Survey finds fastest growing household type wants more culture

The fastest-growing household type in the UK – adults aged 35 to 54 with no dependent children at home – want more culture in their lives but say that cost is a major barrier, a survey from the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA) has found.

Carried out by cultural sector consultancy Baker Richards, the survey is the first in-depth study of this 7.6 million-strong group of potential visitors. This group is on course to overtake households with children by 2030. and is estimated to spend around £5bn a year on discretionary leisure.

The survey found that this group would visit more cultural destinations if they could afford to, but say that cost, more than personal interest, decides whether they visit or not.

The survey asked what they did on a recent free Saturday, with 35% staying at home and 7.5% going to a cultural attraction. Asked what they would have done on the same day with no money worries, the share staying home fell to 9% and cultural visits rose from 7.5% to 22%.

Two thirds of the cultural visiting this group would like to do sits beyond what they can currently afford. Time outdoors was the only activity that did not change, at around 30%.

The research also asked what was missing from people's lives. The answers were “connection” and “rest”.

Transport, good food and clear pricing were all identified by this audience as factors that determine whether they return to venues. Other factors that draw repeat visits include events for adults, membership across venues, seasonal programming and expert-led sessions.

Another format that appealed was regular small group meetings at the same place to learn a skill over time, such as learning to read old handwriting or identifying birds by song.

The research divided the 35-54 demographic into four groups, defined by what they want from a visit: sociables, explorers, restorers and purists.

The purists, closest to the traditional museum and heritage visitor, are also the most price-sensitive, comfortable at around £20 to £32. Around one in five of this audience has felt actively unwelcome at a visitor attraction.

Elsewhere, 35% of neurodivergent visitors report feeling unwelcome, compared to 19% of the wider demographic and 29% of global majority visitors. A further quarter feel a discomfort that comes from being an adult without children at a venue aimed at families.

The latter is mainly about tone and communication, while feeling actively unwelcome points to staff training, recruitment and representation.

Cost of living

Real household incomes have been forecast to fall for the rest of the decade, and high street footfall is still below pre-pandemic level. Attractions have visits to replace from the years since 2020, and this is the largest group they have to replace them with.

AVLA says that reaching this demographic will require venues to ensure prices fit their budgets and offer the opportunity for connection and rest.

David Reece, chief strategy officer at Baker Richards, said: “Attractions have always had the family to bring people back. You come as a child on a school trip, you come back with your own children, and later with your grandchildren, and the life stage tends to do that on its own.

"This audience doesn’t have that. They’re the fastest-growing household type in the country, a third of them live alone, and many won’t have children to bring them back later on. So, in a way they’re the first big audience the sector has had to give a reason to return, rather than relying on life to do it for them.

“People assume that with no children they have money to spare. For some they do, but for a lot of them it’s the other way round. If you live alone, you’re carrying a whole household on one income, and the figures show people on their own spend less on days out than couples do.

"This is also a generation whose wages have barely moved since the 2008 crash. That’s why cost decides so much of what they do. As a sector, we have to earn their habit, and price it so they can afford to keep it up. Do that, and you build the kind of loyal, returning audience the sector has always had from families.”

Bernard Donaghue, chief executive at ALVA, added: “This is really valuable original research which complements the work undertaken by Baker Richards, and commissioned by ALVA last year, into the family market. 

"Our members are very aware of the competition for the leisure pound and the leisure hour, and of the consequences of the ongoing cost-of-living crisis which pose challenges to attractions, and as well as to visitors. 

"The more we can share great insights with the entire sector, beyond our membership, the better able individual businesses will be to adapt their experiences, products and pricing to respond to visitor needs but also strengthen their own finances and sustainability. We are delighted to share this research with the broader visitor economy."