Wales Tourism Alliance by Wavehill

Customer satisfaction and fulfilment survey and analysis; â&#x20AC;Ś are you being served? Prepared for: Wales Tourism Alliance

November 2012

Wales Tourism Alliance – Visitor Survey 2012

Contents 1.

Executive Summary............................................................................................................ 4

Survey Introduction ........................................................................................................... 8 2.1. 2.2. 2.3. 2.4. 2.5. 2.6. 2.7. 2.8.

Analysis of the Visitors’ survey........................................................................................ 16 3.1. 3.2. 3.3. 3.4. 3.5. 3.6. 3.7. 3.8.

About the Wales Tourism Alliance................................................................................... 8 About Wavehill Limited .................................................................................................. 8 Method of research ....................................................................................................... 8 Limitations to the Visitors’ research .............................................................................. 10 Who took part in the Visitors’ survey?........................................................................... 10 Response distributions vary from question to question .................................................. 12 The Business survey ..................................................................................................... 12 Context of the research ................................................................................................ 12

Who responded to the survey? ..................................................................................... 16 About peoples’ visits .................................................................................................... 17 Why did they come? .................................................................................................... 18 How much do people spend?........................................................................................ 22 What is important to people? ....................................................................................... 23 Visitors’ perception of staff qualities ............................................................................. 29 Summarising you visit to Wales..................................................................................... 30 How could things be improved?.................................................................................... 32

Analysis of the Business survey....................................................................................... 38 4.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 38 4.2. Analysis of the Business survey data ............................................................................. 39 4.3. Yearly trading patterns................................................................................................. 39 4.4. Business Confidence .................................................................................................... 41 4.5. Increasing trade ........................................................................................................... 42 4.6. Understanding customers ............................................................................................ 43 4.7. Marketing businesses................................................................................................... 44 4.8. Travel.......................................................................................................................... 45 4.8.1. Public Transport ................................................................................................... 46 4.8.2. Parking ................................................................................................................ 47 4.8.3. Road Surfaces....................................................................................................... 48 4.9. Food quality in Restaurants, Café’s, Hotels and B&B businesses...................................... 49 4.10. Accommodation (Hotels, B&B’s and Self-Catering) ..................................................... 49 4.11. Attractions............................................................................................................... 52 4.12. Three words to describe Wales ................................................................................. 53 4.13. The Weather............................................................................................................ 54

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Wales Tourism Alliance – Visitor Survey 2012

Analysis of the findings between Visitors and Business Managers ............................... 56 5.1. 5.2. 5.3. 5.4. 5.5. 5.6. 5.7. 5.8. 5.9.

Segmentation of marketing .......................................................................................... 56 Give Visitors what they think they want ........................................................................ 57 Referral marketing ....................................................................................................... 57 Signs & Directions ........................................................................................................ 58 Home from home ........................................................................................................ 58 Cleanliness .................................................................................................................. 58 Hidden Charges ........................................................................................................... 58 Staff Training and re-training ........................................................................................ 59 Going the extra mile..................................................................................................... 59

Annex 1:............................................................................................................................ 60 6.1. 6.2.

Who took part in the Visitors’ survey?........................................................................... 60 Who took part in the Business survey? .......................................................................... 61

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Wales Tourism Alliance â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Visitor Survey 2012

1. Executive Summary The following report is based around two surveys, the first asked visitors in Wales what they expected when they visited accommodation, food establishments and attractions in Wales. The second survey used the analysis of the first to ask businesses how they felt they met visitor, or customer expectations. The author (Richard Brooks, Wavehill) then compared the two sets of results and used this to create a list of actions that businesses may want to consider to improve the experience of their customers. These actions are designed with a view to encouraging return visits, re-bookings, referrals and ultimately an increase in revenues. The brief was to create a set or list of actions that are low-tech and low or no cost, which can be found at the end of the two survey reports. With 73% (Wales Visitor Survey 2011) of visitors to Wales being repeat visitors the emphasis on making sure visitors return to Wales is important. To understand more about what tourists and visitors like and dislike about their holiday experience is equally important if businesses can use this data to improve their services. In simple terms, by doing more of what they like and less of what they dislike, the visitors may have a better experience and return to Wales and the businesses that serviced their needs so effectively. Survey based research is useful because it allows the analysis to test assumptions and hypotheses often creating measurable and comparable results. For example in this survey, we found that visitors want accommodation, food establishments and attractions to be clean. Hardly surprising, but the survey has allowed us to rank the importance of cleanliness to visitors and to discover that having attractions and entertainment in the area is just as important to visitors. These findings then allow the businesses to tell us about how they create clean establishments and promote the attractions of the area to their customers and just as importantly to potential future customers too. The survey also revealed some previously uncovered issues, particularly around signage for businesses and parking issues too. The report is divided into three main sections; a visitorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; survey, a business survey and an analysis of what the surveys tell us Businesses can do to increase customer satisfaction and maybe revenues too. In total 819 visitors and 694 businesses completed a survey, making this a major piece of research in the Wales visitor and tourism industry. Contributions came from all regions and counties in Wales. We would like to thank all of those people who gave their time to help us, especially as they were either on a day break, or holiday, and so were giving their leisure time up, or because businesses were at the busy part of the holiday season.

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Wales Tourism Alliance – Visitor Survey 2012

Key findings are; Visitors’ Survey • • • • • •

•

Day trips (38%) and short breaks (38%) are the most frequent for visitors, longer holidays of more than 4 nights accounted for 20% of our survey. Females are far likelier to take any type of day trip or holiday than males, and older people (45+) far likelier to take short breaks (64%) or longer holidays (70%) than younger people. Fourteen per cent of visitors were returning to the same place or establishment or attraction because they had been before, and presumably had a positive experience. Visitors say that having interesting places, attractions or events is most important to them when considering a holiday. The attractions and entertainment being of a high quality (17%) and their cleanliness (17%) are equally important to visitors. Thirty-two% of visitors said the attractions were the best part of their Wales visit, but, 9% of visitors had problems with their accommodation and 9% went to visit attractions only to find them shut or closed down. Visitors travelling in Wales said that they wanted better signage to visitor businesses and those using cars noted that they wanted cheaper car parking fees at some attractions and that central Cardiff was expensive for parking. Thirty-three% found that holiday accommodation could be improved by making sure it was better equipped (11%), putting more effort into attention to detail (11%), and that the place was ‘tired or drab’ (11%). Encouragingly 76% of visitors said that the economic situation had not affected their holiday choice estimating they pay £64 for a day trip, £412 for a short break, and £704 for a longer holiday, on average.

Business Survey • •

•

• • •

Fifty-four per cent of businesses were from the accommodation sector, 37% were from food, 16% were from attractions and 1% was from the travel sector. Only 2% of businesses were new, having been established less than a year, with 71% having been established more than 10 years. This may reflect the lower start up rate of businesses in general since the start of the recession and the sustainability of visitor and tourism businesses once they are established. Seasonal staff are very important to visitor and tourism businesses, with 30% of all staff at the time of survey being seasonal. This has repercussions on the need to train and re-train staff annually. Forty-seven per cent of businesses predicted 2012 as worse year than 2011, 28% the same and 27% better. Forty-nine per cent of businesses use verbal feedback from customers and 24% surveys and forms to understand their customers. Trip Advisor was used by 9% of our survey. Ninety-one per cent of businesses interviewed had a web site, although that still means that 9% do not. 28% use emails to market, which is relatively low compared to 44% who use Twitter and Facebook or other social marketing tools.

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Wales Tourism Alliance – Visitor Survey 2012

•

• •

Businesses felt their location was the main unique element of their offer to customers. Visitors want cleanliness and being located near to a wide range of activities and attractions. These factors were less recognised by businesses as being important. Accommodation businesses rightly identified the need to provide a clean room as the highest priority in meeting customers’ expectations. Food establishments felt most affected by the weather when measured in terms of revenue, however, attractions were most affected in terms of long term sustainability.

Business Actions •

•

• •

Castles, Snowdon, beautiful scenery, beaches and Techniquest all featured in the list of why a visit or holiday in Wales was memorable. Businesses should use the most popular iconic values of Wales as part of their marketing messages. Marketing can become more efficient when it is segmented or targeted at certain groups. Whilst each business should have clear ideas of who it is targeting, our survey finds some specific differences in the opinion and behavior of males and females and different age groups too. Businesses should ensure the basic needs of all customers are met and exceeded. Accommodation must be clean, local attractions and amusements clearly listed and detailed. Families want child friendly places to stay and visit, fresh food and locally sourced. These are the key needs of visitors and tourists and businesses must reflect back what the customers want and expect. Referral marketing is a very effective method of gaining the trust of potential new customers, in many ways it is the ultimate social marketing tool, a friend or relative tells you to visit, eat or stay somewhere, it is a valued recommendation. Businesses may wish to invest in some lowtech referral tools, such as free postcards for example. Signs informing potential customers of the business and what it does, plus the use of SatNav codes for customers travelling to the business for the first time are effective. Visitors in the survey were clear that they did not feel enough signs or directions were provided in Wales. Customers were clear that they do not like hidden costs or charges. Car parking fees being one such area where attractions were accused of charging high parking fees. This may put customers off attending again, or of course recommending to friends and family. Seasonal staff need to be re-trained, or trained annually, especially in the areas of customer satisfaction, being welcoming, politeness and friendliness. Allowing staff to think about how to go the extra mile for customers and acting on those ideas can also be built into training. Visitors notice when staff are friendly, helpful and go the extra mile.

