Lancashire and Blackpool Destination Report

Lancashire and Blackpool

Market and Destination Profile

In this report…

A destination analysis of Lancashire and Blackpool, looking at Lancaster and Blackpool, the Lancashire and Blackpool sub-region, and rural Lancashire covering the Ribble Valley, Pennine Lancashire and Forest of Bowland.

Destination Profile– the value and relative scale of the visitor economy within destinations

Image and Perceptions– The extent to which the marketplace considers them as places to visit for a holiday

or short break

Leisure Visitors – Day and Staying– Characteristics, motivations and activities

Business Visitors– Characteristics, motivations and activities

Summary and Conclusions

Destination Profile

Introduction

This section provides a statistical overview of Lancashire and Blackpool as a destination and some of its component destinations – principally Blackpool and Lancaster (NB for this section only this also includes Morecambe to cover the Local Authority area – other Lancaster data in this report relates to Lancaster City only). Since data is typically organised on a Local Authority basis, it has not been possible to provide a comparable analysis for “Rural” Lancashire.

It draws from a number of sources:

•STEAM analysis for Lancashire – data relates to 2007•Accommodation stock data (source Global Tourism Solutions, 2009)•Population data.

Tourism expenditure and employment

NW L&B Blackpool Lancaster

Tourism expenditure (£m) 13627 2911 1015 267

Regional share of all tourism expenditure (%) 21 7 2

Tourism expenditure per capita 2025 2057 7135 1994

Tourism expenditure - commercial accommodation (£m)

4526 1432 712 154

Regional share of tourism expenditure in commercial accommodation (%)

32 16 3

Expenditure in commercial accommodation per capita

673 1012 5005 1146

Employment 215277 54161 23515 4542

Tourism employment as % of population 3.2 3.8 16.5 3.4

Spend per capita in Lancashire and Lancaster is on a par with the region – spend per capita in commercial accommodation is slightly higher. Per capita spend in Blackpool is significantly higher.

2025

673

2057

1012

7135

5005

1994

1146

Tourism expenditure per capita Expenditure in commercial accom per capita

Tourism spend per capita

Northwest Lancashire Blackpool Lancaster

Tourism as an employer is slightly more significant in Lancashire than the region as a whole, but considerably more significant in Blackpool.

3.2 3.8

16.5

3.4

Northwest Lancashire Blackpool Lancaster

Tourism Employment(as percent of population)

Lancashire accounts for over two fifths of the region’s accommodation stock. About a fifth of the region’s establishments are in Blackpool. Yield per establishment is lower in than the regional average.

NW L&B Blackpool Lancaster

No of establishments

- Serviced 5090 2288 1792 110

- Non-serviced 4922 843 416 125

- Total 10012 3131 2208 235

% of regional establishments 31 22 2

No. of bedspaces

- Serviced 185270 80623 60640 3679

- Non-serviced 155298 59401 14505 12035

- Total 340568 140024 75145 15714

- % regional bedspaces 41 22 5

Average size serviced establishment (bedspaces)

36 35 34 33

Yield per establishment (£k) 452 457 323 653

Yield per bedspace (£k) 13.3 10.2 9.5 9.8

Image and Perceptions

Blackpool is the key Lancashire brand / destination.

• Not surprisingly, respondents who had visited Lancashire recently were more likely to consider these destinations as holiday / short break destinations. However, the differential was much greater for Blackpool than other destinations - 82% of visitors to Lancashire consider it a destination they would visit.

• This confirms Blackpool’s status as a potential attack brand for both Lancashire and the NW. However, it raises the question as to the extent that Blackpool fulfils a dispersal role to other Lancashire destinations – a point for future research.

• Other Lancashire destinations have much lower appeal.

52% 51%

30%29% 29%

27%25%

18%

11%

7%

The Pennines

Blackpool Rural Lancashire

Ribble Valley

Morecambe Forest of Bowland

Lytham St-Annes

Lancaster Clitheroe Preston

% personally consider a visit or have visited for a

holiday / short break

Sample: All respondents who have taken a UK holiday in last year

Destinations appeal to different market segments.

