VisitBritain Report reveals overseas visitors favour UK Theatre over live-sporting events
VisitBritain research has revealed that more overseas visitors go to the theatre, musicals, the opera or ballet (2.8 million) than to a live sporting event (1.3 million) when visiting in Britain.
Overseas theatre-goers are also surprisingly high spenders, injecting £2.7 billion into the UK economy during their trip – over double the £1.1 billion spent by traditionally high spending live sport visitors.
The average spend by theatre-keen visitors whilst in the UK is also high at £983 (a regular visitor spends around £600), which could include theatre souvenirs, programmes and refreshments, along with dinner and hotels.
Big spenders
Further insights reveal that theatre-goers also generate higher spending than music tourists (festivals and live gigs), at £2.2bn across Britain.
Looking at age groups throws up some equally interesting results. It’s not just the over 55s who are avid theatregoers-some 38% of the overseas visitors who go to theatre are aged 25 to 44. Women are the keenest, with 55% of overseas audiences being female. They tend drive the decision to go to a show and will bring along their partner.
To read the full report, click here.
Share this