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Visitor Attractions Trends in England - 2007 Annual Report JN:173396 September 2008 © 2007 TNS UK Limited. All rights reserved Acknowledgements VisitBritain 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. No part of this publication may be reproduced for commercial purposes without previous written consent of VisitBritain. 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. VisitBritain regrets it cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information contained in this report nor accept responsibility for error or misrepresentation. Published by VisitBritain (incorporated under the 1969 Development of Tourism Act as the British Tourist Authority) © 2007 British Tourist Authority (trading as VisitBritain) VisitBritain is grateful to English Heritage for their financial support for the 2007 survey. September 2008 © 2007 TNS UK Limited. All rights reserved Content 1. Key Findings .................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Overall trends in visits to English Attractions 2006-2007 ............................ 1 1.2 Overall trends in admission prices 2006-2007............................................ 5 1.3 Overall trends in gross revenue 2006-2007 ............................................... 6 1.4 Marketing expenditure trend 2006-2007..................................................... 8 1.5 Benchmarking against other survey outputs ............................................ 10 2. Introduction and Background.......................................................................... 14 2.1 Research Objectives ................................................................................ 14 2.2 Survey Method ......................................................................................... 14 2.3 Population, sample and response rate ..................................................... 15 2.4 Guide to the tables ................................................................................... 17 3. England Visit Trends 2006-2007 .................................................................... 19 3.1 England visit trends 2006-2007 by attraction category ............................. 20 3.2 English visit trends 2006-2007 by admission type .................................... 21 3.3 English visit trends 2006-2007 by volume of visits to attractions .............. 23 3.4 English visit trends 2006-2007 by geographic location ............................. 23 3.5 English visit trends 2006-2007 by proportion of overseas visits ............... 24 3.6 English visit trends 2006-2007 by proportion of child visits....................... 24 4. English Government Office Region Visit Trends 06-07 ................................... 25 4.1 Visit trends 2006-2007 by English Government Office Region ................. 25 4.2 Visit trends 2006-2007 by attraction category by English GOR ................ 26 4.3 Visit trends 2006-2007 by English GOR by admission type...................... 27 4.4 Visit trends 2006-2007 by volume of visits by English GOR ..................... 28 4.5 Visit trends 2006-2007 by geographic location by English GOR .............. 29 5. Adult admission price trends 2006-2007 ........................................................ 30 5.1 Adult admission prices 2006-2007 by English GOR ................................. 30 5.2 Adult admission prices 2006-2007 by volume of visits ............................. 31 5.3 Adult admission prices 2006-2007 by attraction category ........................ 32 5.4 Adult admission prices 2006-2007 by geographic location ....................... 33 5.5 Adult admission prices 2006-2007 by proportion of overseas visits .......... 33 5.6 Adult admission prices 2006-2007 by proportion of child visits ................. 34 6. Revenue & Marketing Expenditure Trends 2006-2007 ................................... 35 6.1 Gross revenue trend 2006-2007 .............................................................. 35 6.2 Marketing expenditure trend 2006-2007................................................... 38 7. Trends in the number of visits to England Attractions 1989-2007 ................... 42 © 2007 TNS UK Limited. All rights reserved 7.1 Trends in number of visits to visitor attractions 1989-2007 ....................... 42 7.2 Five year trend 2003-2007 (constant sample) .......................................... 47 8. Visits to Individual Attractions ......................................................................... 50 9. Appendix 1 - Survey of visits to Visitor Attractions Questionnaire ................... 96 10. Appendix 2 – Reference sources ................................................................... 