Executive Summary
The number of visits to tourist attractions increased by 1% in 1997, to reach 394 million visits. Key Note estimates that the total expenditure at tourist attractions in 1997 was approximately £1.4bn, indicating that average expenditure per attraction visit was approximately £3.55.
Tourist attractions are managed sites for enjoyment, amusement, entertainment or education for the day-visiting public. The main product sectors are historic properties, cathedrals and churches, gardens, museums and galleries, wildlife attractions, country parks, leisure parks, and miscellaneous attractions (including steam railways, visitor centres, workplaces, venues for exhibitions and others). Museums and galleries account for 20.2% of all visits compared with 17.7% for historic properties and 4.2% for gardens. The other main categories were country parks 16.6%, leisure parks 9.9% and wildlife attractions 5.9%.
Tourist attractions are losing share of leisure time due to: the growth in the number of heritage attractions which now charge; shorter holiday durations; and the general improvement in other forms of entertainment, including outdoor activities, shopping, eating out, theatre or cinema.
The four main consumer markets for tourist attraction visits are international tourists, domestic tourists, domestic day-trippers and local leisure visitors. International tourists account for approaching 20% of trips compared with 20% of UK residents on long holidays, 10% of UK residents on short breaks and the remaining 50% from day trippers and casual visitors. The customer/market mix varies considerably by type of attraction and location. Over 50% of tourist visits to the Tower of London are from overseas compared with 2% for leisure parks, 20% for workplaces and 4% for country parks.
In 1997, there were 2,316 tourist attractions (excluding churches and cathedrals) that received a minimum of 10,000 visits. 7.6% of these attractions were owned by central Government and a further 22.3% were owned by local authorities. The rest were owned by public companies or private individuals.
Key Note estimates that the number of visits to tourist attractions will grow by 10.1% between 1998 and 2002, to reach 438 million visits. Although the sector will be given a fillip by the Millennium celebrations, growth will still lag behind that of the overall industry in tourism and day trips.
Fourth Edition 1998
Edited by Jane Griffiths
ISBN 1-85765-855-8
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