AllStyle

HoundsCosmo-politans

High Street

Dis-coverers

Follow-ers

Tradi-tionals

Func-tionals

Habituals

%

Blackpool 51 58 51 50 54 53 44 40 56

Rural Lancashire 30 19 38 27 28 25 38 36 30

Ribble Valley 29 15 35 25 26 26 37 35 25

Forest of Bowland 27 16 33 24 25 20 34 33 22

Morecambe 29 24 32 28 25 25 27 31 41

Lytham St-Annes 25 15 30 26 19 23 26 23 39

Lancaster 18 12 22 17 16 10 27 25 16

•Blackpool is most likely to appeal to Style Hounds and Habituals•Morecambe and Lytham St-Annes are appealing most to Habituals•Lancaster is most likely to appeal to Traditionals•The rural parts of Lancashire (including the Forest of Bowland and the Ribble Valley) are most likely to appeal to Cosmopolitans, Traditionals and Functionals

Blackpool is a NW key brand – second only to the Lakes.

85%

51%

43%

28% 27%

The Lake District

Blackpool Chester Liverpool Manchester

% personally consider a visit or have visited for a holiday /

short break


…particularly among Style Hounds.

85%

51%

43%

28% 27%

79%

58%

31%26%

33%

88%

51%48%

35% 34%

The Lake District

Blackpool Chester Liverpool Manchester


short break

All Style Hounds Cosmopolitan


Blackpool is also competitive among other resorts – of those tested only Bournemouth was higher in appeal.

From this set of destinations, Scarborough is its main competitor. Among respondents that had visited Lancashire it was the second highest rated – 61% would consider it cf 82% for Blackpool.

Scarborough, however, had less appeal to Style Hounds but had stronger appeal to Traditionals and Habituals.

54%51%

46% 45%

33%

23%

% personally consider a

visit or have visited for a

holiday / short break


Lancaster is not in the premier league of heritage towns.

76%71%

61%

43%

33%

22%18%

Edinburgh York Bath Chester Exeter Carlisle Lancaster


short break


...but, like other heritage towns, it has more appeal to Traditionals and Functionals.

76%

71%

61%

43%

33%

22%18%

81% 83%

75%

56%

43%

28% 27%

78% 78%

65%

46%

39%

27%25%

Edinburgh York Bath Chester Exeter Carlisle Lancaster

% personally consider a visit or have visited for a holiday / short break

All Traditionals Functionals

Sample: All respondents who have taken a UK holiday in last yearSample: All respondents who have taken a UK holiday in last year

Rural Lancashire, like Lancaster, has a weaker appeal than its peers. Like other rural destinations, it has a stronger appeal among Cosmopolitans and Traditionals.

86% 85%

69%65%

62%

48%

33%30%

87% 88%

75%

70%66%

55%

41%38%

90%93%

81% 80%

72%

53%

38% 38%

Cornwall/Devon The Lake District Peak District Yorkshire Dales/Moors

New Forest Sherwood Forest Rural Cheshire Rural Lancashire

% personally consider a visit or have visited for a holiday / short break

All Cosmpolitans Traditionals


Leisure Visitors – Staying and Day

Introduction

• This section provides an overview of the characteristics of leisure visitors, both day and staying.

• Data for this section is sourced from the Northwest Staying Visitor Survey 2007-2008 and from the Northwest Day Visitor Survey 2007.

• The research was conducted using an online questionnaire sent to a consumer panel in the UK.

• For the day visitor survey, the sample was drawn from residents living within 90 minutes drive of Penrith and within 90 minutes of the mid-point between Liverpool and Manchester.

• The staying visitor survey achieved a sample of 5931 respondents.

• The day visitor survey achieved a sample of 2,115 respondents.

• Data is provided on a number of destinations in Lancashire. – For staying visitors, this represents the

location in which they stayed during a trip in the last two years. Locations included in this analysis are Lancaster, Blackpool and ‘rural’ Lancashire.

– For day visitors, it is a destination visited in the last four weeks – the sample was only sufficient to allow an analysis of Blackpool.

Category Sample Size

Staying Visitors

Northwest 5931

Lancashire and Blackpool (L&B) 1696

Blackpool 960

Lancaster 127

Rural Lancashire (including Forest of Bowland, Ribble Valley, Rural Lancs)

138

Day visitors

Northwest 2115

Lancashire and Blackpool (L&B) 447

Blackpool 120

Blackpool is attracting significantly higher proportions of staying visitors (more than twice the regional average). However, they are relatively low spend.

• NB due to different destination categorisation between the day and staying surveys it is not possible to provide a comparable analysis for rural Lancashire.

• Day visitors to Blackpool spend more per day than staying visitors

• Average spend across all of Lancashire for staying visitors is below the regional average - Lancaster is close to it.