98 11. Appendix 3 – Index of Attractions in section 8 ................................................ 99 © 2007 TNS UK Limited. All rights reserved Key Findings 1. Key Findings 1.1 Overall trends in visits to English Attractions 2006-2007 2007 was generally a warm year in England but rainfall was well above average, particularly during the summer months. In June and July, there were several periods of extreme rainfall which gave rise to widespread flooding in England with some locations – notably on the river Severn between Tewkesbury and Gloucester, the Thames upstream of Oxford, and South Yorkshire suffering record breaking flood levels. The peak summer months of July and August were also colder than average with September close to average for temperature and above average for sunshine. The autumn period generally was closer to average in terms of temperature, rainfall and sunshine levels (Source: MetOffice). The 1,348 England visitor attractions that provided visit figures for both 2006 and 2007 reported a +3% increase in visitor admissions overall in 2007. This compares positively with 2006, when a +3 increase was also recorded for both years. Visits to London increased by +5% in 2007, emphasising the strong recovery reported in 2006 (a significant +9% increase) following the July bombings in London in 2005 (following a -5% decline in 2005). Table A.1 England visit trends 2006-2007 - by attraction category (%) Category Attractions sample % 07/06 Country parks 44 +8 Farms 33 +5 Gardens 93 +5 Historic houses/castles 290 +1 Other historic properties 81 -3 Leisure/theme parks 33 +3 Museums/art galleries 415 +3 Steam/heritage railways 38 -1 Visitor/heritage centres 46 +12 Wildlife attractions/zoos 67 +4 Workplaces 48 -24 Places of worship 88 -* Other 72 +1 England (1,348) +3 The majority of categories showed growth in 2007, with a particularly strong increase in visitor/heritage centres (+12%). 1 W:\Current projects\173396 - VB Visitor Attractions 2007-08\Database\Reporting\MAIN REPORT © 2007 TNS UK Limited. All rights reserved Key Findings As an overall category, museums/art galleries tend to benefit from wetter weather in terms of visits – this perhaps accounted for the +8% increase recorded in 2006. This strong performance has continued into 2007 with a further +3% increase recorded (no doubt also helped by the wet summer period in 2007). As mentioned in last year’s report, outdoor attractions recorded strong increases in 2005, driven by the good weather, and despite the wetter weather recorded in 2006, many of these categories managed to maintain visits in 2006. This finding has also been reflected in 2007, when the generally wetter weather (particularly during the summer) would have been expected to have had an adverse effect on visits to outdoor attractions. However, country parks recorded a +8% increase, farms and gardens (both a +5% increase) and wildlife attractions/zoos (+4%). As in 2006, visits to historic houses/castles increased slightly by +1% in 2007. The last two years have signalled a slight recovery following a -2% decline in 2005 and a - 1% decline in 2004. Confirming findings from last year’s report, leisure/theme parks showed signs of a good recovery in 2007 (+3%) following a year of stability in 2006 (declining less than 1%) and a significant -6% decline in 2005. Although leisure/theme parks represent only around 3% of attractions, they account for 10% of visits. Places of worship reported a change of less than 1% in 2007, following visits increasing by +3% in 2006 and 2005. As mentioned in last year’s report, the years immediately prior to this indicated a period of decline. Workplaces reported a decline of -24% in 2007 – this was primarily driven by a large attraction reporting a significant decrease in visitors. 2 W:\Current projects\173396 - VB Visitor Attractions 2007-08\Database\Reporting\MAIN REPORT © 2007 TNS UK Limited. All rights reserved Key Findings Table A.2 England visit trends 2006-2007 – by admission type (%) Admission Attractions Increase No change Decrease % 07/06 sample Free (454) 48 19 33 +4 Paid (867) 53 5 42 +1 England (1,348) 51 10 39 +3 Reflecting the increases recorded in the 2006 report, visits to free attractions increased by +4% in 2007 – this was largely driven by a +5% increase reported by museums/art galleries for free attractions. Visits to paid attractions remained more stable, increasing by +1% - the same as reported in 2006 and 2005. Table A.3 England visit trends 2006-2007 - by geographic location (%) Geographic location Attractions sample % 07/06 Coastal (126) +* Rural (518) +1 Urban (452) +3 England (1,348) +3 Visits to