Headlines from the

Greater Manchester Leisure Visitor Survey 2014

METHOD – a short reminder

• The first survey since 2010

• Co-funded by Marketing Manchester, TfGM, CityCo and Virgin Trains

• A face-to-face survey of visitors

• Across all 10 GM districts

• 757 interviews

• Fieldwork 24th May to 2nd November 2014

• ‘Leisure Visitor’ defined as on:

- a day trip from home, over 3 hours spent, over 20 miles

- an overnight stay away from home for leisure

VISITOR PROFILES

•More on day trip than in 2010 (52%)

•Day and staying visitor ratios varies

• - in City Centre 45% are staying;

• - in rest of GM 32% are staying (excluding Salford and Trafford)

VISITOR PROFILES

• Northwest main source of domestic visitors (41%)

• International visitors from wide range of countries, led by USA (13% of international visitors)

• More overseas visitors on day trip in 2014 (4% vs 1%)

• Overseas visitors are more likely to be found in the city centre (20%)

VISITOR PROFILES

•Staying (44%) more likely than day visitors (20%) to be 1st time visitors

•Proportion of recent visitors has increased since 2010(64% : 59%)

•91% of previous visitors have been in the last two years and 49% of those had visited 6 times or more

VISITOR PROFILESage

49% 51%aged 44 or under aged 45+

seg

68% 27% ABC1 C2DE

• Similar to 2010• … but caution: women more

likely to take part in research

gender

43% 57% male female

• Visitor age well-distributed across age ranges• Similar to 2010• City Centre has younger visitor age than other areas

• Higher proportion of ABC1 • visitors in City Centre (72%) • than other areas

STAYING VISITORS

•More choosing to stay in GM than in 2010 (93% vs 89%)

•Majority (64%) stay in Manchester

•Majority (70%) staying in ‘paid-for’ accommodation

•On average spending 3.35 nights – less than 2010 (4.52)

•‘Paid-for’ stays are shorter (2.85 paid-for: 4.49 vfr)

93% chose to stay in Greater Manchester

ABOUT THE VISIT – main reason

•Day and staying visitors agree but:

- Day visitors more likely to visit for an attraction, museum, exhibition or shopping

- staying visitors more likely to visit just for a break/day out (24%)

ABOUT THE VISIT – all activities

• Staying visitors more likely to include a visit to attraction/ museum (68%)

• Geography makes a difference – eg Trafford visitors most likely to visit attraction / museum (76%)

• Friends and Family groups are more likely to visit an attraction or museum

62% visit an attraction/museum

ABOUT THE VISIT – all activities

•Top 3 shopping areas visited:

• Manchester Arndale (55%)

• Market Street (36%)

• Deansgate (25%)

•Majority are not visiting with specific shop in mind (61%)

•However, target shops include:- M&S (33%), Primark (26%) House of Fraser and Next (23%) Harvey Nichols and Selfridges (21%)

23% overall go shopping

ABOUT THE VISIT - moving around

•More likely to stay in GM than in 2010 (83%)

•Liverpool / Merseyside most likely destination out of GM

•Interviewees in Salford most likely to visit other GM districts

TRAVEL & TRANSPORT - mode of transport

•Arrival by car higher amongst day visitors (57% vs 41%)

•Visitors to City Centre least likely to arrive by car (37%)

•Since 2010, arrival by....

… car has dropped (50% vs 62%)

… train has increased (27% vs 20%)

TRAVEL & TRANSPORT - public transport

• Metrolink (58%) and bus (38%) are most popular

• Majority who don’t use public transport think ‘there’s no need to’ (77%)

26% using public transport during visit

TRAVEL & TRANSPORT - Smartcard

• More appealing to staying than day visitors (53% vs 34%)

42% encouraged by Smartcard to use public transport

EXPENDITURE - average spend

• Staying visitors, in paid accommodation, are highest spenders (£96.77)

• Age matters – 45-54s highest spenders; 16-24s lowest

• Spend in 2014 lower across everything except ‘accommodation’ and ‘other expenses’

£53.40average spend pp/day

RATINGS - the experience

Consistently high ratings across offer…

•... only car parking vfm given significant negative rating (22%)

•Gaps in perceptions beyond personal experience

96% of visitors say their visit to Greater Manchester

RATINGS - future visits

Strongest propensity amongst…

• Day visitors (96%)

• 35-44 year olds (98%)

• Visitors to districts outside City Centre, Salford & Trafford (97%)

• Repeat visitors (96%)

91% likely to make future leisure visit

POINTS TO NOTE• Higher % of day trippers than before

• Strong pattern of returning visitors – and proportion of new visitors stable

• Importance of attractions/ museums in motivating visits

• Evidence of economic climate impacting – on spend, but also on length of stay, type of accommodation

• Different motivations of day and staying visitors

• ‘The offer’ performs strongly – but is ‘experience’ working harder than ‘reputation’?

• The roles of City Centre, Salford & Trafford and the other districts:

- higher average spend

- higher % of staying visitors

- lower % of vfr

Nick Brooks-SykesDirector of Tourism, Visit

Manchester