ASVA attractions’ January results are published
Added: 30 Mar 2022
The latest ASVA Visitor Attractions Barometer report, providing January 2022 visitor figures, is now available to view in the Members Area of our website.
This year, in consultation with The Moffat Centre, we decided to produce two reports per month to give our members the best possible insights available. The new report compares January 2022 and 2021 figures. With considerable restrictions still in place, 2021 was far from normal and at the start of the year much of mainland Scotland was under ‘Level 4’ restrictions, resulting in the enforced closure of most attractions. We therefore produced a second report to compare figures from 2022 with those of 2019, the last ‘normal’ year of trading for the sector.
Whilst Omicron-related measures and messaging were in place, January 2021 was still a far better month than the sector had experienced in 2020 when the majority of attractions were fully closed. The overall figure of +338.4% on the surface appears to show a widespread recovery for our sector, with almost all areas and all attraction types reporting significantly increased visitation. This, however, presents a distorted picture and comparing the figures with those of 2019 reveals that January 2022 was an incredibly difficult month for the sector. Omicron measures – and Scottish Government messaging advising the public should only meet outdoors where possible – severely restricted visitor numbers, with figures being 42.4% down on 2019. Unsurprisingly, the only attraction types that reported significantly better figures were outdoor/nature attractions (overall reporting a healthy +71.7% on 2019 figures).
This is why it’s hugely important that for this year, at the very least, we continue to report figures compared, not only with the year before, but also with 2019. It’s only by analysing results with those prior to the pandemic that we can assess if there is indeed any recovery taking place for our bruised and battered industry.
We would encourage all ASVA members to participate in the monthly and annual data collection exercises to ensure we build up a picture of industry performance that’s as complete as possible. If you wish, you can submit your data requesting that your numbers remain confidential. Through our colleagues at the Moffat Centre, we are currently collecting data from members for the Annual Report, and we’d urge all members to complete this exercise, as information you provide greatly strengthens ASVA’s ability to advocate on the sector’s behalf.
For more information, and to ensure your attraction is included in both the monthly and annual reports, please get in touch with The Moffat Centre’s Hugh Sheridan at hugh.sheridan@gcu.ac.uk or on 0141 273 1611.