Days Out - UK - April 2004

SUMMARY

The days out market began to make a recovery in 2002, following the foot and mouth crisis in 2001 and the uncertain international climate since the events of September 11th. An additional boost was provided by the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations, which resulted in an extra Bank Holiday. Although overseas tourism was still down, there were an estimated 453 million visits to UK visitor attractions alone during 2002, a 3% increase on the previous year. Revenue was also up, increasing by 11% to £2.3 billion. Indications are that this recovery continued into 2003, with many sectors benefiting from the long, hot summer.

While there have been no major new introductions into the market, the Millennium attractions, the British Airways London Eye and the Eden Project, continue to prove popular, along with old favourites, such as Blackpool Pleasure Beach. In an increasingly competitive environment, in which publicly funded and privately owned attractions sit side-by-side, innovation, quality and reinvestment remain of great importance.

Analysing the market's size, trends and structure, Mintel's research offers marketers a valuable overview of the factors influencing the market's dynamics. Designed to inform and focus marketing activity, Mintel's research includes exclusive consumer research into the days out taken by consumers in the previous 12 months, looking at what factors influenced their choice and how they found out about where to go. Considering the key marketing talking points of today's market, this report includes coverage of:

• The markets recovery from the food and mouth crisis and other disruptive factors
• The influence of government tourism policy on the market, such as the establishment of VisitBritain in 2003
• Industry opinion on factors that have affected the industry positively and negatively
• Analysis of the most popular attractions and the potential for growth
• The division of attraction ownership between private, public and not-for-profit organisations
• The effect of socio-economic status and affluence on consumers' choices of days out
• Sources of information used by consumers to research days out, with particular focus on the importance of word of mouth and the Internet
• Future developments, including product innovation and shifts in modes of promotion and communication.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction and Abbreviations

• Definitions
• Consumer research
• ACORN

Abbreviations

Summary of Key Report Findings

• Days out market recovering
• Government tourism strategy
• No change among the most visited type of attractions
• Top attractions still pulling them in
• The main players
• Where consumers have been
• Affordability the most important factor
• Finding out information
• The future

Market Factors

• The UK tourist industry
• Figure 1: Domestic and overseas visitors, trips/visits and spend, 2000-02
• Tourism strategy
• Population trends
• Figure 2: Population trends, by age, 2002-06
• Socio-economic structure
• Figure 3: Population trends, by socio-economic group, adults aged 15+, 2002-06
• PDI and consumer expenditure
• Figure 4: PDI and consumer expenditure, 1998-2009
• Seasonal opening
• Other factors to impact the days out market

Market Size and Trends

• Figure 5: Estimated trends in visits for visitor attractions, 1998-2004

Market Segmentation

• Figure 6: Days out attractions, by category, 2002
• Major paid-admission attractions
• Figure 7: Examples of major paid-admission attractions in the UK, by visitor numbers, 2001 and 2002
• Major free-admission attractions
• Figure 8: Examples of major free-admission attractions in the UK, 2001 and 2002

Museums and art galleries

• Figure 9: Major museum and art galleries in the UK, 2001 and 2002
• Figure 10: Profile of UK museums/art gallery visitors, by demographic sub-group, 2002 and 2003

Historic properties

• Figure 11: Major historic properties in the UK, 2001 and 2002

Visitor/heritage centres

• Figure 12: Major visitor/heritage centres in the UK, 2001 and 2002

Gardens

• Figure 13: Major gardens in the UK, 2001 and 2002
• Figure 14: Profile of UK garden visitors, by demographic sub-group, 2002 and 2003

Workplaces

• Figure 15: Major workplaces in the UK, 2001 and 2002

Country parks

• Figure 16: Major country parks in the UK, 2001 and 2002
• Figure 17: Profile of UK country park visitors, by demographic sub-group, 2002 and 2003

Wildlife sites

• Figure 18: Major wildlife sites in the UK, 2001 and 2002
• Figure 19: Profile of UK wildlife site visitors, by demographic sub-group, 2002 and 2003

Places of worship

• Figure 20: Major places of worship in the UK, 2001 and 2002

Farms

• Figure 21: Major farms in the UK, 2001 and 2002
• Figure 22: Profile of UK farm visitors, by demographic sub-group, 2002 and 2003