£40

£29

£34

£23

£31 £32

£39£36

Staying Day

Spend(£- per person per day)

NW L&B Blackpool Lancaster Rural

92

83

93

93

8

17

7

7

Lancaster

Blackpool

L&B

NW

Volume of leisure trips(% split day and staying)

Day (%) Staying (%)

Different destinations within Lancashire are appealing to different ARK segments.

Ark segment

UK pop’n

Staying visitors (%) Day visitors (%)

NW L&B Blackpool Lancaster Rural NW L&B Blackpool

Style Hounds 10 10 11 14 9 8 15 12 17

Cosmopolitans 19 25 23 23 32 27 26 23 29

High Street 18 17 19 17 26 9 17 16 11

Discoverers 12 13 12 14 11 10 14 14 10

Followers 13 11 13 13 3 7 7 9 14

Traditionals 11 10 8 7 8 18 11 11 5

Functionals 9 9 7 6 6 15 7 9 13

Habituals 8 5 7 6 5 6 3 5 2

• For all of Lancashire and Blackpool the largest markets (for both staying and day visitors) are Cosmopolitans and High Streets – this is the same as the Northwest pattern (and reflects the UK population).

• Among staying and day visitors Blackpool is attracting a higher proportion of Style Hounds. In day visitor markets it is also attracting high proportion of Cosmpolitans.

• Lancaster is attracting even higher proportions of Cosmopolitans and High Streets. The Rural area is attracting Traditionals.

There is differential age appeal among Lancashire’s destinations.

• The age profile of Lancashire is broadly similar to that of the region.

• Lancaster has a higher proportion of older staying visitors (55+). Rural Lancashire is attracting middle aged visitors (45-64).

• Blackpool’s appeal cuts across all age ranges but it is attracting a greater proportions of younger age groups (of family age – see next tables).

Age UK Holiday

trip takers



16-24 12 7 8 10 3 9 21 16 21

25-34 17 16 18 20 14 15 17 21 20

35-44 25 22 21 25 14 12 18 19 25

45-54 16 22 21 22 17 32 17 15 16

55-64 15 17 16 13 20 28 21 21 16

65+ 15 17 16 11 32 4 5 7 2

In the NW and Lancashire, families are more likely to take day trips than staying trips.

Blackpool is attracting more young families – Lancaster empty nesters.

* For day visitors, these age categories are slightly different. They are 35-45, no children and over 55, no children

Lifestage UK Holiday

trip takers



Under 35 - no kids at home

19 15 15 17 14 18 20 17 18

35-55 - no kids at home *

17 25 22 23 15 28 6 7 9

Young family 10 12 13 17 6 5 22 23 28Older family 23 16 18 19 13 16 22 22 22Over 55 - no kids at home *

30 32 31 24 52 32 30 30 23

Staying visitors are typically coming as couples but there are differences across Lancashire’s destinations.

Party composition

Staying visitors (%)


Alone 11 9 4 10 16

Couple 40 35 30 44 39

Immediate household family group

15 18 23 8 14

Wider friends / family + kids

7 10 10 9 7

Wider friends / family no kids

26 25 29 27 19

Tour group 2 3 3 3 6

•Blackpool (reflecting previous tables) is attracting family groups but also wider friends /family groups (with no kids).

•Lancaster is attracting couples.

•Rural Lancashire is more likely to attract visitors travelling alone and tour groups.

Couples are also the main day visitor group. Among day visitors, Blackpool is tending to attract parties with children.

Party composition (day)

Day visitors (%)

NW L&B Blackpool

Alone 8 8 6

2 adults 40 36 27

3 or more adults 24 25 24

Group with children 28 32 42

The NW is a core market for Lancashire for both day and staying visitors. So, too, are Yorkshire (both), and the East Midlands and South East (staying).



South East 11 10 8 18 10 3 3 6

London 6 6 5 8 12 1 1 0

South West 6 3 4 1 3 1 1 0

North East 6 5 4 1 3 4 2 7

North West 22 26 24 35 26 61 71 59

Yorkshire 9 10 11 9 10 13 13 21

West Midlands 7 8 12 5 7 6 2 2

East Midlands 11 11 9 10 5 5 3 3

East 8 8 9 4 11 0 0 0

Scotland 5 5 7 5 8 2 2 2

Wales 8 8 5 3 4 5 3 2

N Ireland 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0

• Staying visitors in Lancaster are more likely than average to be from within the North West and from the South East.

