Following on from a good 2013, visitor attractions have had another year of strong growth. This growth has been driven by the hot summer weather, an increase in inbound visitors and a record year for London tourism.

Going forward, the challenges for visitor attractions are the rate at which the UK economy recovers and how this recovery impacts consumers’ travel behaviour. Attractions have been somewhat shielded by the impact of the recession by the ‘staycation’ trend, a trend which may be subdued if consumers feel better able to take their holidays abroad.

This report assesses the current status of the visitor attractions industry in the UK, including visitor numbers, visitor profiles and consumer attitudes, with a special consumer focus on museums and art galleries. It also examines wider tourist trends and other factors likely to impact on demand during the next five years.

Mintel last reported on this market in Visitor Attractions – UK, December 2013.

Mintel has chosen to examine the following types of visitor attraction as the core focus of this report:

• Country parks

• Gardens

• Heritage and visitor centres

• Historic properties (including historic houses, palaces, castles, forts, historic monuments, archaeological sites, historic ships, windmills, watermills and other historic properties)

• Museums, art galleries and science centres

• Places of worship (cathedrals, churches when visited specifically as a visitor attraction, not as a place of regular worship)

• Steam/heritage railways

• Theme parks

• Zoos and wildlife parks.

Mintel primarily follows VisitEngland’s definitions of the above categories of visitor attraction. VisitEngland defines a visitor attraction as follows:

“An attraction where it is feasible to charge admission for the sole purpose of sightseeing. The attraction must be a permanently established excursion destination, a primary purpose of which is to allow access for entertainment, interest, or education; rather than being primarily a retail outlet or a venue for sporting, theatrical, or film performances. It must be open to the public, without prior booking, for published periods each year, and should be capable of attracting day visitors or tourists as well as local residents. In addition, the attraction must be a single business, under a single management, so that it is capable of answering the economic questions on revenue, employment etc.”