Tourism Statistics Bulletin NORTHERN IRELAND VISITOR ATTRACTION SURVEY (JANUARY-DECEMBER 2012) REVISED Published 14/08/13 The Northern Ireland Visitor Attraction Survey (January-December 2012) has been revised to include data which has since become available. This revision was necessary to ensure the official publication ‘Northern Ireland Visitor Attraction Survey (January – December 2012)’ was consistent with data issued in response to an official ad-hoc enquiry. The main impact of this revision is to increase the overall number of visits to attractions during 2012 from 12.8 million to 13 million and to reduce the increase in the number of visits made in 2012 when compared to 2011 from 6.3% to 6.2%. Further details of the revision are included on page 15 of this report. This report provides the analysis of the most recent (January-December 2012) annual information from the Visitor Attraction Survey in Northern Ireland. The figures for participating visitor attractions show: • There were approximately 13 million visits made during 2012 • There was a 6.2% increase in the number of visitors to attractions from 2011 to 2012 • Country Parks/Parks/Forests accounted for more than a third of visitors in 2012 (37%) 1 Contents Executive Summary Pages 3-4 Visitor Attraction Survey Pages 5-12 Methodology Pages 13-14 Revisions Page 15 Appendix Pages 16-20 Further Information Page 21 2 Visitor Attraction Survey Introduction This report is designed to give an overview of visits to various attractions within Northern Ireland. Participation in the Visitor Attraction Survey is voluntary. The survey was issued to 385 attractions (details obtained from Discover Northern Ireland) and 201 replied; of these 148 provided data for analysis. Unless otherwise stated, the data presented in this report refers to the 148 attractions which provided data. Statistics presented in this report are given in good faith on the basis of information provided by proprietors of attractions. It should be noted that respondents to the survey are given the opportunity to revise data supplied in the previous year. Counting methods for individual Attractions may also change from year to year which might impact on results and patterns over time. Further details about the survey methodology are contained in the methodology section. Executive Summary Figures for the participating visitor attractions in 2012 show that: • Approximately 13 million visits were made during 2012 • There was a 6.2% increase in the number of visitors to attractions from 2011 to 2012 • Country Parks/Parks/Forests accounted for more than a third of visitors in 2012 (37%) • Almost two-thirds (65%) of all visits in 2012 were made by Northern Ireland residents • August was the most popular month for visits to the attractions (1.1 million visitors) Types of Attractions and Counting Methods In 2012, around a quarter of the participating attractions were museums/ art galleries (27%), and just under a quarter (23%) were historic properties. Eighty four percent of the 148 responding attractions provided details on the methods used to calculate visitor numbers. The most frequent method was a manual count (36%) followed by ticket or group bookings (26%). The majority of participating attractions were owned by either Local Authorities (33%) or Government Departments/Agencies (26%). 3 Visitor Numbers In 2012, there were approximately 13 million visits to the participating visitor attractions. For participants who provided both 2011 and 2012 data, there was a 6.2 percent increase on the number of visitors. Country parks/parks/forests attracted the largest numbers of visitors (37%). Workplaces accounted for the lowest proportions of visits, with a combined total of less than 1%. Visitor Profile Northern Ireland residents account for 65% of all visits to participating attractions in 2012. There was a ratio of 70% adults to 30% children visiting the attractions in 2012. Seasonality August was the most popular month for visits (1.1 million) with the least popular month for visits being January (0.3 million). Admission charges The average admission charge for attractions was £5.50 per adult and £2.80 per child. 4 Types of Attractions Figure 1 shows the proportion of responding attractions in each category. In 2012, the largest proportion of the 148 participating attractions were museums/art galleries (27%) followed by historic properties which accounted for 23% of responding attractions. Figure 1: Responding attractions by category type, 2012 Country Parks/Parks/ Places of Worship Other Forests 5% 10% 10% Workplaces 2% Gardens 4% Wildlife/Zoo 5% Historic Properties 23% Visitor/Heritage Centres 14% Museums/Art Galleries 27% In 2012 84% of the responding attractions provided details on the methods used to calculate visitor numbers. The most frequent methods used were manual count (36%) and ticket or group bookings (26%). Table 1 shows the methods of recording visitor numbers. Table 