Market Towns receive high praise from visitors

Stratford-on-Avon District Council has just released encouraging findings on what visitors enjoy and like to do in the market towns of Alcester, Shipston-on-Stour and Southam. It also shows that they are very likely to recommend the market towns in the District to encourage other visitors to come to the area.

The Visitor Survey was designed to find out the profile and characteristics of visitors to the three market towns, the strengths and weaknesses of the market towns as visitor destinations and to improve understanding of the visitor experience. 

As part of the District Council's commitment to the Tourism Strategy, research and consultation, the surveys were carried out this year at several locations in the market towns from July through to September; with just over 200 face to face interviews in each taking place.

There were high satisfaction ratings for the feeling of welcome in the market towns and feeling safe from crime.  Those surveyed were very impressed with the general appearance of the towns and the atmosphere within.

Shopping was one of the main reasons for their visit, with the quality of service received in the shops highly rated and over seven out of ten visitors had been to that market town before.

Places to eat and drink were commended in Alcester and Shipston-on-Stour, with the ease of finding their way around scoring highly in Alcester and Southam.  Asked how much they enjoyed their visit to the market towns, all three towns scored very highly.

Cllr Maurice Howse, Enterprise Housing & Revenues Portfolio says: The results of the surveys provide the District Council and the tourism industry with a better understanding of what our visitors expect and need.  The results will also help to focus activity on what needs to be done to improve and enhance the visitor experience so that they stay longer, spend more and most importantly return. It is encouraging that visitors want to come back to the area and would recommend the towns to their friends."

Robin Tjolle, Destination Manager says: “This is very valuable information and helps us to work more strategically with each of the towns. It is great to see that so many people who have visited the area are enjoying their stay and telling others to come too. There is no better way to encourage more people to come and visit, than through personal recommendations. The surveys also give us great information to help us plan the further development of tourism to our market towns and the wider area."

The summaries of the results can be found on the Stratford-on-Avon Tourism Forum website at www.stratfordtourism.wordpress.com under the Document Library tab, under reports entitled 'Initial Survey Reports for Southam Visitor Survey 2012' and the same for Alcester and Shipston.

The surveys were undertaken by Stratford District Council in order to: 

• Provide basic data on the profile, origin, behavior, use of facilities and opinions of visitors to Alcester to help improve understanding of tourism within the town.

• Ensure that marketing campaigns are properly focused and allow their effectiveness to be monitored.

• Identify the main reasons why visitors come to the market towns and their particular likes and dislikes.

The survey was carried out from mid July to the end of September 2012; the results are based on 208 face to face interviews in Alcester, 200 in Shipston-on-Stour, and 202 in Southam.  Various locations were used within the towns at prime visitor sites.