'Internet Cafes in the UK, 2003' is the latest report from Mintel Leisure Intelligence. It comes at a time when Internet penetration has risen dramatically, to 51% as of July 2003, while 47% of the population has access at home. Internet access is increasingly being seen as a low-cost product and this has affected the Internet café, with many businesses struggling to remain profitable.

Providing a unique investigation into the market's trends, sectors and consumers, Mintel’s report offers you an original and extensive insight into:

• The benefits for Internet cafes of increased Internet penetration nation-wide
• How consumers use the internet and what they use it for
• The role of Internet cafés in today's leisure environment
• Contracting consumer expenditure in Internet cafes and the subsequent diversification and specialisation of operators
• Instability within the industry despite expansion plans in the branded sector
• The increased competition facing Internet café operators
• The increasingly apparent trend of segmentation of services by training, office services, PC and online gaming, mobile telephony, web design and hosting and PC repair.
• The importance of the youth market and the demographic make up of consumers who are intent on using an Internet cafe
• Just how vital tourists are to the market
• The gender divide in café consumers - why men are twice as likely as women to have visited an Internet café in the last 12 months and the key differences in the way they use them
• Key target markets and potential users
• The possibilities of attracting segments where Internet penetration is low

This report examines Internet cafés as a retail outlet that sells Internet access via a computer terminal, traditionally alongside a food or drink offer.

The format varies considerably, however, and, in some cases the food and drink offer has become obsolete or irrelevant, such as in Internet Exchange outlets that operate within a public library. Many Internet cafés now offer an additional range of business, training and consultancy services, as well as networked systems for PC gaming.

Mintel offers you new analysis into:

Market factors/ Market size and trends/ The supply structure/ Consumer trends/ Consumer Attitudes and Typologies/ Future trends/ Market forecasts

Other reports of relevance include:

• Lunchtime Eating Habits - UK, Leisure Intelligence, October 2003
• Internet Quarterly - UK, Mintel Internet Series, September 2003
• Holiday Bookings - UK, Leisure Intelligence, August 2003
• Holidays, The Road to Recovery - UK, Special, February 2003
• Coffee Shops - UK, Leisure Intelligence, January 2003
• Video and Computer Games - UK, Leisure Intelligence, September 2002
• Leisure and the Internet - UK, Leisure Intelligence, May 2002