1. The Business of Leisure Investigating in Leisure and Tourism

2. Leisure at the Alton Towers Resort
Leisure activities can be divided into two sections
Active e.g. Playing Tennis
Passive e.g. Reading a Book
These may take place either at home or elsewhere and various factors will affect this choice

3. Leisure at the Alton Towers Resort
People who visit a variety of places in their leisure time:
Leisure centres
Libraries
Restaurants
Clubs
Bookshops
Cinemas
And hopefully theme park resorts!!

4. Leisure at the Alton Towers Resort
Various factors affect what people choose to do for their leisure activities:
Age
Occupation
Gender
Income
Family Situation
Religion
Where they live
These factors will affect those that choose to visit Alton Towers Resort and those that choose to go to another attraction
Those that visit us are known as our target market

5. Leisure at the Alton Towers Resort
Alton Towers Resort Visitors are:
Individuals - Coach Groups
Families - Companies
Groups - School Parties
How these visitors get to Alton Towers Resort will again depend on various factors. The marketing strategy is designed to encourage as much of our target market to visit as possible and to extend their one day visit to a short break

6. Leisure at Alton Towers Resort

7. Customers by Drive Time7

8. Customers by Drive Time-
Customers by Drive Time
Visitors to Alton Towers Resort travel further than to the other parks within the Merlin Entertainment Group
With over 50% living in the 120+ drive time zone
The middle distance zones have experienced growth over the last three years, whilst the 120+ drive time had lost almost 10% of visitors

9. Visitors to the Alton Towers Resort
Visitors to the Alton Towers Resort travel significantly further than any of our other Merlin attraction making us a truly National Brand
Our positioning as a short break destination and overall appeal to the family market has helped encourage this

10. Resort Advert

11. Leisure and the Merlin Entertainments Group -
Alton Towers Resort is owned by the Merlin Entertainments Group (MEG)
MEG own many attractions in the UK and appeal to different people looking for leisure activities
By having different attractions MEG can appeal to a greater target market

12. The Merlin Entertainments Group

13. Travel to Alton Towers Resort -
The guests that visit Alton Towers Resort live in various places in the UK. To visit Alton Towers Resort they therefore need to travel
We can define travel in two ways:
Leisure travel: which is travel to a destination taking place in an individual’s leisure time
Business travel: if the reason for travel is business-related

14. Travel to the Alton Towers Resort
Our guests reach us by a variety of transport methods:
Car - Coach
Rail - Taxi
Bus - Air
The type of transport will depend on the visitor profile
E.g. Family = Car
School = Bus/Coach

15. Travel to the Alton Towers Resort
Leisure travellers can either be day visitors or tourists who stay overnight
As most guests that visit the Alton Towers Resort are not local to the area and have the intention to return home, they are looking for leisure and tourism activities
Examples of leisure and tourism activities:
Sport and physical recreation
Arts and entertainment
Courtside recreation
Home-based leisure
Visitor attractions
Children’s play activities
Catering

16. Travel and Tourism at the Alton Towers Resort
Guests that travel to the Alton Towers Resort are part of the travel and tourism industry
The travel and tourism industry consists of:
Travel Agents - Accommodation
Tour Operators - Attractions
Tourist Information centre - Transportation

17. Travel and Tourism at Alton Towers Resort
Our market research has revealed that over 30% of our guests stay away from home overnight as part of their visits
Alton Towers Resort has two hotels to help cater for these guests

18. Travel and Tourism at Alton Towers Resort
Questionnaire results found:
% stayed at the resort or nearby
% stayed at the Resort or nearby
% stayed at the Resort or nearby
% stayed at the Resort or nearby
35% stayed at the Resort or nearby
% stayed at the Resort or nearby

19. The Tourism industry Our attractions cover the following sectors:
Leisure travel – day and overnight
Visitor attraction
Accommodation
Catering
Private sector organisation

20. Conclusion Leisure activities can be passive or active
Many factors can contribute to the type of leisure activity an individual may choose (e.g. religion, gender etc.)
Those that do visit us are known as our target market
As long as there is an intention for the person to return home, it can be classed a tourism.
Visitors to the Alton Towers Resort are classed as tourists
As our visitors are not always local to the Alton Towers Resort they will choose a mode of transport to get here – this makes the Alton Towers Resort part of the travel and tourism industry

21. Any Questions?
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