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Wales Tourism Alliance – Visitor Survey 2012

Consultant’s View The businesses we spoke to during this survey were small and micro businesses, with no control over some large external factors such as the weather and the economy. However, internal factors such as staff training, quality control, local sourcing, cleanliness and so on are all factors that can be controlled and developed. Although most businesses did address some or many of the things that visitors identified as important, there seemed to be an opportunity in really thinking through how the business can be made better for customers. In the 1970’s Japanese manufacturing industry really got to grips with quality control and their production methods and products exploded across the world as they took apart the way things had been made and then reassembled them, often producing smaller, cheaper and more reliable products. The Wales visitor and tourism industry has the opportunity to do the same, by examining every part of its processes, procedures, supply chains and collaboration. The WTA can help lead this change by identifying the components of a visitor’s experience and creating processes and procedures to make their experience better. Just as the manufacturing industry has ISO 9001 as a minimum quality standard, the tourism industry in Wales could also create a process and procedures map so that visitor and tourism businesses can deliver the best customer experience possible. Hopefully this report can act as a starting point or catalyst to open up a wider and objective debate on quality across the sector and how to meet and exceed customers’ expectations.

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Wales Tourism Alliance – Visitor Survey 2012

2. Survey Introduction This survey and analysis was commissioned by the Wales Tourism Alliance (WTA) in 2011. The purpose is to understand more about visitors to Wales and how best to provide a memorable experience that may result in more return visits. In February of 2011 WTA carried out an industry wide ‘Research Gap’ survey. This survey revealed a desire amongst small and micro tourism businesses across Wales to have a greater understanding of the trends in customers’ needs and establish whether those perceptions and expectations are actually being met. The objective of this research study, as laid out in the brief is: … to establish with customers, from a good cross section of sample businesses, what they actually expect in order that their needs are fully met when at a particular type of tourism business. Alongside this we need to establish whether a sample of tourism businesses believe they meet the customer’s needs alongside whether they are actually offering the service expected. From analysis of the findings between both visitor and business manager we will expect to be presented with an analysis as to whether our businesses are losing income through missed opportunity and unfulfilled expectations. The final report will identify trends in what the visitor wants that our businesses are currently not offering. (WTA; 2011)

2.1.

About the Wales Tourism Alliance

The WTA represents the interests of over 7,000 tourism businesses throughout Wales and has regular contact with Welsh Government research (WG), UK Government, EU and other key contacts, to raise and discuss issues that affect the tourism industry. The organisation has evolved over the years and is now widely recognised as the voice of the tourism industry in Wales.

2.2.

About Wavehill Limited

Wavehill is a research and evaluation specialist which has a 19 year history of undertaking business and consumer research, especially with a focus on understanding what the public and communities think and do in Wales. We are a Welsh based business, with Welsh language speakers. Wavehill is currently undertaking several tourist and visitor studies in Wales.

2.3.

Method of research

The design of this research is slightly complex. Firstly, it uses a survey of visitors and tourists to determine the key factors in their satisfaction as customers of the Welsh tourism and visitor industry. Secondly, the survey of Welsh tourism and visitor businesses will ascertain what they think about what customers have said they like and do not like. In the management consulting industry this is often called a 360 degree analysis method. The graphic below helps explain this.

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Wales Tourism Alliance – Visitor Survey 2012

Chart 1; Graphic representing the research stages

Stage 1 •Visitors Survey

Stage 2 •Business Survey

Stage 3

Stage 4

•Needs analysis

•Action by businesses

The visitor survey was undertaken as field interviews, across a wide range of tourist and visitor sites in Wales. The table below lists the sites, the Local Authority, and the number of interviews achieved. Interviews were undertaken in clusters or multiples of 25 at a time. The clustering was then ‘weighted’ by the published number of day visits per Local Authority1 in order to take account of the relative amount of visitors at each site. Cardiff, for example, has 5 times more tourists and visitors than Merthyr, and so five (5 x 25 = 125) clusters of interviews were undertaken in Cardiff and one cluster (1 x 5 = 25) in Merthyr. The details of where and who was interviewed can be found in Annex 1. One thousand interviews were targeted, with 819 completed. This shortfall was due to low interview rates at certain venues, sometimes caused by the weather, but also other factors, for example one instance where the venue had closed. Possibly the main cause of low interview rates at some venues was that some of the research took place towards the end of the summer shoulder season during October 2011. The response rates were so low at the end of October that fieldwork was postponed until May and June 2012. The fieldwork was then completed. Table 1 shows that the majority of interviews were undertaken at the West Highland / Snowdon Mountain Railway (11%; 88/819), Corris (10%; 75/819) and at Techniquest in Cardiff (9%; 71/819). Table 1: where was the interview undertaken?

Afan Forest Beaumaris Castle Bodelwyddan Castle Botanic Gardens Brecon Mountain Railway Bryn Garw, Country Park Caerphilly Castle Cardiff Castle Celtic Manor Resort Chepstow Castle Coity Castle

Frequency 13 25 20 45 25 4 25 54 13 25 2

Percent 2 3 2 5 3 0 3 7 2 3 0

Economic & Social Data Service; Great Britain Leisure Day Visits 2002-2003.

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Wales Tourism Alliance – Visitor Survey 2012

Corris (inc. Craft Centre) Devils Bridge Erddig Festival Park Ebbw Vale Glyncorrwg Ponds and Mountain bike centre Gower Heritage Park Great Orme (inc. Tramway& Mines) Green Meadow Community Farm Greenfield Park Llandudno Cable Car Llangollen Town Centre Oakwood Parc Bryn Bach Penderyn Distillery Snowdon Techniquest Waterfront Museum Welsh Hawking Centre Welsh Highland / Snowdon Mountain Railway Total

2.4.

Frequency 75 19 19 9 6 10 39 11 21 36 26 59 5 25 12 71 27 10 88 819

Percent 10 2 2 1 1 1 4 1 3 4 3 7 1 3 1 9 3 1 11 100

Limitations to the visitors’ research

The interview selection method employed mean that the analysis is not representative of the population in any proportionate way; rather, it represents the distribution of tourists and visitors in situ at the survey sites at the time of interview. To illustrate this further, it is much more likely to interview family groups during school holiday periods than outside of these periods, creating some bias within the data.

2.5.

Who took part in the visitors’ survey?

In total 819 valid responses were collected. The table below describes the general characteristics of the survey respondents. Table 2: Who took part in the research? Variable

Gender

Age

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Category

Number

Proportion (%)

In employment

450

55%

Unemployed

Self employed

Unable to work due to a long term illness or disability

<1%

In education

Unpaid family worker

Retired

238

29%

Day out / Day trip

313

38%

Short Break

314

38%

161

20%

Visiting family / friends

House sitting

<1%

Day visit

319

39%

1 night

2 nights

3 nights

107

13%

4 nights

11%

5 nights

6 nights

1 week

108

13%

10 days

2 weeks

3 weeks

<1%

4 weeks

<1%

Other

<1%

Type of Tourist or Holiday Visitor

Length of stay

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Wales Tourism Alliance – Visitor Survey 2012

2.6.

Response distributions vary from question to question

The number of valid responses varies from question to question. For example, the total number of males and females in the survey (M 328 + F 491) may not be equivalent to the number who responded to the other questions. This is because some questions go unanswered or the responses are not valid, survey companies call this ‘item non-response’, and the corresponding answer it not included in the survey analysis. Note that in this report all graphs and tables are given a base value or (N), which represents the number of valid responses included in the analysis and used as the denominator in calculations of proportions.

2.7.

The Business survey

The business research was easier to conduct as most interviews were conducted via telephone, working with a fixed sample (rather than interviewing people in situ and relying on who is around that day). In total 694 businesses were interviewed, 11 respondents were interviewed in Welsh, and 31 completed the survey using a web option rather than a telephone interview. Businesses responded well to telephone surveys, validating this choice of method. Further to this, when business respondents were too busy or unavailable, they were phoned back up to five times or a telephone interview booked for a future date and time. One limitation to this method however is the uneven distribution of visitor and tourism businesses across Wales. It was much more likely to find appropriate businesses to interview in Gwynedd or Ceredigion than Merthyr, Caerphilly or Neath. The result is that the survey includes more data from businesses in high-density tourism and visitor areas and so is less representative of the views of areas with a lower density. Annex 1 shows the research distribution by county.

2.8.

Context of the research

This research came in the context of a weak economy, and subsequent weakness within the tourism and visitor industry in Wales. This will be the focus of this section. In response to this the WTA made ‘return visitors’ the focus of the 2011 annual conference. The press release below describes the approach:

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Wales Tourism Alliance – Visitor Survey 2012

Press release 1: Return Visitors Key to Riding the Recession Tourism businesses in Wales will be urged to focus on securing repeat visitors by delivering excellent service, distinctive products and a warm Welsh welcome. That is the main message of the Wales Tourism Alliance annual conference this year to help tourism businesses weather the economic recession. The Wales Tourism Alliance provides a voice for tourism businesses in Wales and represents the views of businesses across the sector. This year’s annual conference takes place in Llandrindod Wells on 6-7 November when the industry gets together to look at the best ways of encouraging repeat custom and building on the loyal following of visitors welcomed to Wales every year. Speakers at the one-day conference include representatives from event partners British Hospitality Association and Institute of Hospitality, alongside experts with Wavehill Limited, Visit Wales and Visit Britain. The keynote address being delivered by Plaid Cymru peer, Lord Wigley of Caernarfon. While the public sector focus remains on attracting new and ‘lapsed’ visitors, industry leaders believe that regular and repeat visitors play an equally important role in securing a viable future for tourism businesses. Chris Osborne, chair of the Wales Tourism Alliance, said: “The public sector focus, both from Visit Wales and local authorities, is destination marketing – bringing new visitors to Wales and its regional marketing areas. Individual accommodation, attractions, restaurants and activity providers must then compete for the resulting business. “Wales has a very loyal customer base and good economics tells us that it is both cost effective to focus on existing customers and to use them as a powerful sales force. This year’s WTA conference will set out the business case for that approach and give examples of how to achieve great results by working with your existing customer base.” The event kicks off on Sunday 6 November with the Wales Tourism Alliance Industry Dinner, sponsored by British Hospitality Association and wine company, Bibendum Wines. Special guest speaker after the meal is renowned broadcaster and food writer, Simon Wright. The full conference programme and booking information can be seen online at wta.org.uk/annualconference or by calling 01492 539067.

