ALVA recovery tracker shows a tenth of visitors keen to return at once 4 Jun 2020

The Association of Leading Visitor Attractions has published two reports, tracking how the public are feeling about returning to visitor attractions. The first covers late April, and the second mid-May. The May report finds that:

• since the announcement of lockdown easing, there has been an uptick in sentiment that the worst is still to come from 24% to 35%, but the largest group (44%) think things will stay the same and 21% think the worst has passed.
• The average amount of time before people anticipate returning to a visitor attraction is 5.1 months.
• 9% say they will visit museums and galleries as soon as they reopen, 48% will see what happens and 43% are unlikely to visit for a long time. This is roughly similar to figures across leisure, from zoos to castles and theme parks – only gardens and country houses buck the trend with around a quarter happy to visit immediately.
• There will also be a knock-on from the level of confidence in using public transport, especially in London. Currently 21% say they will feel confident on public transport when lockdown eases, 61% will not.
• Concern about the level of crowds is a major barrier to visits. The top safety priorities for the public are venues limiting visitor numbers and being seen to enforce social distancing, addressing issues with toilets, indoor cafes, interactives and regularly touched surfaces and having hand sanitiser and staff visibly cleaning around the site.

AIM (ALVA reports), Museums Journal