Mintel's report on
UK Visitor Attractions, published in October 2011, concludes that despite the recent relative strength of the attractions sector the increasing pressure on household incomes presents serious challenges as leisure spending is sacrificed to combat continuing reductions in disposable or discretionary income levels. Indeed, the report goes on to note that attractions are already seeing reduced spending on food, drink and merchandise by visitors, once on site, fuelling growing concerns about the ability to sustain attendance levels and ticket revenues.
The over-riding message from the report is the need for attractions, now more than ever before, to focus on offering value for money, suggesting that is is more important to sustain the visiting habit than to pursue profit at all costs.
Where do you stand in this? Is Mintel right? How are you combatting the challenge?