With 73% (Wales Visitor Survey 2011) of visitors to Wales being repeat visitors the emphasis on making sure visitors return to Wales is important. To understand more about what tourists and visitors like and dislike about their holiday experience is equally important if businesses can use this data to improve their services. In simple terms, by doing more of what they like and less of what they dislike, the visitors may have a better experience and return to Wales and the businesses that serviced their needs so effectively.

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Wales Tourism Alliance – Visitor Survey 2012

A weak and recessionary economy The UK has entered into two recessions in three years with economic growth only reaching above 1% for one quarter in five years.

The weakening of the economy has caused the UK economy to enter into two recessions during the past three years, often named a ‘double dip’ recession by economic commentators. The ASDA Income Tracker is a survey designed and delivered by the Centre for Economics & Business Research to measure consumer financial health. It shows that to April 2012 pay freezes and slumping bonuses have taken total pay growth to its weakest since 2009, this has resulted in the joint lowest weekly discretionary income since November 2008. Wales is of course affected by economic conditions globally, as well as across the UK and Europe, and is an economy disproportionately supported by visitors and tourists spending disposable income. The ability of families to find disposable income to spend as leisure and tourism visitors has declined and so this may well have an effect on the Visitor and Tourist economy and the businesses that serve it. The importance of the visitor and tourism economy is greater in Wales than the UK as a whole, as discussed below.

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Wales Tourism Alliance – Visitor Survey 2012

The Visitor Economy and Tourism Employment The final report of “The Economic Case for the Visitor Economy” by Deloitte & Oxford Economics published in June 2010 illustrates the importance of tourism to the economy of Wales compared to other parts of the UK. The total contribution in 2009 (which includes impacts through the supply chain, of capital investment and Government expenditure) accounts for £6.2bn of GDP, 13.3% of the total economy - compared to 8.6% in England, 10.4% in Scotland and 4.9% in Northern Ireland. The direct contribution is £2.7bn which equates to 5.8% of Wales GDP compared to 3.9% in England, 4.9% in Scotland and 2.1% in NI. This report also highlights the importance of tourism to employment in Wales. The total contribution in 2009 accounted for 0.17m jobs in Wales, 12.7% of the total workforce; this compares with 8.3% in England, 10.0% in Scotland and 4.7% in NI. The direct contribution supports around 0.09m jobs, 6.9% of the Wales workforce, considerably higher than the 4.4% figure for England, 4.2% for Scotland and 3.0% for NI. Although high levels of employment in the Visitor Economy can be found in cities, rural areas are particularly dependent on the sector as it plays a large role in local economies and indeed communities, enhancing the provision of facilities and amenities that are also extensively used by residents as well as visitors. In Wales, the rural economy has a particularly strong link with the Visitor Economy with the share of employees in Conwy estimated by Deloitte to be 16.7% with 15.1% in Pembrokeshire, 13.2% in Ceredigion, 12.2% in Gwynedd and 12.0% in Powys. 25% of all VAT registered businesses in Wales are in the Visitor Economy. As a stable and dependable industry, tourism also has a vital role in the regeneration of urban communities within Wales; in Swansea for example, the share of employees in the Visitor Economy is now estimated at 8.3%. Tourism has proven itself strongly resilient to the ravages of the current economic downturn. Tourism as an employer, as an economic driver and, perhaps just as significantly, as the custodian of community facilities & opportunities, is paramount and irreplaceable. Tourism in Wales also has considerable potential for growth with Deloitte forecasting that the Visitor Economy by 2020 will provide a total contribution of 6.9% of the Wales GDP, supporting 188,000 jobs and accounting for 13.7% of total employment.

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Wales Tourism Alliance – Visitor Survey 2012

3. Analysis of the Visitors’ Survey The analysis below is drawn from the survey of 819 visitors at various locations around Wales. Survey analysis below includes the views and contribution of 819 respondents. It is important to thank these people for giving their views so freely and spending time with our survey team. By definition all of the survey participants were on a holiday or day break of some description but gave their valuable leisure time to help inform this report.

3.1.

Who responded to the survey?

Table 3, below shows that 40% of respondents answering this questionnaire were male (328/819) and 60% were female (491/819). Table 3: Gender

Male Female

Frequency 328 491

Percent, % 40.0 60.0

Table 4, below, shows the age of survey respondents divided into age groups or categories. Most (modal) interviews were conducted with people aged between 25 and 44 years of age (37%; 300/819), the least came from people aged between 16 and 24 (4%; 29/819) and ten respondents refused to answer. Table 4: Age

16-24 years old 25-44 years old 45-59 years old 60+ years old Refused

Frequency 29 300 230 250 10

Percent, % 3.5 36.6 28.1 30.5 1.2

Fifty-five per cent of respondents were in employment (450/819) and 29% were retired (238/819). Table 4: Which ONE of these categories best describes your current employment status?

Refused In employment Unemployed Self employed Unable to work due to a long term illness or disability In education Unpaid family worker Retired

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Frequency 12 450 12 57 4 14 32 238

Percent, % 1.5 54.9 1.5 7.0 0.5 1.7 3.9 29.1

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Wales Tourism Alliance – Visitor Survey 2012

3.2.

About peoples’ visits

The survey asked respondents about the nature of their visit. For the accommodation sector it is important that visitors stay for one night or more as day visits do not result in any accommodation costs. We noted a significant tail off of short breaks and holidays once the high or summer season had completed towards the end of September. Figure 1: Reason for visit?

38%

20%

Day out / Day trip

Short Break

Holiday

Visting family / friends

N = 819

Figure 1 above shows that 38% of those interviewed were visiting on a day trip or day out (313/819) and a further 38% were on a short break (314/819). Figure 2: Length of visit / break / holiday?

39%

13% 9%

14% 11%

Day visit

1 night 2 night 3 night 4 night 5 night 6 night 1 week 10 days 2 weeks

N = 819 (graph showing responses >5 respondents)

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Wales Tourism Alliance – Visitor Survey 2012

The most common length of stay for those interviewed was a day (39%; 319/819) followed by one week (14%; 108/819) or three days (13%; 107/819). Women are more likely to take a day-visit or holiday than men. Also, younger people are far less likely to take short breaks or longer holidays than older people. Table 6: Length of visit x gender and age

Day Short Long

Male

Female

36% 42% 43%

64% 58% 57%

Younger (16-44) 45% 36% 30%

Older (45+) 46% 64% 70%

Consultant’s comment: This analysis shows that businesses may benefit from marketing different types of breaks to different age bands and genders too. Day trips may receive a better response if promoted to females and longer stays to over forty-fives.

The analysis below has been undertaken using a word analysis method called a Word Cloud. This takes the text or narrative from a conversation and inspects it to identify commonly used words and short phrases. The more often the word or phrase is repeated (its frequency) the bigger the word is printed. In the word cloud below “been before” is repeated 116 times in the text. This text comes from the transcription of the 819 interviewees who answered our survey. A quick look at the Word Cloud should allow the reader to identify the main or key themes within the question. Far quicker than reading 819 answers!

3.3.

Why did they come?

Figure 3: Why did you choose Wales in general as a place to stay / visit?

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Wales Tourism Alliance â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Visitor Survey 2012

Figure 3 above shows a Word Cloud of responses why individuals chose Wales as a place to visit, the most frequently cited answers can be seen in table 7 below. When we undertake the analysis we identify the three most important or frequent responses and place them in a table below. Again this allows the reader rapid access to the key or most important elements in the responses.

The responses to this question shows that repeat and near visitors and users are very important. Also having friends and family in the area is a reason for visiting an area or attraction. Businesses may offer special incentives to local people, or repeat visitors, or those who may have guests staying for a period of time. Promoting these offers to the local area may contain the cost of advertising.

Table 7: Why did you choose Wales in general as a place to stay / visit?

Live here/close by Been before / always come /like it here Came to visit a friend/family

Frequency 285 116 85

Percent, % 34.8 14.2 10.4

When the question is made more specific and related to the place of the interview rather than the area in general new themes emerge from the responses. Having been to the place before is still important, however attending a specific attraction, providing for family groups with children and having the potential to use the natural environment for activities are most important. Figure 4: Why did you choose this particular area as a place to stay / visit?

Businesses may wish to explain their availability and features for family groups, especially with children of different ages. Also proximity to Welsh natural scenery, walking, cycling and general outdoor activities may also be emphasised.

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Wales Tourism Alliance â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Visitor Survey 2012

Table 8: Why did you choose this particular area as a place to stay / visit?

