With the sunny weather set to continue and Britain’s gardens well and really in bloom, the national tourism agency has released research which reveals that a staggering £7.8 billion was spent by tourists enjoying a garden within the UK, with a big chunk coming from younger visitors
A VisitBritain study identified that of the 31 million people that are likely to visit Britain annually, around a 3rd (11.1 million) enjoy a park or garden, with around 2.4 million aged between 25-34 against just 1.4 million aged between 55-64. There have been 2.1 million visits from those aged 35-44 involving parks or gardens, while nearly three-quarters of one million were aged 65+. Overall those aged under-35 were particularly prone to visit a park or garden, with 41% of visits doing so when compared with 33% of visits from those aged over 35.
The latest figures confirm that going to a park or garden is definitely one of the leading activities for our overseas guests, accounting for 36% of all visitors, placing only behind eating out, going to pubs and shopping. It means visitors are surprisingly prone to spend time in a park or garden than a museum, castle, historic house or art gallery.
Over half all ‘holiday’ visitors (54%) explore our green surrounds every year, a good indication that admiration is growing the world over for Britain’s attractive scenery and wonderfully crafted gardens. It remains an activity which visitors can enjoy whatever their age group, from Bodnant Gardens with spectacular views across Snowdonia to the intriguing Muncaster within the Lake District or the realm famous world-famous historic gardens at Inverewe within the Scottish Highlands. London has also just celebrated 100 years of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and is home to 8 Royal Parks and the globally acknowledged UNESCO World Heritage Site of Kew Gardens.
Unsurprisingly the preferred time of year to go to gardens is the summer months, with July to September accounting for 4 million of the once a year tally. Against this, just 1.6 million visited gardens within the first quarter of 2011.The explanation visitors come here plays a powerful role in determining what they do during their trip with tourists on ‘holiday’ making up the majority of visits (6.4 million) followed second by those here to determine their family and friends (3.2 million).
The French, as our largest market, appear to prefer our parks and gardens over some other country with 1.25 million visits, spending £406 million inside the process. Visitors from America are second within the table with 1.23 million visits, but they spend nearly triple the quantity of the French during their visits, at around £1.1 billion. Completing the head three are the Germans, 1.15 million were enchanted by our array of natural beauty and in addition spent more within the UK than top placed France at £629 million.
Looking at length of stay and propensity to go to a garden produces similarly interesting results. We discovered that most of visits are by those holidaying in Britain for between 1 and three nights, but that the longer the duration of stay, the greater the chance of a trip to a garden, with 56% of 15+ night stays including time in a garden or park.
The Brazilians (61%), Russians (51%) and Chinese (45%) have many of the highest propensity to go to our gardens than any market, which shows the growing and prominent interest from Britain’s increasingly important BRIC markets.
Recent post-2012 Olympic Games NBI research seems to back up the claim that our parks and gardens are as popular as ever. In a study where Britain’s ‘Overall Nation Brand’ and ‘Welcome’ saw significant improvements, much was also said about tourists now eager to see ‘more than simply London’. A staggering 75% of respondents internationally agreed that the Games coverage made them desire to venture out and make an effort to go to other parts of the rustic. In a separate question a major 70% of respondents claimed that once watching the Olympics, they agreed that Britain had ‘lovely countryside’.
In an Ipsos MORI study for VisitBritain in 2013, work was done to evaluate the impact of Britain’s GREAT image campaign the world over. Findings indicated that the activity helps showcase the full of england. Across all the survey cities, many respondents strongly agreed that the promotional work made them wish to visit places outside of London, and to enjoy our natural scenic beauty.
Sandie Dawe, Chief Executive of VisitBritain said: “We’ve completed three big pieces of study which all indicate that our parks, gardens and natural beauty are a valuable tourism asset, admired internationally and enjoyed by our visitors.
“It’s hugely encouraging to look our gardens are as well liked by the more youthful generation as they’re with 55-plus age groups. Post-Games perceptions of england have shifted for the easier and time spent in any of our glorious parks is something to be cherished- especially when the sun is out.”