• Blackpool is more likely to attract day visitors from outside the region - with higher proportions from Yorkshire and the NE.

Use of Guesthouse / B&B is more common in Lancashire – this is a Blackpool phenomena.

AccommodationStaying visitors (%)


B&B / Guesthouse 20 30 43 11 13Friends / relatives house 16 11 8 18 141-3 Star or Lodge Hotel / Motel 12 11 9 16 15Other 10 10 5 17 191-3 Star Independent Hotel 10 11 14 1 5Self-catering flat / cottage 8 5 4 14 94-5 Star Chain hotel 7 8 7 7 4Camping / touring caravan 5 3 2 1 9Holiday Centre / static caravan 4 6 7 3 14/5 Star Independent hotel 4 3 2 2 6Hostel 2 1 0 4 2Farmhouse self-catering 1 0 0 1 0Own static caravan 1 0 0 1 1University / Group accommodation 1 0 0 3 02nd Home 1 1 0 1 1

• Within Lancashire there is higher than average proportion of visitors who stay in B&B / guesthouse accommodation - this will be driven by Blackpool where 43% are staying in B&B / guesthouse accommodation. A high proportion of Blackpool visitors also staying in lower end independent hotels.

• A core question is what is driving this pattern – supply (of accommodation) or (consumer) demand? Or both?

• Lancaster and Rural Lancashire show a different pattern – more typically ‘other’ branded budget and friends and relatives (although the latter is comparable to regional figures).

Car is the overwhelming form of transport used by day visitors – in terms of public transport, Blackpool visitors favour bus / coach over train.

Type of transport used (day visitors)

Day visitors (%)

NW L&B Blackpool

Car 81 83 86

Motor bike 0 0 0

Taxi 1 1 2

Bus / coach 7 6 9

Train 10 9 3

Bicycle 1 1 0

Staying trips to Lancashire are most commonly two nights – except Lancaster, where it is typically one night.

Length of stay (staying visitors)



1 night 25 28 25 30 20

2 nights 30 31 31 23 35

3 nights 18 15 16 16 19

4 to 7 nights 25 25 28 30 23

8 nights or more 2 1 1 1 4

Mean 2.69 2.65 2.72 2.37 4.40

Mode 2 2 2 1 2

Scenery and familiarity are key factors in destination choice across the region.

Reasons for choosing destination (staying visitors)

Staying visitors


For the scenery 1.90 1.54 1.48 1.53 2.06

It is a familiar location to me 1.82 1.91 2.06 1.73 1.81

Because of specific sights I wanted to see 1.80 1.82 2.05 1.53 1.70

Because it feels ‘away from it all’ 1.74 1.55 1.61 1.41 1.80

It was easy to get to from home 1.70 1.76 1.88 1.59 1.71It is a good place for a specific activity I wanted to do

1.67 1.70 1.82 1.54 1.62

Because the event / occasion was there 1.66 1.77 1.87 1.55 1.57

It was a new location I hadn’t been to before 1.45 1.38 1.29 1.56 1.55

To see friends / relatives 1.45 1.40 1.30 1.50 1.53

Someone else chose the location 1.39 1.45 1.44 1.27 1.46

For the shopping 1.34 1.34 1.36 1.28 1.27Because it had a specific hotel / accommodation I wanted to stay in

1.30 1.30 1.34 1.35 1.27

For the food 1.28 1.30 1.31 1.22 1.36

For the nightlife (clubbing and social drinking) 1.23 1.37 1.52 1.15 1.21For the evening entertainment like a show or cinema

1.19 1.34 1.47 1.15 1.17

I was attracted by a promotional offer 1.19 1.27 1.30 1.17 1.21

The following table shows average scores for different factors. These are based on a three point scale where 1= no influence, 2- some influence, 3= major influence. So, the larger the score, the more it was an influence. Subsequent slides look at destinations and themes in more detail.

Eating out, exploration and walking were the main local activities for staying visitors – but there were significant variations.