Specific attraction Good for children/family Scenery/walking/cycling

Frequency 235 132 93

Percent, % 28.7 16.1 11.4

Question four (below) examines the frequency of number of times respondents have breaks and take visits each year. The mean frequency of day visits was around 15 a year, more than once per month, with three and a half shorter weekend breaks and two holidays. Figure 5: How often over a year do you go on day visits / take short breaks / holidays? 14.7

3.6 1.9

Day visits

Weekend breaks

Holidays

N = 812, 813 and 815

Figure 5 above shows the mean of the number of times respondents stated they went away. The mean number of day visits respondents stated was 15, four weekend breaks and 2 holidays. Looking at the data by age category the chart below shows that older people (45 +) are more likely to take day visits at the venues we interviewed in Wales, weekend breaks and longer holidays were similar.

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Wales Tourism Alliance – Visitor Survey 2012

Figure 6: Showing the average (mean) number of holidays or breaks by age category. 18.0

16.0

16.0 14.0

13.1

12.0 10.0

Younger

8.0

Older

6.0 3.6

4.0

3.7 1.7

2.0

2.1

0.0 Day

Weekend

Longer

Consultant’s comment; It may be more productive to promote day trips to older people as they appear to take approximately 3 trips more per year than younger people.

Figure 7: During this break, what other areas / regions in Wales have you visited or will you be visiting?

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Figure 7 shows a Word Cloud of the other places and regions respondents have visited or plan to visit during their break. It is important to remember that we visited these places to undertake the interviews, so just because a place is not listed here does not mean it is not popular, it is just that we have not undertaken interviews in that location.

3.4.

How much do people spend?

Figure 8: Please estimate, during your break, the amount you have spent or will spend on the following:

£140.94

£88.74 £58.62 £38.85

£28.76 £15.76

N = 799,785,795,787,810 and 819

As figure 9 shows, the mean amount spent on accommodation was £140.94 and £88.74 was spent on food. The chart below shows that older clients spend more in all categories, especially accommodation and food. Figure 9: Amount spent x Age

18 13

Transport £

42 35

Entertainment £

30 25

Shopping £

Older

Food £

102

Accomodation £

Younger 176

89 0

100

150

200

£ spent on visit or break N= between 324 and 479

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When the spend data is compared by gender the spending is very similar, except for the travel category where males spend almost twice as much as females. This may be explained that males are more likely to pay for car fuel and buy public transport tickets than females. Figure 10: Amount spent x Gender

14 19

Transport £ Travel £

Entertainment £

36 44

Female

31 26

Shopping £

Male 83

Food £

97 139 144

Accomodation £ 0

100

150

200

£ spent on visit or break N = between 317 and 491

Businesses may wish to promote different price options for younger or older clients, especially if accommodation or food is part of the price.

3.5.

What is important to people?

Table 9: Which of the elements are most important when you’re thinking about a break / holiday? Rank the elements below 1 - 4 (1 is most important – 4 is least important)

Attractions / events / places to visit are interesting and high quality Accommodation is high quality Easy to travel to and from Food quality and service is good

Mean score 1.65 2.17 3.02 3.04

‘Attractions / events / places to visit are interesting and high quality’ was, on average, ranked as the most important statement at 1.65 followed by ‘accommodation’ is of high quality, 2.17. Comparing the data by gender showed little difference between males and females, and only for the ‘Attractions, Events and Places’ category was there a marked difference between younger and older respondents, with older respondents considering these more important than younger ones (1.75 vs 1.49).

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Figure 11: Thinking about the one you scored as #1. What are the qualities and expectations that make it the most important?

Figure 11 above shows a Word Cloud which illustrates what respondents thought were the most important qualities and expectations. The most frequently cited responses can be seen in table 10 below: Table 10: Thinking about the one you scored as #1. What are the qualities and expectations that make it the most important?

Clean Attractions and entertainment Child friendly

Frequency 141 140 126

Percent, % 17.2 17.1 15.4

Consultant’s comment; Emphasising cleanliness, the number of attractions and entertainments in the local vicinity and being a child friendly place are important to customers.

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These points above may be considered as the minimum required by visitors and tourists, however we also asked what the wow or x-factor was about their visit or holiday. By far the strongest response was that the attractions in Wales are important, then the natural scenery and environment and that children are entertained. Figure 12: What element of this break or holiday has the x-factor, what is the best part for you?

The majority of respondents stated that it was the attractions that had the x-factor (32%; 218/684) followed by the scenery (17%; 116/684). Table 11: What element of this break or holiday has the x-factor, what is the best part for you?

Attractions Scenery Children entertainment

Frequency 218 116 58

Percent, % 31.9 17.0 8.5

To balance the x-factor question we also asked about the ‘boo-factor’ or what has disappointed or displeased visitors.

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Figure 13: What element of this break or holiday has disappointed you, what is the boo-factor?

By far, the most commonly cited ‘boo-factor’ was the weather with 42% of respondents saying this (118/282) followed by problems with the accommodation (9%; 26/282) and attractions being closed (9%; 24/282). Table 12: What element of this break or holiday has disappointed you, what is the boo-factor?

Weather Problems with the accommodation Attractions being closed

Frequency 118 26 24

Percent, % 41.8 9.2 8.5

Consultant’s Comment: Businesses have no influence over weather patterns; however they do have influence over accommodation quality and attractions being closed when advertised as being open. Customers do not always explain their dissatisfaction to businesses, but do tell friends and family, report on popular travel websites and survey teams as well. It is likely that the ‘reported’ dissatisfaction that a business receives is only a part of the true dissatisfaction felt by customers. Businesses have the opportunity to consider customer feedback as a multiplier, dealing with one visible customer issue may in fact deal with several unknown or unspoken ones as well, the impact and benefit is multiplied. Research from the US suggests that satisfied customers tell two people of their satisfaction with a product or service but dissatisfied customers tell six.

As satisfaction and dissatisfaction is such an important question we asked respondents to also discuss the second issue on their list of issues. ©Copyright Wavehill Ltd| 2012

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Your 2nd most important choice Figures 14 & 15: What is the best thing about this and the worst thing you have experienced on this visit? Figure 14: Best

The Word Cloud above shows what respondents believed to be the second best or most important element they had experienced. As the table below shows, the best things stated by the respondents were the accommodation (18%; 97/530), the attractions (18%; 94/530) and the scenery (10%; 53/530). Table 13: Best

Accommodation Attractions Scenery

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Frequency 97

Percent, % 18.3

94 53

17.7 10.0

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Figure 15: Worst:

The Word Cloud above shows what respondents believed to be the second worst thing they had experienced on their trip. This introduces some new areas of dissatisfaction, with parking and expensive food and drink being frequently mentioned. Some respondents were particularly dissatisfied with the cost of temporary parking when visiting attractions in the centre of Cardiff. Table 14: Worst

Accommodation Parking Weather Expensive food and drink

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Frequency 29 16 10 10

Percent, % 22.1 12.2 7.6 7.6

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3.6.

Visitors’ perception of staff qualities

The visitor industry rightly places a lot of emphasis on having friendly, helpful and welcoming staff. We asked visitors for the qualities they had experienced from various visitor businesses’ staff. Figure 16: What experience with the people who have provided food, accommodation, travel or activities has been positive and memorable?

Figure 16 above shows which experiences with people respondents felt were most positive or memorable. The most frequently cited responses can be seen in table 15 below: Table 15: What experience with the people who have provided food, accommodation, travel or activities has been positive and memorable? Frequency

Percent, %

Welcoming/friendly/polite

394

58.0

Good/nice/lovely

197

29.0

Knowledgeable/helpful

155

22.8

Consultant’s Comment: Somewhat unsurprisingly visitors particularly noted that businesses that were welcoming, polite, friendly, knowledgeable and helpful were rated highly. These elements require little investment except possibly in staff training and the response from visitors is high and notable.

Recommendations to friends and family mean that the respondent values the experience. Again it is worth noting that the interviews were undertaken at specific places and so these feature within the data below.

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Figure 17: From your current visit what would you recommend to a close friend or family member to do visit / stay / see / eat?

The Word Cloud above shows the responses given when respondents were asked what they would recommend to a close friend or family member to do/stay/see or eat when visiting Wales. As the table below illustrates, the most commonly cited answers are visiting castles (17%; 117/683), Snowdon (7%; 49/683) or Techniquest (7%; 46/683). Note that proportionally more interviews were undertaken in Cardiff (5 clusters) so it is unsurprising to see Techniquest mentioned so frequently. Table 16: From your current visit what would you recommend to a close friend or family member to do visit / stay / see / eat?

Castles Snowdon Techniquest

3.7.

Frequency 117 49 46

Percent, % 17.1 7.1 6.7

Summarising your visit to Wales

This is an important question as it asks the respondents to summarise the best or iconic elements of Wales into a short phrase. These may be the triggers that visitors are looking for when considering or booking, or participating in a day visit or break. The question was asked as below;

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Question: Some people say that France is known for its ‘DELICIOUS FOOD’; Ireland for its ‘FRIENDLY HOSPITALITY’ what three words or short phrases would you use to describe your visit to Wales? Figure 18: What three words or short phrases would you use to describe your visit to Wales?

The three most commonly cited words or phrases were, beautiful scenery (49%; 402/819), friendly (44%; 357/819) and that it is wet, cold or windy (14%; 188/819)

Consultant’s Comment: Businesses may wish to review the key phrases or triggers above and build their promotional materials and advice to visitors and tourists around these concepts. The natural environment and the friendly welcome are both prominent within the Word Cloud above.

