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In The South

Bath Tourism shares development vision and visitor survey results at annual members’ forum

Paul Gustafson March 26, 2015

Hard on the heels of the recent announcement that the south-west is to receive  £5 million in government funding for tourism, Bath Tourism Plus (BTP), the destination marketing organisation for Bath and the surrounding area, hosted hundreds of local businesses at the annual Bath Tourism Plus Members’ Forum.

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THE event, which took place on Tuesday, March 10 at Komedia in central Bath, was an opportunity for the BTP team to share marketing plans and its vision for the future with local businesses and partners in and around Bath.

David James, recently appointed as Chief Executive of Bath Tourism Plus, took centre stage and announced that following the £5 million investment across the south-west, Bath will be well placed to benefit from some of the spend.

He said: “The main theme of the day was working in partnership and how, as the UK’s leading Destination Marketing Organisation (DMO), we run a series of highly successful marketing initiatives and events, most notably the Bath Christmas Market and the Great Bath Feast, that directly encourage footfall and overnight stays in the city of Bath.

“These are very exciting times for Bath Tourism Plus, especially with the announcement of further funding in the south-west as well as the appointment of a new Head of Marketing for Bath Tourism Plus.

“Our marketing activity is specially designed to support our partners and drive even more business into the local economy; in 2013 alone, Bath attracted 967,000 staying visits from UK and overseas visitors, plus an impressive 4.8 million day visits. Bath also generated an estimated £405 million of visitor spend in the local economy. 10% of jobs in BANES are tourism related, that’s equivalent to 9,300 jobs.”

To a packed auditorium, Bath Tourism Plus also announced key findings from the Bath Visitor Survey 2014, which was conducted by the South West Research Company Ltd.

Diane Goffey, from the South West Research Company Ltd, explained: “The last survey was undertaken in 2010 and so the latest set of results provide up-to-date profiles of visitors and identifies new emerging trends in the profile of tourism in the city.

“One of the overwhelmingly positive messages coming out of the 2014 survey findings is visitors’ high level of satisfaction with their overall experience in the city and the fact that a very high proportion of them would go on to recommend it as a place to visit to their friends and family.”

Key findings from the Bath Visitor Survey 2014 include:

•      44% of visitors were on a day trip whilst 55% were overnighting

•        75% of groups to the city contained adults only

•        39% of visitors were aged 55+

•        73% of visitors were categorised as ABC1’s

•        77% of visitors were on a leisure/holiday visit to the city

•        83% of staying visitors were using serviced accommodation

•        Average length of stay was 2.47 nights

•        Average length of a day trip to Bath was 5 hours 21 minutes

•        58% of visitors were on a repeat visit to the city

•        54% of visitors arrived by car, van or motorcycle

•       8% of visitors were visiting as part of an organised group/coach tour

•        Visitor spend per head was calculated at £57.81 per person

•        92% of visitors rated the overall enjoyment of their visit to Bath as ‘high’ or ‘very high’.

Highlighting another success story of the year, the BTP team and Bath BID also announced new changes to the already successful Bath App including car parking availability as well as a film and heritage trail.

To read a copy of the Bath Visitor Survey 2014, click here: 

For more information about things to see and do in Bath, click here:

 

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