Local activities (staying visitors)Staying visitors (%)


Eating out at restaurants 50 52 63 35 35General exploration / touring 47 46 53 34 45Walking 44 37 40 32 39Shopping 41 45 54 34 30Visiting historical / heritage attractions 30 18 16 39 29Visiting other attractions 30 39 50 24 24Visiting clubs / bars 24 32 43 17 16Attending a show / specific event 18 27 34 10 12Spending time at friends’ / family’s house 17 14 12 14 18Visiting artistic / cultural attractions 17 10 11 14 14Photography 15 14 14 8 22Visiting theme parks 12 35 54 6 7Spending time by a pool / beach 11 23 31 7 5Wildlife / bird watching 9 5 3 11 15Pampering / health / wellbeing 6 7 6 14 9Other 4 5 4 12 6

Cycling 3 3 2 5 10Extreme adventure 2 2 2 4 4Golf 2 2 1 2 5

• There are some notable variations between the regional averages and those of Lancashire (for example, visitors to Lancashire are more likely than average to visit other attractions, to visit clubs / bars and to attend a show, and to visit a theme park, but less likely to walk or visit historical / heritage attractions).

• Blackpool has several activities which are popular (eating out, general exploration, shopping, visiting other attractions, visiting clubs / bars, attending a show and visiting a theme park).

• Lancaster’s main draw is visiting historical / heritage attractions, confirming its position as a heritage destination.

Regional activities (i.e. activities outside the area a visitor was staying) showed a similar pattern but levels of activity were significantly lower.

Regional (outside local ) activities (staying visitors)



General exploration / touring / soaking up atmosphere 15 13 13 19 17

Walking 12 10 9 13 16Shopping 12 12 13 11 10Visiting historical / heritage attractions 11 8 7 11 16Eating out at restaurants 11 10 11 8 12Visiting other attractions 10 11 13 14 12Photography 6 6 5 5 12Visiting artistic / cultural attractions 5 4 4 5 7Spending time at friends / family’s house 4 4 4 5 7Visiting clubs / bars 4 6 6 5 9Wildlife / bird watching 3 3 1 7 7Attending a show / specific event 3 4 4 3 6Visiting theme parks 3 6 5 5 5Spending time by a pool / on a beach 3 4 4 5 6Other 2 4 3 11 5Pampering / health and well-being 1 2 1 3 2Golf 1 1 1 2 3Extreme adventure 1 1 1 3 3Cycling 1 1 1 3 3

VFR and general days out are the main day visitor activities.

Main activities (day visitors)Day visitors (%)

NW L&B Blackpool

VFR 28 35 27

General day out/ explore the area 15 14 24

Undertake a leisure activity 13 13 3

Going to a tourist/ visitor attraction 12 12 31

For a night out 8 8 7

Going out for a meal 8 11 2

Going on a special shopping trip 7 3 1

Watch a sports event 4 1 1

Attend a special event 2 2 1

Participate in a sports event 2 0 0

Going to the cinema/ theatre/ concert 2 2 4

• Of note, is the higher proportion of VFR visitors to Lancashire than the average for the region.

• Not surprisingly, the main activity of day visitors to Blackpool is to visit a tourist / visitor attraction.

…and eating / drinking and going for a walk are the main secondary activities.

Secondary activities (day visitors)

Day visitors (%)

NW L&B Blackpool

Had some food / drink 26 25 25Took a stroll / gentle walk around the area

18 20 21

Visited or met friends / relatives 18 21 9Went shopping 11 9 9Other (specify) 7 7 10Took in a visitor / tourist attraction 7 7 14Attended a show / event 5 5 5Participated in a sports / leisure activity

4 3 3

Toured around in a car / bus / motorbike, etc.

3 3 4

Had a beauty / pampering / health- related experience

0 0 0

• Again, the results for secondary activities of day visitors shows the importance of Blackpool as a tourist / visitor attraction.

Lancashire – destination motivations and activities

Most important:Factors in destination choice: •Familiar location•Specific sites I want to see •Event / occasion was there •Easy to get to get

Activities:•Eating out•General exploration / soaking up atmosphere•Shopping

More likely:Factors in destination choice: •Nightlife•Evening entertainment

Activities:•Visiting theme parks•Time by pool / beach •Attending show / event •Visiting other attractions

Less important:Factors in destination choice: •Promotional offer •For specific hotel •Food

Activities:•Cycling•Golf•Extreme adventure

Less likely:Factors in destination choice: • Scenery • Feels away from it all • New location

Activities:•Visiting historic attractions•Visiting cultural attractions •Special shopping trip (day visitors)

This matrix summarises factors in destination choice and activities undertaken at destination. The left hand summarises the most and least important factors / activities i.e. those cited by the most / least visitors. The right hand side looks at relatives i.e. factors /activities that are more or less likely to be cited by visitors in comparison to NW averages.

Fun elements (theme parks, nightlife, entertainment are stronger elements in Lancashire. So too are convenience and familiarity.