Leisure/theme parks

• Figure 23: Major leisure/theme parks in the UK, 2001 and 2002
• Figure 24: Profile of UK leisure/theme park visitors, by demographic sub-group, 2002 and 2003

Steam/heritage railways

• Figure 25: Major steam/heritage railways in the UK, 2001 and 2002
• Figure 26: Profile of UK steam/heritage railway visitors, by demographic sub-group, 2002 and 2003

The Supply Structure

• Days out market leaders
• Figure 27: Days out market leaders, by turnover, 2002/03?
• The Tussauds Group Limited
• Figure 28: The Tussauds Group Limited, financial profile, 2001 and 2002
• The London Eye Company
• Figure 29: The London Eye Company Limited, financial profile, 2001 and 2002
• The National Trust
• Figure 30: The National Trust key statistics, 2002 and 2003
• Figure 31: Turnover from The National Trust (Enterprises) Limited, 2002 and 2003
• The National Trust's top ten paid-admission properties
• Figure 32: The National Trust top ten properties open at a charge, 2002 and 2003
• Historic Royal Palaces
• Figure 33: Historic Royal Palaces, financial profile, 2002 and 2003
• Blackpool Pleasure Beach
• Figure 34: Blackpool Pleasure Beach Limited, financial profile, 2001 and 2002
• Legoland Windsor Park Limited
• Figure 35: Legoland Windsor Park Limited, financial profile, 2001 and 2002
• Merlin Entertainments Group Limited
• Figure 36: Merlin Entertainments Group Ltd, financial profile, 2002 and 2003
• Leisure Parcs
• Figure 37: Leisure Parcs, financial profile, 2000-02
• The Eden Project
• Figure 38: The Eden Project, financial profile, 2002 and 2003

The Consumer

• Figure 39: Places visited for a day out in the last 12 months, 2000-03
• Most popular places visited for a day out in the last 12 months
• Figure 40: Most popular places visited for a day outin the past 12 months, by demographic sub-group, December 2003
• Figure 41: Most popular places visited for a day out in the past 12 months, by lifestage, Mintel's Special Groups and respondents' own children, December 2003
• Figure 42: Most popular places visited for a day out in the past 12 months, by marital and working status, household size, car ownership, region and ACORN categories, December 2003
• Figure 43: Most popular places visited for a day out in the past 12 months, by media usage, supermarket usage and commercial TV viewing, December 2003
• Next most popular places visited for a day out in the last 12 months
• Figure 44: Next most popular places visited for a day out in the past 12 months, by demographic sub-group, December 2003
• Figure 45: Next most popular places visited for a day out in the past 12 months, by lifestage, Mintel's Special Groups and respondents' own children, December 2003
• Figure 46: Next most popular places visited for a day out in the past 12 months, by marital and working status, household size, car ownership, region and ACORN categories, December 2003
• Figure 47: Next most popular places visited for a day out in the past 12 months, by media usage, supermarket usage and commercial TV viewing, December 2003
• Sources of information for days out
• Figure 48: Sources of information for days out, 2000-03
• Most popular sources of information for days out by demographic analysis
• Figure 49: Most popular sources of information for days out, by demographic sub-group, December 2003
• Figure 50: Most popular sources of information for days out, by lifestage, Mintel's Special Groups and respondents' own children, December 2003
• Figure 51: Most popular sources of information for days out, by marital and working status, household size, car ownership, region and ACORN categories, December 2003
• Figure 52: Most popular sources of information for days out, by media usage, supermarket usage and commercial TV viewing, December 2003
• Next most popular sources of information
• Figure 53: Next most popular sources of information for days out, by demographic sub-group, December 2003
• Figure 54: Next most popular sources of information for days out, by lifestage, MInt
Special Groups and respondents' own children, December 2003
• Figure 55: Next most popular sources of information for days out, by marital and working status, household size, car ownership, region and ACORN categories, December 2003
• Figure 56: Next most popular sources of information for days out, by media usage, supermarket usage and commercial TV viewing, December 2003

The Future

• Recovered growth in the days out market
• Forecast increase in UK tourism
• Tourism strategy
• Innovation in the marketplace
• Influence of the Internet set to grow

Forecast

• Figure 73: Forecast of the days out market, by volume, 2004-09
• Innovation and investment will help the market
• Factors incorporated

Appendix: Research Methodology