sites including the National Museum of Scotland, National Galleries of Scotland and St Giles Cathedral. The opening of the Scottish Parliament in the last decade has also been of benefit. Its significant visitor numbers do not appear to have displaced visitors from other sites in the city. There is evidence that other areas are not showing this level of growth and from our limited examination some areas may even be showing a decline over the years but this would need to be further investigated by new, targeted research. Year Ahead 2014 is an exciting year for Scotland. Looking forward, we are confident that 2014 will be a bumper year for the visitor attractions sector in Scotland as we reap the benefits from Homecoming 2014 and major events including The Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup, as well as the opening of exciting new attractions such as the Bannockburn Visitor Centre.