This reflects Blackpool, where these patterns are also evident but more strongly so.

Blackpool – destination motivations and activities

Most important:Factors in destination choice: •Familiar location•Specific sites I want to see •Event / occasion was there •Easy to get to get

Activities:•Eating out•Shopping•Visiting theme parks

More likely: Factors in destination choice: •Nightlife•Evening entertainment•Familiar location•Specific sites I want to see

Activities:•Visiting theme parks•Visiting other attractions •Time by pool / beach •Visiting clubs/bars•Attending show / event

Less important:Factors in destination choice: •Promotional offer •Visit friends and relatives•Food


Less likely:Factors in destination choice: • Scenery • Feels away from it all • New location

Activities:•Visiting historic attractions•Visiting cultural attractions •Wildlife watching•Special shopping trip (day visitors)

Lancaster– destination motivations and activities

Most important:Factors in destination choice: •Familiar location•Easy to get to get •New location

Activities:•Visiting historic / heritage attractions•Eating out•Exploration / soaking up atmosphere•Shopping

More likely: Factors in destination choice: •New location•See friends / relatives

Activities:•Visiting historic / heritage attractions•Pampering and well being

Less important:Factors in destination choice: •Promotional offer •Nightlife•Evening entertainment


Less likely:Factors in destination choice: • Scenery • Feels away from it all • Specific sites I want to see

Activities:•Eating out•Exploration / soaking up atmosphere•Walking

Rural Lancashire – destination motivations and activities

Most important:Factors in destination choice: •Scenery•Familiar location •Feels away from it

Activities:•Exploration / soaking up atmosphere•Walking

More likely: Factors in destination choice: •Scenery•New location

Activities:•Wildlife / bird watching•Cycling•Photography

Less important:Factors in destination choice: •Promotional offer •Nightlife•Evening entertainment

Activities:•Time by pool / beach•Golf•Extreme adventure

Less likely:Factors in destination choice: •Specific sites I want to see •Event / occasion was there

Activities:•Eating out•Shopping•Clubs and shows•Time by beach / pool

Themes

Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board has identified a number of themes for marketing activity – these include:• Coastal Contrasts• Taste Lancashire• Country Escapes• Living Legends • Family Fun

Some key points arising from the day and staying research in relation to this include:

Countryside

Countryside is not necessarily a strong motivating or positioning theme for Lancashire.

Rural Lancashire and its constituents do not rate well among peers, and scenery is a relatively weak motivating factor for visitors to the county.

Taste Lancashire

Eating out is a core activity – especially in Blackpool (less so in Lancaster / Rural Lancashire) among both day and staying visitors.

However it is a relatively weak motivating factor for both groups . This suggests that it will be more of a ‘hygiene’ issue than a strong theme for market development.

Living Legends (Heritage Theme)

Across the totality of the sub-region, visiting heritage attractions is not a primary activity and is less important than at the regional level.

However, this is primarily a Blackpool phenomena and interest in heritage activities is significantly higher among visitors to Lancaster and rural Lancashire.

Business Visitors

Introduction

Data in this section is concerned with Business Tourism. This is drawn from a report undertaken by LTO and Arkenford (completed July 2009).

The research was undertaken using an internet panel – it was conducted continuously over a 12 month period from November 2007 to November 2008.

The survey classified a business tourism trip as:“Any business trip to the Northwest that involved travel to a destination outside a respondent’s ‘usual environment’, lasting for less than 12 months and not remunerated by a person or organisation within the region”.

Samples for data used in the following section area as follows:

Given the Blackpool sample, results for Blackpool should be treated as indicative.

Northwest 1807

Lancashire and Blackpool 232

Blackpool 88

Blackpool is generating significantly higher numbers of business trips per capita than the regional average.

In absolute terms, there were an annual estimated 21.4 million business trips to the Northwest – of these 3.5m (16%) were to the Lancashire and Blackpool sub-region. Trips per capita were below the regional average.

There were 1.5m business trips (7% of the regional total) to Blackpool – a substantially higher proportion per capita than other areas.

3.2

3.9

5.4

3.2

2.5

2.7

10.9

All Northwest

Cheshire

Cumbria

Greater Manchester

Lancashire

Merseyside

Blackpool

Business Trips per capita of populaton

Spend per trip is higher than average in Blackpool – a function of length of stay.

TThe higher than average spend per trip in Blackpool is largely a function of higher average length of stay. When this is factored in, spend is slightly below average.

