Delicious Data: Visitors Are Spending on Food, Beverage, and Retail

 

A family of five is standing at your gate. Congratulations! Your marketing worked. They booked their trip, purchased their tickets online, made travel arrangements, and now they are here. The teenager is flexitarian, the elementary school kid has a gluten allergy, the mom and the 12-year-old are eyeing the retail shop, and the dad looks like he could use a drink. Are you ready for all of them? While the guest’s journey to an attraction is often analyzed, we sometimes overlook what visitors look for once they walk through the gate. And the big question: do visitors plan to continue spending on food, beverage, and retail?

PGAV Destinations recently researched the food, beverage, and retail (FB&R) desires of attraction visitors. Along with partner H2R Market Research, 800 attraction visitors were surveyed, including 758 who made a food and beverage purchase and 653 who made a retail purchase, providing a +/- 3.5% at a 95% confidence interval. The survey examined what’s driving sales, what atmosphere people most want while dining, and whether people really want a giant pink Simpsons-themed donut. (The answer to that is yes, definitely).

First, there’s good news. Visitor spending is up, and they plan to keep spending. The FB&R spending survey shows admission costs account for 48% of spending at an attraction, with merchandise bringing 25% and food and beverage 29% of spending. When asked about what actions visitors took at an attraction, nearly 60% purchased a meal, almost 50% a snack, 70% a drink, and 37% a retail purchase.

That’s a lot of slushies.

More good news: visitors report increased on-site spending across the board, but food & beverage has the largest self-reported increase.  The study indicates that 35% spend more on food & beverages at attractions than pre-pandemic. But that doesn’t mean you should ignore the merch—spending is up 27%.

But it gets even better. Visitors want to keep eating and buying t-shirts, with 76% of respondents indicating they will “probably or definitely” continue spending more at attractions in the future.

What do visitors want?

Overwhelmingly, visitors reported wanting a variety of food and beverage choices along with seating availability, a pleasant ambiance, and good options for kids. But there are other factors, too, including the availability of alcohol (41%), locally sourced ingredients (39%), and live entertainment (35%).

And they want to know what’s available before setting foot on the property—59% make a plan to purchase a meal before they even arrive. The study also indicated that more than one in five attraction visitors have dietary restrictions.

Back to those giant pink donuts. Visitors like a good theme! Theming nets a 13% increase in intent to purchase over non-theming.

8-inch diameter donut from Lard Lad Donuts in Universal Studios Hollywood. Credit: saltycanary.com

In the retail sector, most attraction visitors are looking for souvenirs, gifts, or functional items. Overwhelmingly, people report affordability (77%), quality (74%), and variety (67%) as primary drivers of visiting a retail shop.  But you may miss an opportunity if you think they make all their purchases on-site in your gift shop. More than a quarter (28%) say they have made an online purchase after visiting, with nearly one-third reporting that they tried to purchase something online but were unable.

What keeps them from buying?

The top five stated barriers to food and beverage spending include unaffordability (46%), low quality (44%), dirty/messy seating areas (42%), having no place to sit (40%), and a lack of variety (39%). On the retail side, the barriers to purchasing include unaffordability (56%), low quality (48%), and not enough variety (45%).

Over the next few weeks, we’ll dish up more on the impact of food quality and affordability, using food and retail as part of storytelling, and the role digital plays in planning and purchasing.


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Dawn Jasper