1: Method of recording visitor numbers, 2012 (Percentage) 1 Method used to record data (%) Manual count 36 Ticket or group bookings 26 Mechanical or electronic 16 Estimate 14 Sample count 6 Other 2 Total (123 responding attractions) 100 Note (1) Percentages calculated using unrounded figures 5 Table 2 shows the breakdown of the 148 participating attractions by ownership. The majority of participating attractions were owned by either Local Authorities (33%) or Government Department/Agencies (26%) Table 2: Ownership of attractions, 2012 (Percentage) 1 Ownership (%) Local Authority 33 Government Department/ Agency 26 National Trust 8 Other Trust/Charity 8 Other 10 Private 16 Total (148 Responding attractions) 100 Note (1) Percentages calculated using unrounded figures Visitor Numbers Approximately 13 million visits were made to participating attractions during 2012. One hundred and thirty seven participants returned data with comparable figures for 2011 and 2012. These showed that there was a 6.2 percent increase on the visitor numbers observed in 2011. Table 3 shows visitors during 2012 by attraction category. Country Parks/Parks/Forests attracted the largest number of visitors (37%). Workplaces accounted for the lowest proportion of visitors, with a combined total of less than 1%. Table 3: Number of visits by attraction category 2012 Number of Visitors (000's) Percentage (%) Country Parks/Parks/Forests 4,691 36% Gardens 714 6% Historic Properties 1,354 10% Museums/Art Galleries 2,061 16% Visitor/Heritage Centres 1,616 12% Wildlife/Zoo 686 5% Workplaces * * Places of Worship 322 2% Other 1,503 12% Total (148) 12,953 100 Note (1) Percentages calculated using unrounded figures (2) Figures may not add to totals due to rounding (3) Sample size too small to provide a reliable estimate Attractions owned by Local Authorities had the largest proportion of visitors during 2012 (32%). Next most popular were attractions owned by Government Departments and Agencies (29%). 6 Table 4 shows the number of visitors to attractions by ownership. Table 4: Number of visits by ownership Number of Visitors Percentage (000's) (%) Local Authority 4,044 32 Government department/Agency 3,745 29 National Trust 1,615 11 Other trust/charity 603 5 Private 2,449 19 Other 497 4 Total (148) 12,953 100 Note (1) Percentages calculated using unrounded figures (2) Figures may not add to totals due to rounding Top Attractions Table 5 presents the top ten participating visitor attractions (excluding Country Parks/Parks/Forests/ Gardens) with corresponding visitor numbers and annual percentage change on the 2011 figure. As can be seen in Table 5 the attraction with the highest number of visitors in 2012 was the Titanic Belfast, this was followed by the Ulster Museum in second place and the Giants Causeway Visitor Centre in third. Table 5: Top 10 participating visitor attractions 2012 (excluding 5 country/parks/parks/forests/gardens) Visitor Numbers (000s) 1 Attraction 2011 2012 % change 2 1 Titanic Belfast n/a 665 n/a 2 Ulster Museum 471 595 +26 4 3 Giants Causeway V. Centre 533 531 -2 4 Dundonald Ice Bowl 601 459 -24 5 W5 251 328 31 6 Oxford Island Nature Reserve 319 297 -7 7 Derry Walls 278 281 +1 8 Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge 243 276 +14 9 Belfast Zoo 283 259 -8 3 10 Pickie Fun Park n/a 245 n/a Notes (1) Percentage change calculated using unrounded figures (2) Opened for the first time March 2012 (3) Re-opened in 2012 after refurbishment (4) New visitor centre opened for the first time July 2012 (5) It should be noted that some respondents wished their visitor numbers to remain confidential and these attractions have been excluded from this table 7 Table 6 provides the number of visitors to the top ten participating country/forest parks and gardens throughout Northern Ireland. 4 Table 6: Top 10 participating Country Parks/Parks/Forests/Gardens 2012 Visitor Numbers (000s) 1 Country Parks/Gardens 2011 2012 % change 2 1 Lagan Valley Regional Park 1,081 1,088 +1 3 2 Peace Bridge 334 917 n/a 3 Crawfordsburn Country Park 770 800 +4 4 Botanic Gardens 650 650 0 5 Delamont Country Park 577 577 0 6 Roe Valley Country Park 280 250 -11 7 Castle Archdale Country Park 180 200 +11 8 Carnfunnock Country Park 231 194 -16 9 Scrabo Country Park 200 180 -10 10 Dungannon Park 125 142 +14 Notes (1) Percentage change calculated using unrounded figures (2) Lagan Valley Regional Park incorporating the Lagan Towpath (3) The Peace Bridge has been re-categorised for the purposes of the 2012 Visitor Attraction Survey. No percentage change has been given as the Peace Bridge first opened in June 2011 and therefore the 2011/2012 figures are not comparable (4) Some respondents wished their visitor numbers to remain confidential and these attractions have been excluded from this table Visitor Profile Respondents to the Visitor Attraction Survey were also asked to supply information on the country of residence of their visitors.