Spend per day

(£)

Length of stay

Northwest £45.47 1.81

Lancs and Blackpool

£51.79 1.65

Blackpool £42.82 2.14£35.80

£35.76

£37.55

£4.84

£2.72

£4.49

£32.32

£37.41

£34.04

£3.06

£3.58

£7.33

£6.28

£5.99

£8.22

All NW respondents

Lancashire

Blackpool

Spend per trip

Pre-booked business Pre-booked leisure On trip company

On trip host On trip personal

£91.63

£85.46

£82.30

Total spend

Most business trips are for only the day – Blackpool is attracting significantly higher proportions of staying trips.

70%

72%

57%

21%

20%

29%

9%

9%

14%

Northwest

Lancashire

Blackpool

Trip duration

Day Trip 1-2 nights 3+ nights

Blackpool is more popular for conferences, company outings and other business trips, but there is less demand for seminars and training.

Type of business trip% of respondents

NW L&B Blackpool

Meeting 32.1 32.7 22.9

Seminar 3.6 3.8 1.5

Conference 7.5 6.2 9.2

Sales call 5.3 6.5 8.5

Training 8.9 5.2 2.7

Trade fair / exhibition 2.7 1.6 2.3

Company outing 1.5 2.3 3.4

Sabbatical 0.5 0.4 0.0

Contract work 17.1 16.1 15.9

Work placement 5.1 5.9 5.6

Other 15.8 19.4 28.0

Trip timing – Blackpool more popular at end of week.

20%

22%23%

19%

11%

4%3%

22%23%

19%

21%

11%

3%

1%

17%

22%

16%

26%

13%

3% 2%

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

Business trip timing - day of the week

All NW Lancashire Blackpool

Significant proportions of business visitors are generated within the NW itself.

Origin of visitors% respondents

NW L&B Blackpool

Northwest 33.8 39.0 26.5

Yorkshire 13.5 18.6 22.1

London 10.6 11.7 13.1

South East 10.5 7.6 8.5

West Midlands 8.9 8.7 12.6

East Midlands 7.0 3.3 2.1

Wales 5.2 1.3 0.0

Scotland 4.2 2.8 4.8

South West 3.8 4.1 5.7

North East 2.1 2.4 3.1

East 0.4 0.3 0.8

N Ireland 0.0 0.3 0.7

While Lancashire as a whole is more likely to be hosting regionally generated business trips, Blackpool is more likely to draw from out of region – notably Yorkshire and the West Midlands.

While business visitors are most likely to be managers and senior officials, Blackpool is also attracting professionals, and high levels of personal service occupations.

Occupation NW (%) L&B (%) Blackpool (%)

Managers and senior officials 25.1 27.6 27.8

Professional occupations 16.7 16.2 10.0

Associate professionals and technical occupations 15.4 15.0 13.0

Administrative and secretarial occupations 5.4 5.1 3.9

Skilled trade occupations 12.3 10.0 9.3

Personal service occupations 5.3 8.8 22.0

Sales and customer service occupations 5.8 4.7 3.6

Process, plant and machine operatives 7.1 7.3 6.3

Elementary occupations 6.9 5.2 4.2

This group includes healthcare and childcare professionals, and leisure and travel service occupations – these groups are likely to be strongly associated with Blackpool’s leisure tourism industry.

The main forms of transport are private vehicle, followed by train. Coach is slightly more important in Blackpool. Accommodation is typically a hotel, although guesthouse is also common in Blackpool.

Mode of transport

Northwest Lancashire BlackpoolPrivate/ company car/ van 68% 66% 60%

Hire car/ van 6% 5% 4%

Train 19% 19% 21%

Flying 2% 1% 3%

Taxi 3% 2% 3%

Coach 3% 4% 9%

Other 4% 5% 3%

Accommodation used

Northwest Lancashire Blackpool

Hotel 64% 62% 64%

Guest house/ B&B 11% 19% 34%

Residential conference centre 3% 4% 0%

Stayed with friends or relatives 11% 6% 2%

Other 12% 9% 0%

NB Sample for Blackpool is small – 35 respondents only.

Both Lancashire and Blackpool attract a larger party size than average for the Northwest. Blackpool, in particular, attracts larger groups with more non-business visitors in parties.

88%

88%

78%

12%

13%

22%

Northwest

Lancashire

Blackpool

Party composition

Business people only Non business people in party

6.0

3.4

2.8

Av. party size

Visitors to Blackpool are more likely to extend their trip for leisure purposes and are more likely to plan a return visit for leisure purposes.

