Research Report Quality of Visitor Experience Survey: Abergynolwyn Prepared for: The Forestry Commission Quality of Visitor Experience Survey: Abergynolwyn Prepared for: The Forestry Commission Prepared by: BMG Research Date: April 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 Executive summary Table of Contents 1 Executive summary ........................................................................................................ 3 1.1 Quality of Visitor Experience research .................................................................... 3 1.2 Abergynolwyn .......................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.3 Perceptions of the site ............................................................................................ 3 1.4 Strengths of the site ................................................................................................ 4 1.5 Areas for improvement ............................................................................................ 4 1.6 Visitor profile ........................................................................................................... 4 2 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 5 2.1 Background............................................................................................................. 5 2.2 Research programme ............................................................................................. 5 2.2.1 2010-2013 programme .................................................................................... 5 2.2.2 2012 programme ............................................................................................. 6 2.3 Report ..................................................................................................................... 6 2.4 Data reporting ......................................................................................................... 7 3 Visitor profile information ................................................................................................ 8 3.1 Visitor profile ........................................................................................................... 8 3.2 Group profile ......................................................................................................... 10 3.2.1 Size of group.................................................................................................. 10 3.2.2 Composition of group ..................................................................................... 11 4 Profile of visit ............................................................................................................... 12 4.1 Type of visit........................................................................................................... 12 4.2 Visitor origin .......................................................................................................... 13 4.3 Frequency of visits ................................................................................................ 14 4.3.1 First time visitors ............................................................................................ 14 4.3.2 Repeat visitors ............................................................................................... 14 4.4 Length of visit ........................................................................................................ 15 4.5 Activities undertaken ............................................................................................. 16 4.6 Length of time spent on activities .......................................................................... 18 4.7 Overall spending in local area resulting from visit ................................................. 19 5 Perceptions of the site.................................................................................................. 22 5.1 Overall rating of the site as a place to visit ............................................................ 22 1 Quality of Visitor Experience Survey: Abergynolwyn 5.2 Rating of Abergynolwyn as safe and welcoming ................................................... 23 5.3 Reasons for ratings ............................................................................................... 24 5.4 Recommending the site as a place to visit ............................................................ 25 5.5 Visiting the site again ............................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 5.6 Favourite thing about the site ................................................................................ 26 5.7 Enhancing the visitor experience .......................................................................... 27 5.8 Factors interfering with the visitor experience ....................................................... 27 6 Site facilities ................................................................................................................. 28 6.1 Importance of site facilities .................................................................................... 28 6.2 Rating of site facilities (where used) ...................................................................... 29 6.3 Car park area ........................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 6.4 Ratings of site facilities by perceived importance .................................................. 30 7 Information about sites ................................................................................................. 31 7.1 Sources used to plan visit ..................................................................................... 31 7.2 Visiting other attractions ........................................................................................ 32 8 Appendix 1: Questionnaire ........................................................................................... 33 2 Executive summary 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 43 visitor interviews completed at Abergynolwyn in 2012; throughout the report, comparisons have been made between findings at Abergynolwyn and the straight average across the twenty five sites used in Wales to date (excluding Gethin, Llan Wynno and Cwm Saebran from Year 1 due to very low sample sizes of visitors). 1.2 Abergynolwyn Abergynolwyn or Nant Gwernol as it is also known is a rocky river gorge with cascading waterfalls and lies above the picturesque Tal-y-lly valley in the shadow of Cader Idris. The nearest towns or villages are Abergynolwyn, Tywyn, Machynlleth and Dolgellau. Abergynolwyn has a range of activities available to visitors including the Cascade Trail which follows the tumbling upland river and the Quarryman’s trail a longer trail which visits the ruined mine workings of Bryn Eglwys with expansive views of Cader Idris from high above Nant Gwernol station. 1.3 Perceptions of the site The majority of visitors said that Abergynolwyn was excellent or very good (98%) as a place to visit, which was higher than the average across sites in Wales (89%). Furthermore, the majority of visitors (84%) rated the site as either excellent or very good in terms of how safe and welcoming it is which was consistent with the average across Wales (85%). The majority of visitors would recommend Abergynolwyn as a place to visit – with almost four in five (77%) 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 which is consistent with the average (75%). 3 Quality of Visitor Experience Survey: Abergynolwyn 1.4 Strengths of the site Visitors’ favourite things about Abergynolwyn were the beautiful scenery/views, the peace/tranquillity/relaxation and walks/paths/trails available at the site. Visitors said that the choices of paths for walking and clear sign posting of paths and trails were particularly important when they were deciding to visit the site. Ratings for all the facilities were very positive with almost all of the visitors surveyed rating them excellent, very good or good. At the excellent and very good level, the highest rated facilities were choices of paths for walking and clear sign posting of paths and trails. 1.5 Areas for improvement Over