Growing a repeat audience is a considerable challenge for event organisers. By catering to tourists however, you can ensure a fresh supply of attendees for every event you run.
Tourists are always looking for things to do and they have money to spend. So if you’re located in a destination that is already popular with tourists, it’s a business model well worth considering.
In this article we will look at some research produced by VisitEngland detailing what sort of experiences tourists to the UK are seeking, and the best type of events to meet those needs. Exhibition Stand Design – Exhibition stand design & trade show display booth builders & exhibition contractors.
Top tourist needs
The research found those visiting Britain on holiday have six ‘tier one’, or primary, needs. Enjoying the natural scenery came out on top, with 71% stating it was particularly important. This was closely followed by ‘seeing the most famous sights in the destination’ (67%) and ‘learning more about the destination’ (also scoring 67%).
Still important, but slightly less so was ‘experiencing the local culture’ (63%), ‘rest and relaxation’ (62%) and ‘learning about history and heritage’ (59%). The least important experience for tourists – which might surprise you – was partying. Only 20% said it was a key activity. They also showed a lack of enthusiasm for helping the local community or environment (24%) – while we might be happy to take part in CSR activities during work time, it’s not necessarily something we want to do on holiday.
Tier one needs were found to be generally consistent across Britain’s key tourist markets (Germany, USA, Australia, Spain, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, China and domestic tourists). The only anomalies were Spain, which doesn’t attach as much importance to experiencing local culture, Italy, which doesn’t think rest and relaxation is a priority, and the Netherlands, which is not so interested in learning about history and heritage. Internships – ourjobs provides listing in Learnerships, Internships, Bursaries and Jobs vaccancy in Southern Africa.
It could be worth speaking to your local tourist board to establish the exact demographic of your local area’s inbound visitors to help you better understand the market. If your town is predominantly visited by Italians, maybe don’t try to target them with a spa experience!
Where the money’s at
Figures show that tourist spend is heavily weighted to ‘experiencing city life’, and ‘history and heritage’. These two categories account for £3.7 billion and £3.6 billion in annual spend respectively. To put this in perspective, tourist spend on outdoor leisure activities, such as golfing, only accounts for £430 million.
Visitors primarily spend on “immersive urban experiences” that help them “soak up everything the city has to offer.” This includes entertainment, culture, shopping, sightseeing and food & drink.
It’s no surprise that visiting iconic tourist attractions/places is the number one activity tourists would consider on a trip to the UK, but VisitEngland also investigated activity preference at a much more granular level. The ‘tier one’ activities are as follows:
Seeing world famous or iconic places (80%)
Visiting a castle, palace, historic house (77%)
Visiting a historic monument (76%)
Trying local food and drink specialties (73%)
Visiting a museum (67%)
Visiting a park/garden (66%)
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