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3.8.

How could things be improved?

Visitors and tourists were directly asked to advise businesses on how they could improve their service. It should be remembered that these are personal and direct comments, from a range of customers and so directly reflect their views and feelings. Many of these issues may not have been communicated to the business delivering the service; it is only by undertaking surveys such as these that these issues emerge. Question: Thinking about the businesses that have provided you with food, travel, accommodation and things to do during this visit. What advice could you give these businesses to make your holiday or visit even better, what can be improved on or changed? Figure 19: Food Comments

The answers respondents gave in response to being asked how businesses could improve to make their stay even better with regard to food can be seen above. The most commonly cited answers can be seen in table 17 below: Table 17: Food Comments

Fresh, local produce Cheaper options Better service

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Frequency 46 25 16

Per cent, % 24% 13% 5.1%

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The next question was about travelling from the respondent’s home to their place of interview in Wales. The responses uncovered some surprising issues about signage and the quality of roads. Figure 20: Travel Comments

The Word Cloud above shows the responses individuals gave when asked how businesses could improve to make their stay even better with regard to travel. As it is possible to see, many of the responses were not directly influenced or controlled by businesses. However these issues do provide useful information as to what businesses may wish to mention to their local council or business chamber. The most frequently cited response directly related to businesses was better signposting (20%; 46/227). The cheaper parking comment is mainly related to attractions charging high fees for parking at attractions and the use of car parking in central Cardiff.

Consultant’s Comment: The issue of better and clearer signposting was a recurring theme within this survey and has not been an issue as far as we are aware in previous visitor and tourist research. Many people now have mobile smart phones which include satellite navigation applications. It may be a good idea for businesses to send a text with their postcode at the time of booking, or in the morning of anticipated arrival. Also a free Google entry with the name of the business and the postcode ensures the business can be found easily using a Google search.

The following section examines what visitors expect from their holiday accommodation and what they received.

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Figure 21: Accommodation

The Word Cloud above shows what respondents sites as aspects of accommodation could be improved to make their stay even better. Table 18 shows the most frequently cited responses but it should be noted by the reader that these complaints were relatively few, amounting to less than 11% of this survey section. Table 18: Accommodation

Better equipped holiday cottage Attention to detail Tired/drab

Frequency 11 11 11

Per cent, % 11% 11% 11%

Consultant’s Comment: Businesses should ensure that holiday accommodation is well equipped, as this was the main complaint from our survey. Some of the items were very small such as one or two dishwasher tablets, or basic kitchen items such as chopping boards and breadknives. Businesses that understand the attention to detail needed to make accommodation satisfactory, attention to cleanliness, and ensuring the accommodation is up to date and functioning well will gain satisfied customers.

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Figure 22: Attractions/things to do

The Word Cloud above shows respondents stated where the problems were when using attractions, and what could be done to make their stay more enjoyable. There is no doubt that the customers using the attractions feel that they are too expensive and that the related parking is also too expensive. Table 19 shows the most frequently cited responses: Table 19: Attractions/things to do

Expensive Expensive parking fees Good leaflets

Frequency 55 15 11

Percent, % 25.2 4.6 5.0

Consultant’s Comment: The ASDA survey of disposable income referenced in the introduction notes in some detail about how ‘squeezed’ some sections of the public are becoming. Relatively small cost differentials can have a disproportionate effect on customers’ demand. Attractions may want to experiment with special pricing models for customers. Returning customers may receive a free car park ticket for example, or free entry for any families returning with children, for example. The recession has created many voucher deals and special price models and consumers are becoming very savvy in identifying and using them effectively. Businesses may wish to consider implementing their own DIY voucher schemes or use an established distributor such as Groupon or Living Social.

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Taking the issue of the economy affecting consumers, the question below asks our survey respondents a direct question about the economy and holiday choices. Figure 23: How has the economic situation affected your holiday choices recently?

It hasn't

76%

We don't go away as often as we used to

Can't afford to go abroad

We shop around a lot more now

We go camping / caravaning instead now

Don't go for as long / shorter times away

We haven't been able to have a holiday

N=766

The figure above shows that 76% of respondents did not think that the economic situation had affected their holiday choices recently (580/766), 8% stated that they did not go away as often as they used to (61/166) and 7% of respondents stated that they cannot afford to go abroad now (56/766). Although most respondents stated that the economic recession had not affected their holiday choices, many were already participating in relatively low value holidays with the average (mean) being between £412 for a short holiday and £704 for a longer visit. Day visits had a mean value of £64. The graph below describes the mean value spent by visit length. Figure 24: Holiday spend (£) x Visit length

34 0 14

Transport (£) Travel (£) Entertainment (£)

104

39 60

47 11 31

Shopping (£) Food (£) Accomodation (£)

167

292

163

0 50 Longer Visit

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100

150 Short Visit

200

250

300

350

Day Visit

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Unsurprisingly the value of holiday spend increases with the length of the holiday chosen, however, the total value is below £800 for a longer holiday and £400 for a shorter holiday. Figure 25: What elements of your current Wales break offer good or excellent value?

Figure 25 above shows what elements respondents thought were good or excellent value. As it is clear to see the most frequently cited answer was accommodation (27%; 143/540) followed by all of it (12%; 66/540) and Techniquest (7%; 36/540). It is highly encouraging to note that such a high proportion of respondents thought accommodation was good value, the natural environment and even entrance fees. It is also interesting, given the comment above on using voucher offers, that vouchers were mentioned six times.

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4. Analysis of the Business Survey 4.1.

Introduction

This section explores responses from interviews with businesses. The business interviews were guided by the visitors’ comments, as detailed in Section 3. The purpose of this part of the research is to determine if businesses are listening to and responding to their customers’ needs and issues, and to what extent. Following this, the final chapter of the report takes the findings from both research groups and synthesises these down into a set of recommendations or actions that tourism and visitor businesses can use to improve the experience for their customers, and potential customers. In terms of the nature of businesses interviewed, categorising the businesses by their main service sector shows that 54% of businesses were from the accommodation sector, 37% were from food, 16% were from attractions and 1% was from the travel sector. Table 20: Which sector of tourism do you operate in?

Accommodation Food Attractions Travel

N 361 245 104 3 713

% 54% 37% 16% 0.5% 107.5*

*Note some businesses entered multiple responses, so accommodation and food, for example hence the total adds up to over 100%.

When the accommodation sector was asked to specify their sector further, 35% of businesses said they were a hotel, 26% said bed and breakfast and 18% caravan and camping. Table 21: If accommodation, please specify Sector specify Hotel Bed and breakfast Caravan and camping Self-catering Outdoor activities Inn Guest house Other

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N 126 94 65 46 9 14 12 18 366

% 35% 26% 18% 13% 2.5% 3.9% 3.3% 5.0% 107%

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Seventy-one per cent of businesses surveyed had been established for more than 10 years; only 2% had been established for under a year. One of the effects of the recession is that fewer new businesses are being started. This reduction in new businesses often called business births has produced the phenomenon in Wales where business births (7,505; 2012) are being outpaced by business deaths (10,985; 2010) according to the ONS2. Table 22: How long has your business been established?

Less than a year 1- 3 years 4 - 6 years 7 - 10 years More than 10 years

N 13 56 69 54 471 663

% 2% 8.4% 10% 8.1% 71% 100.0%

Finally, to get an idea of how large the businesses are in terms of employed staff we looked at the number of full-time, part-time and seasonal staff. For full-time employees we found that the average (mean) number of staff was 5.9 and the most common number to have (mode) was two. Part-time staff ware used far less than seasonal staff (30%) with part-time staff only representing around 3.3% of all staff employed which emphasises the seasonality of staff. Table 23: Company size

Full time staff Part time staff Seasonal staff

Sum 3854 194 1707

Mean 5.9 5.0 2.6

Total staff in survey 5,755

4.2.

Analysis of the Business Survey data

The business survey data below includes a mix of both quantitative or number based data and qualitative or text and dialogue based data. The qualitative data has been reviewed to show the most common themes or views in it and not every idea and nuance.

4.3.

Yearly trading patterns

When asked when their high season began, 22% of businesses said July and 20% said April, which suggests either the Easter or Summer school holidays. Nine per cent of businesses state they do not have a high season and 8% say that there has not been a high season this year which may be said with some irony.

http://wales.gov.uk/docs/statistics/2012/120119sb32012en.pdf

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Table 24: When does your high season start?

January February March April May June July August September October November December Don't have a high season Hasn't been one this year

N 46 6 40 134 59 56 150 27 10 9 2 N 6 62 56 663

% 6.9 0.9 6.0 20.2 8.9 8.4 22.6 4.1 1.5 1.4 0.3 % 0.9 9.4 8.4 100.0

Conversely, when asked when their high season ended, 38% of businesses said September, 22% said October and 11% said August. Table 25: When does your high season finish?

January February March April May June July August September October November December Don't have a high season

N 5 1 2 4 5 2 6 79 253 144 28 57 77 663

% 0.8 0.2 0.3 0.6 0.8 0.3 0.9 11.9 38.2 21.7 4.2 8.6 11.6 100.0

Of the businesses interviewed, 80% are open all year. Of the 20% that are closed for a period, the mean number of weeks that they are closed for is 14 or just over three months.

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Figure 26: Do you trade across the year or do you close for a period?

80%

20%

Closed for a period

Open all year

N = 663

4.4.

