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Kielder Forest Cover Page Research Report Quality of Visitor Experience Survey: Kielder Forest Prepared for: The Forestry Commission Quality of Visitor Experience Survey: Kielder Forest Prepared for: The Forestry Commission Prepared by: BMG Research Date: March 2013 Produced by BMG Research © Bostock Marketing Group Ltd, 2013 www.bmgresearch.co.uk Project: 8189 Registered in England No. 2841970 Registered office: 7 Holt Court North Heneage Street West Aston Science Park Birmingham B7 4AX UK Tel: +44 (0) 121 3336006 UK VAT Registration No. 580 6606 32 Birmingham Chamber of Commerce Member No. B4626 Market Research Society Company Partner British Quality Foundation Member The provision of Market Research Services in accordance with ISO 20252:2006 The provision of Market Research Services in accordance with ISO 9001:2008 Investors in People Standard - Certificate No. WMQC 0614 Interviewer Quality Control Scheme (IQCS) Member Company Registered under the Data Protection Act - Registration No. Z5081943 The BMG Research logo is a trade mark of Bostock Marketing Group Ltd Quality of Visitor Experience Survey: Kielder Forest Table of Contents Quality of Visitor Experience Survey: Kielder Forest ............................................................ 1 1 Executive summary ........................................................................................................ 2 1.1 Quality of Visitor Experience research .................................................................... 2 1.2 Kielder Forest ......................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Perceptions of the site ............................................................................................ 2 1.4 Strengths of the site ................................................................................................ 2 1.5 Areas for improvement ............................................................................................ 3 1.6 Visitor profile ........................................................................................................... 3 2 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 4 2.1 Background............................................................................................................. 4 2.2 Research programme ............................................................................................. 4 2.2.1 2010-2013 programme .................................................................................... 4 2.2.2 2012 programme ............................................................................................. 5 2.3 Report ..................................................................................................................... 5 2.4 Data reporting ......................................................................................................... 6 3 Visitor profile information ................................................................................................ 7 3.1 Visitor profile ........................................................................................................... 7 3.2 Group profile ........................................................................................................... 9 3.2.1 Size of group.................................................................................................... 9 3.2.2 Composition of group ..................................................................................... 10 4 Profile of visit ............................................................................................................... 11 4.1 Type of visit........................................................................................................... 11 4.2 Visitor origin .......................................................................................................... 12 4.3 Frequency of visits ................................................................................................ 13 4.3.1 First time visitors ............................................................................................ 13 4.3.2 Repeat visitors ............................................................................................... 13 4.4 Length of visit ........................................................................................................ 14 4.5 Activities undertaken ............................................................................................. 15 4.6 Length of time spent on activities .......................................................................... 17 4.7 Overall spending during the visit ........................................................................... 18 5 Perceptions of the site.................................................................................................. 20 Quality of Visitor Experience Survey: Kielder Forest 5.1 Overall rating of the site as a place to visit ............................................................ 20 5.2 Rating of Kielder Forest as safe and welcoming ................................................... 21 5.3 Recommending the site as a place to visit ............................................................ 22 5.4 Favourite thing about the site ................................................................................ 23 6 Site facilities ................................................................................................................. 25 6.1 Importance of site facilities .................................................................................... 25 6.2 Rating of site facilities (where used) ...................................................................... 27 6.3 Ratings of site facilities by perceived importance .................................................. 29 7 Information about sites ................................................................................................. 30 7.1 Sources used to plan visit ..................................................................................... 30 7.2 Use of Forestry Commission website .................................................................... 31 7.3 Ratings of the website ........................................................................................... 31 7.4 Visiting other sites ................................................................................................. 31 8 Discovery passes ......................................................................................................... 33 8.1 Interest in Season Tickets & Discovery Passes .................................................... 33 Appendix A: Questionnaire ................................................................................................. 34 Quality of Visitor Experience Survey: Kielder Forest 1 Executive summary 1.1 Quality of Visitor Experience research BMG Research has been commissioned to undertake a Quality of Visitor Experience (QoE) survey on behalf of the Forestry Commission and from 2010-2013 will conduct approximately 10,000 surveys across fifty forest sites in England and Wales. In 2012, BMG conducted interviews at fifteen forest sites in England and Wales, including four high usage sites in England and eleven medium usage sites in Wales. This report summarises findings from 246 visitor interviews completed at Dalby Forest in 2012; throughout the report, comparisons have been made between findings at Dalby Forest and the straight average across the nineteen sites used in England to date. 1.2 Kielder Forest Kielder Forest is a large forestry plantation in Northumberland and at 250 square miles is England’s largest man-made woodland. However, at any one time, a quarter of Kielder Forest is open space which includes England’s largest blanket bog. The majority of the forest lies within The Border Forest Park with the southern tip, known as Wark Forest, lying within Northumberland National Park. Kielder Forest is also England’s most important red squirrel reserve and is home to the biggest remaining population of red squirrels in the country. There is something for everyone at this awe-inspiring place with many surprises and activities including a maze, one of England’s largest mountain bike trail network and is home to Northumberland’s only breeding osprey population. 1.3 Perceptions of the site The majority of Kielder Forest visitors said the site was either excellent or very good as a place to visit (85%), although this was lower than the average across all sites (91%). The majority of visitors (83%) rated the site as either excellent or very good in terms of how safe and welcoming it is. However, this was lower than the average (90%). The majority of visitors would recommend Kielder Forest as a place to visit – three quarters (73%) provided a rating of 9 or 10 out of ten, in terms of how likely they would be to recommend the site to friends or family. 1.4 Strengths of the site Visitors’ favourite things about Kielder Forest were the beautiful scenery and views, the peace and tranquillity at the site, and the cycling trails. Cycling tracks or trails was particularly important to visitors when deciding to visit Kielder Forest, as well as car parking. 2 Quality of Visitor Experience Survey: Kielder Forest Ratings were generally positive with all facilities (except disabled access to facilities) being rated excellent or very good by at least half of
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