Visitor Attraction Monitor Report 2014 Scottish Museums and Galleries May 2015 Museums Galleries Scotland: 2014 Visit Estimates for Scotland’s Museums and Galleries Sector Summary Report Prepared by: Marina Martinolli Research Project Manager Moffat Centre for Travel and Tourism Business Development Glasgow Caledonian University Cowcaddens Road Glasgow G4 0BA CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .......................................................... 1 VISITS FIGURES ................................................................... 2 2.1 Visits by Admission Type 2014 .......................................................................................2 2.2 Average Visitor Numbers per Month 2014 ....................................................................... 3 2.3 Adult & Child Visitation 2014.......................................................................................... 4 2.4 School Visits 2014 .........................................................................................................5 2.5 Visits by Geographical Origin 2014 .................................................................................6 2.6 Impact of Major 2014 Events on Visit Figures .................................................................. 8 INCOME AND REVENUE ........................................................ 9 3.1 Admission 2014 ............................................................................................................9 3.2 Adult and Child Admission Charges 2014/2013 ................................................................ 9 3.3 Admission Charge Discounts 2014 ................................................................................ 10 3.4 Revenue Trends ......................................................................................................... 10 3.5 Income Sources 2014 ................................................................................................. 12 MARKETING ........................................................................ 16 4.1 Marketing Activities 2014............................................................................................. 16 4.2 Average Marketing Budget 2014 .................................................................................. 16 4.3 Web & Social Media 2014 ............................................................................................ 16 4.4 Web & Social Media Frequency of Updates 2014 ........................................................... 17 TOURISM RELATED EMPLOYMENT ..................................... 19 ECONOMIC CALCULATIONS ................................................ 21 6.1 Estimated Direct Revenue Income ................................................................................ 21 6.2 Estimated Indirect Impacts .......................................................................................... 23 6.3 Estimated Induced Impacts ......................................................................................... 23 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Museums Galleries Scotland commissioned the Moffat Centre for Travel and Tourism Business Development, Glasgow Caledonian University to undertake this study. This study follows on from the first study Realising the True Impact of Museums and Galleries on Tourism which was published in 2005. Updated studies were carried out using 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2012 data. This study presents findings based on 2014 data, with some comparisons with 2013 and/or 2012 data. The Moffat Centre undertakes the annual Visitor Attraction Monitor (VAM). The 2014 VAM report is based on 696 responses to an industry facing self-complete questionnaire survey which was distributed to 855 visitor attractions in Scotland. It is the definitive source of 2014 data on attendance to visitor attractions and provides the basis for the estimated calculations contained within this report. Of the 855 attractions known to be open in 2014, over half (460) were museums and galleries. Of the responding 696 attractions to the survey, 323 were museums and galleries. Scotland’s museums and galleries welcomed an estimated 27.65million1 visits in 2014. By Moffat Centre’s calculations, they were responsible for approximately 3,552 tourism related jobs. In 2014 museums and galleries generated an estimated £71.06million in direct and £39.79million in indirect revenues. Total induced economic impact of museum and galleries in 2014 was an estimated £890.88million.2 1 Based on data supplied by attractions participating in the Moffat Centre 2014 Visitor Attraction Survey and averages based on this data. 2 Based on the amount of additional output generated in the economy by the sector. The impacts both induced and indirect create demand for other services and products such as transport, accommodation, food and beverage. 1 VISITS FIGURES This section of the report presents 2014 visits figures for the responding paid and free 323 museums and galleries. As a means of gaining a fuller figure for visits to all Scottish museums and galleries in the population frame, a calculation was made to estimate the visits figures to 460 museums and galleries. This involved adding figures from 2014 data and previous years in addition to estimating for museums and galleries which had never completed returns. 2.1 Visits by Admission Type 2014 For the responding museums and galleries, 57% were free entry and 43% were paid entry, a fairly even split (see table 2.1). However, the visit numbers to free museums and galleries were almost three times the number to paid museums and galleries in 20143. Table 2.1: Visit Figures by Entrance Type 2014 Museums and Galleries All Attractions Admission n Visits n Visits Free 185 17 641 111 338 40 544 344 Paid 138 6 108 671 358 15 689 756 Total 323 23 749 782 696 56 234 100 Table 2.2: Calculated Visit Figures for all Scottish Museums and Galleries n Visits Free entry Museums Known visits 2014 185 17 641 111 Unknown 2014, known past visits (figures added from previous years) 57 539 123 Unknown past visits (no data provided) 26 2 479 291 Total Free 268 20 659 525 Paid entry Museums Known visits 2014 138 6 108 671 Unknown 2014, known past visits (figures added from previous years) 48 615 710 Unknown past visits (no data provided) 6 265 594 Total Paid 192 6 989 975 All Museums and Galleries 460 27 649 500 (See Appendix 2 for details of calculations) As a means of gaining a more comprehensive figure for visits to all Scottish museums and galleries in the population frame, a calculation was made to estimate the visits figures to all 460 museums and galleries. This involved adding visits figures from the 2014 data and previous years in addition to estimating for those museums and galleries which had never completed survey returns. This was done for both free and paid museums and galleries separately and the totals added together to arrive at an overall estimation (see table 2.2; 33 Larger museums including National Museums Scotland and Glasgow Museums are free entry which will affect the proportions for the sub-samples. 2 Appendix 1). These calculations gave an estimate for visit figures to 460 museums and galleries in 2014 of 27 649 500. When comparing the estimated 2014 total of 27.65 million against the estimate of 24.43 million visits in the 2012 report, an increase of 13.2% is suggested. However, it should be noted that the sample used for 2014 was increased from 437 to 460. A number of new attractions were included and the population frame was adjusted to include those attractions which had been temporarily closed in 2012. 2.2 Average Visitor Numbers per Month 2014 Table 2.3 presents the average visitor numbers per month and per calendar year for each participating museum and gallery that provided monthly data in 2014 (n=286). Table 2.3: Average visitor numbers per month and for calendar year 2014 2014 Average monthly Months visits Common sample 286 January 3 567 February 4 291 March 4 953 April 7 422 May 7 423 June 7 415 July 10 113 August 10 898 September 6 837 October 6 257 November 4 253 December 3 891 Calendar Year Avg. 77 320 Monthly Average 6 443 The calendar year average for 2014 was 77,320.4 Monthly average visits peaked during the summer months of July and August in 2014 for museums and galleries (See figure 2.1 for graphical illustration of this peak). Although the quietest times of year on average, museums still received an average of over 3 thousand visitors in January 2014 and December 2014. It should be noted that not all museums and galleries offer year-round operation; some smaller museums in particular close to visitors over the winter months. 4 This figure includes only those museums and galleries which submitted monthly visits figures for 2014. 3 Figure 2.1 Origin of visits to Museums and Galleries in 2014. 2.3 Adult & Child Visitation 2014 Figures were provided by visitor attractions for the proportion of visits made by adults and children. A sub-sample of museums and galleries (see table 2.4) provided this information. Overall museums and galleries reported just over one fifth of visits as child visits (21.7%) and just under four fifths as adult visits (78.3%). These proportions hardly differ compared to the sample of visitor attractions as a whole (21.2% child; 78.8% adult). There was little difference in this breakdown of adults and children between paid entry and free entry museums, although those which were free reported a slightly higher proportion of child visits (23.6%) than those which were paid entry (18.9%). Taking the proportions