Business confidence

When thinking about business confidence, 45% thought that it would be worse than last year, 28% said the same and 27% said it would be better than last year. Comparing this to the Welsh Government Tourism Survey 2012 (Wave 2) where 27% reported less visitors/guests, 37% the same and 29% reported more than last year our Wales Tourism Alliance Survey shows a more pessimistic view with more businesses (45% vs. 27%) predicting or reporting a worse year than last year. Figure 27: Thinking about business confidence for this year, do you estimate it will beâ&#x20AC;Ś 45%

27%

28%

Better than last year The same as last year

Worse than last year

N = 648

As a further comparator, businesses in a recent survey in Pembrokeshire (Wavehill, June 2012) and for the South Wales Chamber (2012) 26% in both surveys predicted a worse season as measured by sales or revenues, and 30% and 39% respectively predicted a better year. Fourteen per cent of businesses said they were very confident for this summer or high season, and a further 47% said they were confident. Twenty-nine per cent said they were not very confident and 10% said they were not at all confident.

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4.5.

Increasing trade

Businesses that have used strategies to increase trade this year have used marketing and promotion, pricing and improvements to facilities. The table below shows the proportion of businesses and their response or strategy to increase trade. Web site and Facebook (23%) are the most frequent options, possibly due to the low cost of using social media solutions and producing low content brochure style web sites. Table 26: Strategies to increase trade or revenues in 2012

Developed website/ Facebook Increased publicity Ran discounts/offers Refurbished/decorated Lowered prices

% 23% 15% 12% 10% 8.5%

The word cloud below shows the range of comments and views by respondents. It is interesting to compare the number of businesses that are using discounts or offers, lowering prices or investing in decorating and refurbishment compared to the small number who noted they contact previous guests. Contacting previous guests is a very low cost method of marketing to an audience who have already experienced the business before. Using web sites and Facebook are of course methods of staying in touch with past customers, and informing potential new ones too, but the basics of keeping in touch with past customers, especially those from the previous two years, should not be forgotten. A simple example is that businesses could send out postcards, or emails designed to view as postcards reminding previous customers of their business, one or two local features and a call to action, such as “Book any weekend now for a free third night” or any such message depending on the business category. Figure 28: Describe one thing you have done to increase trade this year?

Moving on to external factors that the businesses could not control, the economy and the weather unsurprisingly feature as the main two elements. It is interesting to note that some of the lesser categories such as ‘poor marketing’, ‘poor signage’, and ‘location’ can be influenced by the businesses and are not totally external or out of the control of the businesses.

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It may be useful for businesses to have a check list of elements that they can control and to check review them on a regular, quarterly basis, to ensure they are considered and possibly actioned. Figure 29: Name two things that you do not have control over that would improve your trade this year?

4.6.

Understanding customers

This survey aims to uncover how tourism businesses meet customers’ needs. Businesses were asked about how much they feel that they know or understand their customers. Nearly half (49%) talk to their customers and use this as their ‘feedback’ or customer knowledge, then more formalised systems come into use, such as surveys (24%), and online reviews such as ‘Trip Advisor’. Table 27: How well do you know or understand your customers?

Verbal feedback Feedback surveys Trip Advisor Online reviews Regular customers Visitors book We know our customers

% 49% 24% 9.4% 8.5% 8.5% 6.6% 5.7%

N = 644

Of the 644 respondents who gave a valid answer, 12% said they were extensively involved with the Tourist Information Centre, 29% said they were involved to some extent and 48% said they were not involved. Businesses that said they were not involved gave reasons such as; the cost of joining, the perception that inquiries were not distributed evenly, the lack of referrals for accommodation, and the grading or star system used for accommodation via Visit Wales.

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Figure 30: Do you have interaction with your local Tourist Information Centre?

48% 39%

12%

Yes - extensively

Yes - to some extent

N = 644

The table below shows the most frequent reasons for not using the local Tourism Information Centre. Table 28: Reasons for not using the local Tourist Information Centre

Not needed to use the TIC Not got one locally enough Previously involved but saw little benefit Waste of money / expensive TIC has not contacted us.

4.7.

% 24 15 15 12 8.8

Marketing businesses

When businesses were asked if they did any online marketing, 84% said yes and 16% said no. Of those who said yes, 91% said they had their own website, 44% said they put content on social websites (such as Facebook or Twitter) and 28% said they send out emails and newsletters. The 9% who do not have a web site are missing an opportunity to provide information to potential customers. A simple web site can be created for free using Google and other systems, and there are several business support schemes that will help explain how to achieve this and even some grant funding too. Table 29: What online marketing do you do?

Have your own website Put content on social website (Facebook, Twitter etc) Send out emails / newsletters Use search engines optimization or paid search Bookings via Visit Wales website Write blogs (either on your own or someone else’s website)

% 91 44 28 19 11 7.6

Note businesses could make multiple answers so the total does not add to 100%.

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It is interesting to note that businesses are rapidly engaging with social marketing tools such as Facebook, but could be possibly missing out on lower cost marketing activities such as sending a reminder email or special offer email to previous customers. Businesses’ brand or unique selling point Successful marketing often relies on identifying a brand or ‘unique’ selling point. These are psychological triggers that help consumers and customers to make decisions to use a service or product by associating it with a certain quality that they are looking for. The survey asked businesses to identify their own unique qualities and the location of businesses was the main element, followed by a range of concepts such as being family friendly, making homemade food, and providing a high quality service. Figure 31: What is unique about your business – your USP?

These qualities are also those that visitors are looking for in the visitor section of the survey and businesses should use these qualities more simply in their marketing message. Using the research above a simple message of ‘Great LOCATION, Family FRIENDLY and FRESH local food’ could cover a lot of ground.

4.8.

Travel

The comments we received from visitors regarding poor signage in Wales was surprising when the analysis of the visitor’s survey was undertaken. There were no questions relating to signage, just a much wider question asking about travelling to and from home to the visitor or tourism place of interview. When we took these findings back to the businesses, we were surprised at the depth of feeling regarding signage and the role of local councils in restricting the use of more signs, either via planning refusals or the costs of applying for and paying for the ‘brown sign’ scheme. The application process is detailed as essentially it is a planning application which requires a pre-planning application, a committee approval, sign manufacture, mounting and then occasional maintenance.

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There is clearly an opportunity for negotiation between the various councils and the tourism and visitor industry. Some areas of Wales have a relatively high proportion of tourism businesses and visitors and tourists new to the area need signs to either find businesses they are planning to visit or to use a sign as an ad-hoc direction or prompt. The application process as described within our interviews with businesses is restricting signage, and therefore affecting the potential for Visitor businesses to direct customers to their location. There may be the potential for businesses to work together, to make group representation to local ‘Brown Sign’ planning officers and committees to explain why it is important to have plenty of signs for visitors and tourists. It is possible the planning officers do not appreciate the ‘business case’ and are more focused on the ‘planning case’.

Consultant’s comment: The WTA acts to promote the interests of its membership and there is an opportunity for the WTA to represent this issue more formally to planning departments and planning officers so that the ‘business case’ of signage is given more emphasis for visitor businesses. It is also worth noting that a consultation paper was opened on this very issue (March – June 2011) by the Tourist Signing Team of the Welsh Government, and it may be useful for the WTA to update its membership on the progress, or decisions made from this consultation.

Figure 32: When asked about travelling to and around Wales a number of visitors said that the signage to attractions / restaurants / accommodation was poor – how do you ensure visitors can find your business easily?

4.8.1. Public Transport Public transport is very variable across Wales. Areas serviced by the rail network obviously have a regular and well-scheduled service; however, the bus service varies considerably in its density and frequency of service, especially in rural areas where very often no service exists. That said, more businesses said that the public transport system was fine or good (42%) than said it was poor or bad (37%), and many (7.5%) noted that visitors do not use the public transport system.

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Figure 33: Families also identified public transport, parking and road surfaces a concern, what are your views on this?

4.8.2. Parking Parking is often an issue for businesses, because those that cannot provide free parking see it as a barrier to business or trade and local government uses parking as a local charge to raise revenues. The Audit Commission3 estimated that across England and Wales parking fees raise around 10% of local council income. Where businesses had their own parking, they did not see any issues; however, parking was also described as ‘expensive’, ‘murder’, ‘awful’ and so on, presumably by those without private parking spaces. In addition, clamping and ticketing were noted as problems for visitors. The general summary is that if the business has parking to offer its customers, it usually does for free, unless it is an attraction, where these businesses also often charge for car parking in addition to the entry price. Where a business does not have its own parking then the business often perceives this as a problem, especially if the car owner must pay for parking tickets.

http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/subwebs/publications/studies/studyPDF/1585.pdf

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Figure 34: Parking Issues

Consultant’s comment: Parking could be made easier if businesses with parking agree to share with those that do not. For example a Bed and Breakfast accommodation could share the local pub car park between the hours of 8pm and 11am and in return the pub may get a customer, or even a small parking fee.

4.8.3. Road Surfaces As noted in the visitors section of this report (above), a high number of visitors talked about the quality of Welsh roads and road-surfaces during face-to-face interviews. There was no specific question on road surfaces in the survey, just a much wider reference to the ease of travel to and from the visitors’ home. The responses from the businesses below in the main do not agree with those from visitors, most businesses find the roads well maintained (29%), and in good condition, although some mentioned repairs (11%) and pot-holes (13%). Figure 35: Quality of roads

Road quality and maintenance is far outside the influence of Visitor businesses in Wales and not a point that this report will focus upon further.

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4.9.