12% 10% 15%

17%15%

18%

21%22%

30%

56%51%

42%

4%8% 7%

2% 3% 4%

Northwest Lancashire Blackpool

Trip extension and likelihood of return visit

Decided me against returning

Less likely to come now

No change in my views of the place

More likely to come now

Yes definitely will return now

Extended trip for leisure

The average length of stay for a leisure extension was about 1.6 nights across all Lancashire and 1.4 nights for Blackpool.

Summary and Conclusions

Lancashire

• Lancashire has a diverse appeal, with different destinations within the sub-region appealing to different markets. The key crosscutting Ark segments for the whole area are Cosmopolitans and High Streets.

• Families are most likely to visit for day trips, with staying visitors tending to be couples. • Familiarity is important to visitors choosing Lancashire and Blackpool as a destination. While this

affirms the importance of repeat visitors and a loyal audience (a good thing), the corollary highlights the potential challenge of developing new markets.

• Lancashire’s tourism offer and market position is dominated by Blackpool. • Approximately a third of the region’s accommodation establishments are located in Blackpool.

Blackpool

• The economic importance of tourism to Blackpool is clear, with a high spend per capita and a relatively high proportion of employment.

• Blackpool, as a destination, is competitive among its peers, and, in terms of appeal, is second only to the Lake District among NW destinations.

• ‘Fun’ related activities and motivations are key. The nightlife and evening entertainment are strong factors in destination choice. Particular events (and these could include stag / hen parties) are also important in destination choice. Theme parks are a key activity.

• Familiarity and convenience factors are also key.• This suggests that the market development strategy should be predicated on the premise that

generating additional visits from existing visitors will likely to be more productive than trying to open up new markets.

• It also suggests that, while Blackpool has widespread appeal, its positioning is more among the ‘left hand side Ark segments – i.e. mass markets particularly Style Hounds.

• However, lifestage is also important and Blackpool is more strongly positioned as a younger persons destination , particularly among young families but also among groups (as opposed to couples) with no children.

• While it is a key brand / destination within the Northwest and Lancashire, its ability to act as a destination to attract and then disperse visitors to other parts of Lancashire is more questionable. The research indicates that there is limited synergy in motivations and activities with visitors staying in other areas of Lancashire – particularly Lancaster and the rural areas.

• Blackpool also has a relatively strong business tourism offer. While this is partly conference related , there is evidence it is also associated with Blackpool’s leisure offer – not least in terms of company outings but also in terms of people working in or around the margins of the tourism industry (i.e in personal service occupations).

Lancaster

• NB the sample for the Lancaster analysis was relatively small and, as such, conclusions should be treated with a degree of caution.

• Lancaster lacks profile and appeal in relation to its peers – both other Lancashire destinations and other heritage towns. Lancaster’s aspiration to develop as a key historic city, may yet to be realised – but the profile of the city needs to be raised if this is to happen.

• Length of stay is below average – typically one night, with a high proportion of visitors generated from within the NW region itself, though there is relatively high visitor spend.

• It strongly appeals to Traditionals and Functionals but also attracts Cosmopolitans and High Streets. Visitors are typically older empty nesters.

• In terms of motivations, both familiarity and a new destination are important. Heritage is key but pampering and well-being were more important than in other destinations. Friends and relatives were also important – possibly associated with the universities.

• The evidence suggests that Lancaster is not going to be competitive as a standalone proposition in the wider market place.

• Development strategies need to focus on concentrating on day visitor and regional staying markets, and / or working in conjunction with a wider destination offering allied with seeking to add further product depth (possibly in the spa and wellness sector).

Rural Lancashire

• The Rural Lancashire analysis, like Lancaster, is based on a relatively small sample size. Some caution should be exercised in relation to the conclusions.

• Rural Lancashire, as an offer, also lacks profile and appeal in relation to its peers – both other Lancashire destinations and other countryside destinations.

• It has, like other rural destinations, stronger appeal among Cosmopolitans and Traditionals.• Current visitors are typically middle aged and relatively long stay.• An important motivation is that it is a new location.• In terms of activities, walking (perhaps surprisingly) is not a strong activity – watching wildlife, cycling

and photography are, however, more important than in other destinations.• These activities, allied to the potential novelty of the destination, could provide a more competitive

positioning for Rural Lancashire.

Lancashire and Blackpool Destination Report

Travel

Transcript of Lancashire and Blackpool Destination Report