Food quality in Restaurants, Café’s, Hotels and B&B businesses

Food quality, home cooking and using local food were important desires within the visitors’ survey. Businesses were asked to describe how they ensured that customers have a positive and memorable experience regarding food and dining. The table below shows that businesses respond by using local produce, providing home cooked food, and being child or family friendly. These responses mirror the findings in the survey and show that businesses involved in food preparation are reflecting their customers’ needs. Table 30: Food establishments; how to ensure customers have a positive experience % 61% 29% 21% 7.0% 4.7% 4.7%

Local produce Home-made food Child friendly Open all day Fine dining Value for money

4.10. Accommodation (Hotels, B&B’s and Self-Catering) When considering accommodation, businesses were asked to explain how they ensure customers go away with a positive, lasting impression. Positive lasting experiences can lead to word of mouth referrals and return visits and bookings. Further to this, research shows that consumers who have a negative experience at a business tend to tell 6 to 10 people, but those having positive experiences only tell 1 or 2 people. The table below shows the three key categories that businesses used to describe how they ensure accommodation users have a good experience. It is worth noting that the visitors’ survey identified cleanliness as the prime concern, then having access to things to do, attractions and activities, and being child friendly. Question; How do you ensure that people staying at your establishment have a positive and memorable experience? Table 31: Accommodation, positive and memorable experience

Welcoming Ensure clean and tidy Good service

N 28 21 16

% 38% 29% 22%

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Accommodation is quite a wide category and can include anything from hotels to tents. As so many members of the WTA are hotels and B&B establishments we asked a further question about hotel and B&B accommodation specifically. Question: When arriving at their accommodation, more than anything else, visitors want a clean and up to date room. What actions do you have in place to fulfil visitor’s expectations? Table 32: Accommodation, what defines ‘fulfil the customers’ expectations on arrival?’

Check accommodation is clean Good house-keeping team Refurbished rooms

% 51% 34% 25%

Businesses mentioned that they perform quality checks to make sure standards are maintained for cleanliness. This was also enhanced by the importance described of having a good housekeeping team that knows the hotel or establishment and has a proven quality standard. Of course in smaller establishments the house team are often also the owners. Businesses also noted the role of refurbishment, of maintaining modern equipment within bedrooms and of ensuring that a cycle of investment into newly refurbished rooms is maintained.

Consultant’s comment: Cleanliness is the highest ranked issue for visitors and so businesses should try to demonstrate how their premises is clean. It may be useful to provide evidence of cleanliness, so checklists to demonstrate what has been cleaned in the accommodation and cleaning lists or cycles in food establishments and attractions. Businesses could use statements on their web sites too. For example, ‘We use a 20 stage check list to ensure each room is perfectly clean’ and then maybe list the checks too.

When describing how they ‘go the extra mile’ businesses described a range of actions such as picking customers up, respecting dietary needs, sharing their knowledge of the local area and adding small welcome gifts to rooms. Table 33: Accommodation, what defines ‘going the extra mile?’

Meet visitors needs/demands Recommend places to eat/go Welcoming/helpful

% 29% 19% 15%

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Self-catering only: We then reflected the feedback from the visitors’ survey to providers of self-catering holiday accommodation by asking; Question: The most important aspect of a self-catering holiday for visitors is having ‘fully equipped’ accommodation i.e. plenty of utensils, chopping boards, dish cloths, etc – all the little things you may not think to bring with you; do you agree that this is important?” Eighty-nine per cent of self-catering businesses stated that having fully equipped accommodation is important. Only 1% said no, it was not important, although 10% did not know. The message here for suppliers of self-catering accommodation is clear that having properly equipped accommodation is important to visitors, and the lack of such provision could hinder return bookings. Equipping a kitchen and accommodation in general with adequate utensils and cleaning materials and so on is not too costly relative to rental prices and this is an easy way to ensure visitors satisfaction. Figure 36: Is having fully equipped accommodation important? 89%

10% 1% Yes

Don't know

N = 100

The ‘go the extra mile’ question was repeated for self-catering businesses and nearly half identified that having a fully equipped self-catering accommodation was important, as was being welcoming, providing local knowledge and replacing broken items. One business even provided a weekly parking ticket for the local town – which is addressing some of the parking comments made in the Visitors survey section. Table 34: Self-catering – what defines ‘going the extra mile?’

Fully equipped Welcoming Provide information Replace broken items

% 47% 20% 13% 13%

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4.11. Attractions Our Visitors’ survey at attractions in Wales showed that improvements in the following areas would enhance the experience; • • • •

Cheaper entry fees Cheaper car parking More catering facilities i.e. café’s, picnic benches etc. Improved advertising i.e. a good website, leaflets and branding

To reflect these views, businesses were asked what feedback they received from their guests regarding visitor attractions. No business had a formalised method of collecting data, so the views were anecdotal. The natural attractions such as beaches and walks were rated well and the natural assets as a whole formed a cluster of comments. Paid attractions rated less well, with several comments from businesses about the high cost of using some attractions for visitors. All businesses except visitor attractions Table 35: Businesses views on visitor attractions

General positive feedback Walking trails Expensive Nice beaches Need more attractions Beautiful Mountain biking

% 17% 17% 16% 10% 8.6% 5.7 5.7

Visitor attraction businesses The visitor attraction businesses gave their reaction to comments from visitors that they were expensive to visit. Only one visitor attraction business agreed with the visitors’ survey that the entry prices were expensive. Table 36: Businesses views on visitor attraction charges

Don't charge for entry Cheaper than other attractions Need to meet our costs Discount given to groups

% 26% 21% 16% 16%

There were comments from visitors regarding the cost of car parking fees for those who arrived at attractions by car. When we asked visitor attraction businesses to reflect on these comments half noted they had free parking, but interestingly 20% agreed that their fees were high calling them ‘expensive’ or ‘very expensive’.

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Table 37: Businesses’ views on car parking fees at visitor attractions

We have a free car park Affordable parking Parking expensive / very expensive

% 50% 20% 20%

Visitor attraction businesses said that they were welcoming, with good customer service and have a good product, however none of the respondents addressed the concerns of visitors that the entry costs were expensive. Table 38: Businesses’ views on how to ensure visitors have a positive and memorable experience?

Welcoming Customer service Sell a good product

% 48% 21% 21%

The range of examples of how businesses felt the economic recession has affected businesses and their customers showed that bookings are fewer, footfall is lower, that people are booking at the last minute, stays are shorter and prices and special offers have to be adjusted and made. It is interesting to note that 20% of businesses felt that they had done better, or seen no effect from the recession. Question: Seventy-six per cent of visitors we interviewed said that the current economic situation HAD NOT affected their holiday choices recently? How has your business been affected by the current economic situation? Table 39: How has the economic recession affected your business?

Numbers / sales down Good, better or no effect People are spending less More down to the weather

% 25% 20% 19% 9.4%

4.12. Three words to describe Wales Finally, the ‘three words’ question was also asked to businesses to see if they had the same vision of Wales and its unique attributes as the visitors. Overall the two groups identified with the same types of elements to describe Wales; however the visitors were more specific about natural assets using beaches, mountains and scenery as their descriptive words. When asked to summarise Wales in three words the natural assets and heritage and the friendliness of the people were suggested by businesses.

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Figure 37: Some people say that France is known for its Delicious food, Ireland for its Friendly hospitality – what 3 words or short phrases would you use to describe Wales?

4.13. The Weather Finally, we asked about the weather and its impact on revenues, the weather has been poor for much of the summer season to date, how does the weather affect your revenue? Fifty-eight per cent of businesses stated that the weather has decreased their revenue, and 12% say that the weather has increased it. Figure 38: How does the weather affect your revenue?

58%

31%

12%

Increased

Stayed the same

Decreased

N = 650

The table below shows the same information by sector and illustrates that attractions are least affected by poor weather and food the most affected.

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Table 40: Revenue by weather Decreased Stayed the same Increased

Accommodation 57% 38% 5%

Attractions 55% 24% 21%

Food 60% 22% 17%

Reducing revenues can impact on the future sustainability of a business, especially if costs remain stable. This reduces profit margin and can lead to losses and so we also asked businesses about the impact on their sustainability over the longer time period. As table 41 below shows, the weather brings a high risk to business sustainability for 18% of businesses, and some risk to 39%. The weather brings no risk for 44% of businesses. The attractions are most affected in terms of sustainability and this contrasts with the previous results. This may be explained because some attractions are outside, and some inside, so bad weather boosts the internal attractions as they are not affected by weather and impacts harder on attractions that are external. Table 41: The weather has been poor for much of the summer season to date, how does the weather affect the risk to your longer term business stability? Row Labels High risk Some risk No risk

Accommodation 16% 40% 44%

Attractions 26% 32% 43%

Food 16% 40% 44%

% of Total 18% 39% 44%

Unfortunately the weather is both random and unpredictable within normal tolerances, as can be demonstrated by this year, a very favourable start to the season in April and May, leading into a sustained period of wet and unsettled weather that recorded the highest rainfall since 1912, exactly 100 years ago, and raising many headlines in the press to that effect. With 18% of businesses stating that the weather presents a high risk to business sustainability, it is very important to ensure that visitors are presented with wet or poor weather alternatives. Many accommodation and restaurants provide a bundle of local leaflets and promotional materials for visitor attractions. It may be useful to create a poor weather folder or collection of guides to provide options for visitors to select from when the weather is not favourable.

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5. Analysis of the findings between Visitors and Business Managers The final section of this report is an analysis as to whether businesses in the survey are potentially missing the opportunity to increase trading revenues due to unfulfilled expectations. Of course, all businesses are different and operate in different circumstances. However, whilst not all of the following ideas might relate directly to all individual businesses, the ideas were synthesised to be relevant to many businesses.

5.1.

Segmentation of marketing

Marketing can become more efficient when it is segmented or targeted at certain groups. Whilst each business should have clear ideas of who it is targeting, our survey finds some specific differences in the opinion and behaviour of males and females and different age groups too. By understanding these differences visitor business may understand how to market their service more effectively. 1. Businesses may benefit from marketing different types of breaks to different age groups and genders too. For example; a. Day trips may receive a better response if promoted to females and longer stays to over forty-fives. b. Women are more likely to take a visit or holiday than men and younger people are far less likely to take short breaks or longer holidays. 2. The Visitors’ survey shows that repeat and ‘nearby’ visitors and users are very important. Also having friends and family in the area is a reason for visiting an area or attraction. Businesses may offer special incentives to local people, or repeat visitors, or those who may have guests staying for a period. Promoting these offers to the local area may contain the cost of advertising. 3. Being near to specific natural assets or attractions helped visitors to select their specific location, also visitors were looking for specific references to businesses being ‘child friendly’, for example, having high chairs or cots and being previously recommended by other families, or describing how visitor businesses are made interesting and/or safe for families. Businesses may wish to explain their availability and features for family groups, especially with children of different ages. Also proximity to Welsh natural scenery, walking, cycling and general outdoor activities may also be emphasised in marketing and promotional materials. 4. The average (mean) number of day visits was 15, with 4 weekend breaks and 2 holidays. Looking at the data by age category shows that older people (45 +) are more likely to take day visits at the venues we interviewed at in Wales. 5. Day trips were taken more frequently by older people, and so it may be more productive to promote day trips to older people. 6. Younger clients tend to spend less than older clients do. Businesses may wish to promote different price options for younger or older clients, especially if accommodation or food is part of the price as older clients spend significantly more in these categories.

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5.2.

Give visitors what they think they want

Many decisions on what product or service to buy are undertaken on a subliminal level. Much time and money is invested on product design and brand development by larger businesses. Psychological studies of consumer behaviours identify triggers that reveal buying behaviours. Essentially these give consumers what they want, or to be more specific, what they think they want. For example, turn on the radio between 11:00am and 1:00pm and many adverts promote food and snacks, because that is when people become hungry and so advertisements are trying to trigger this need. The visitor research shows that visitors are mainly looking for clean accommodation and food establishments, with plenty of options for attractions and entertainment in the local vicinity, and in places that are child friendly. These are key triggers for individuals and families and so visitor businesses should recognise these qualities and explain how their business meets one or more of these demands. 7. Emphasising cleanliness, the number of attractions and entertainments in the local vicinity and being a child friendly place are key as these are important to customers. 8. Visitors also said that the most special element of their visit had been local attractions and the natural scenery. 9. The three most commonly cited words or phrases visitors used to describe their visit were; beautiful scenery, friendly, wet weather. The natural environment and the friendly welcome are both prominent positive descriptions. Businesses may wish to review these key phrases or triggers and build their promotional materials and advice to visitors and tourists around these concepts. 10. Within the domain of food, visitors were mainly looking for fresh local produce, cheaper or better value options, and better service from staff. 11. Visitors have highlighted the expense of attractions as an important issue. Maybe accommodation businesses could make sure they divide attraction options between paid for/ free attractions, so that customers are clear which is which. Also attractions could offer discounts or vouchers to the customers of accommodation businesses.

5.3.

Referral marketing

Referral marketing and promotion is free and is delivered by a trusted source, the friend or family member making the recommendation. Research in the US suggests that satisfied customers tell two other friends or family about their experience. Visitor businesses could use referral marketing by providing postcards for customers to send to friends and family, or by asking the customers if they would like to send a time bound discount voucher to one or two friends. By doing so visitor businesses are starting to build referral marketing. Of course, for this to be truly effective the businesses need to make sure they have fulfilled the expectations of visitors. Our research shows that these expectations are not unreasonable and can be met.

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12. Somewhat unsurprisingly, visitors particularly noted that businesses that were welcoming, polite, friendly, knowledgeable and helpful were rated highly. These elements require little investment except possibly in staff training and the response from visitors is high and notable.

5.4.

Signs & Directions

As we have discussed in the body of the report the issue of signs was unexpected but also quite vocal from both visitors and businesses too. It is clear that visitors want better signs and better directions too. 13. Businesses should invest in signs for their business and where planning allows, brown visitor signs. 14. Many people now have mobile smart phones that include satellite navigation applications. It may be a good idea for businesses to send a text with their postcode at the time of booking, or in the morning of anticipated arrival. In addition, a free Google entry with the name of the business and the postcode ensures the business can be found easily using a Google search. 15. Maybe accommodation could provide maps local sites/ businesses? Or businesses in an area do this together so people have a simple map, with a few postcodes etc.

5.5.

Home from home

Holiday accommodation should be a home from home and three messages emerged for the accommodation sector, all of which relate to relatively straightforward actions which could quickly and markedly improve visitors’ experience. Firstly, holiday lets should be well equipped especially with cooking utensils and some disposable items such as dishwashing tablets, bin bags, and so on. The attention to detail within holiday lets is important and dripping taps, inefficient showers, wobbly door handles and so on should be identified, maintained and fixed. Finally, accommodation that is out of date, tired or drab needs to be improved because visitors will not want to return to such accommodation.

5.6.

Cleanliness

It is clear that providing clean accommodation, food establishments and attractions is one of or the most important factor for visitors. It may be useful for businesses to publish or display the checks and processes they use in order to ensure cleanliness. For example when visitors’ book into a room, a checklist of what has been checked and cleaned could be left for inspection. In food establishments and attractions, a ‘last cleaned’ or inspection list could be displayed.

5.7.

Hidden charges

Visitors are quite vocal about hidden charges and fees, especially those related to car parking. There are several positive comments made by visitors where businesses have provided free parking, or have supplied tickets to visitors.

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The opportunity cost of charging for car parking may be acting as a barrier to revenues as it is possible that some visitors do not attend attractions and places where car parking fees are high. Businesses may wish to consider parking within the whole entry fee, discount it further, or provide good information on where free parking is available for visitors as an alternative to paying for parking. Or innovative solutions such as sharing as was mentioned previously in the report somewhere

5.8.

Staff training and re-training

Seasonal staff are important for visitor businesses and 30% of staff within our survey were seasonal, with an average (mean) number of 2.6 seasonal staff in every business. Whether staff are new or returning seasonally, it is important to ensure that they receive training in visitor satisfaction, being welcoming, polite and friendly. These are the values that visitors remember most in staff and experiences with staff. Training can ensure that these three values are understood and utilised by staff.

5.9.

Going the extra mile

Going the extra mile is a phrase used to describe how visitor businesses can make that extra effort to ensure that their customers remember their experience positively. As discussed above, visitors with positive experiences are likely to tell others of that experience and are more likely to trigger positive responses from direct marketing. Staff may need to be encouraged to ‘go the extra mile’, which may mean breaking out of normalised working patterns and methods to serve and assist customers. Business managers should encourage staff to think about how they can ‘go the extra mile’ and allow them to break out of their work role to achieve this. Examples of going the extra mile included; upgrading visitors to a better room if the room was available, drying clothes and equipment of hikers, cyclists and sailors, providing a free lift into and from restaurants in the local town. Other examples included cooking to dietary requirements, one example was hand baking gluten free bread, and acting as a personal tourist guide, by spending time with customers to help ensure they get to do and see things that they like.

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6. Annex 1 6.1.

Who took part in the Visitors’ survey?

The table below shows that 819 visitors were interviewed across 40 locations in Wales. Table 62: Completed visitor interviews by Local Authority Actual number Required

Completed Q's

5 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

125 50 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 425

125 37 6 10 25 19 12 25 25 25 14 13 336

4 3 2 2 1 1

100 75 50 50 25 25 325

100 75 46 21 25 19 286

Clusters

Actual number Required

Completed Q's

Ceredigion

Pembrokeshire

Carmarthenshire

Powys

250 1000

198 820

Local Authority SOUTH Cardiff Swansea Bridgend Vale of Glamorgan Monmouthshire Neath and Port Talbot Torfaen Merthyr Tydfil Rhondda Cynon Taff Caerphilly Blaenau Gwent Newport Total South NORTH Gwynedd Conwy Denbighshire Flintshire Anglesey Wrexham Total North

Local Authority

Clusters

MID

Total Mid Overall Total

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6.2.

Who took part in the Business Survey?

The table below shows that in total 694 businesses were interviewed and which county they were located in. Where a business had more than one county of operation, we selected their main postcode as the county code. More detail is given in the business section below. Table 63: County County Gwynedd Ceredigion Powys Vale of Glamorgan Pembrokeshire Denbighshire Cardiff Conwy Carmarthenshire City and County of Swansea Monmouthshire Isle of Anglesey Bridgend Newport Blaenau Gwent Flintshire Wrexham Rhondda Cynon Taf Torfaen Neath Port Talbot Caerphilly Merthyr Tydfil

N 112 98 59 59 58 42 38 36 33 30 25 21 13 12 11 10 10 9 7 6 4 1 694

% 16.9 14.8 8.9 8.9 8.7 6.3 5.7 5.4 5.0 4.5 3.8 3.2 2.0 1.8 1.7 1.5 1.5 1.4 1.1 0.9 0.6 0.2 104.7

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