Recreation Site Visitor Satisfaction Research Summary

Recreation Site Visitor Satisfaction Research Summary July 2015 Meeting our Performance Commitment: We protect and improve the water environment Abo...
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Recreation Site Visitor Satisfaction Research Summary July 2015 Meeting our Performance Commitment: We protect and improve the water environment

About our land As one of Yorkshire's biggest landowners, we take care of 72,000 acres of stunning countryside. Most of this land is open for our customers to explore and enjoy. Recreation capabilities on our land include anything from a gentle stroll on a well maintained path one at one our stunning reservoirs to a more adventurous trek off the beaten track across our beautiful countryside. Fishing, cycling, mountain biking, canoeing, sailing and horse riding are all available on parts of our land also. More information about activities are available on our website.

Our recreation sites were the key focus of this piece of research, these sites offer all of our customers easy access to the countryside. They typically include well maintained pathways, car parking and some picnicking facilities but the extent to which these facilities are offered varies at each site.

Background & objectives Background At Yorkshire Water we have a number of performance commitments to achieve over the next 5 years, we agreed these commitments with our customers when we developed our business plan in the run up to April 2015. Part of our plan was a promise to measure recreational visitor satisfaction with access to Yorkshire Water recreational land and visitor facilities. This report provides a summary of visitor satisfaction at our recreation sites, meeting our performance commitment for this year.

Research Objectives: •

To understand how satisfied customers are with our recreational sites



To explore what would make customers visit our sites more often, make them happier when they do visit and encourage future visits to our sites



To explore if a new range of activities offered on Yorkshire Water land would improve a customers visit to our sites or detract from it

Methodology

Face to face interviews were conducted Monday 4th May - Sunday 29th May at four of Yorkshire Water’s recreation sites. • • • •

Brayton Barff (100) Scout Dike (103) Scammonden (99) Agden (100)

Sites were selected, each on a footfall (high, medium and low) and location basis, the target was to achieve 100 interviews at each site

Scout Dike, 2015

Overall satisfaction with sites visited

Very Satisfied

88%

Quite Satisfied Neither/Nor

98% of visitors are either very or quite satisfied with the recreation site they visited

Quite dissatisfied Very dissatisfied

9% 1% Overall Satisfaction

Q13. Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the site? Base all respondents (402)

Reasons for high satisfaction scores

“New footpath is done, its not muddy can't fault it”

“It’s so peaceful here & easy to get to” - Brayton Barff

-Scout Dike

Good paths & access/ Easy walk

“Paths are wonderful now” -Scammonden

Quiet & peaceful

“It’s wild up here”

- Agden

“It’s unspoilt”

“Great to park and let the dogs off the lead”

- Agden

“Wildlife is good”

- Brayton Barff

“Beautiful scenery in a safe walk” - Agden

- Agden

“The dogs love it here”

- Scammonden

Unspoilt landscape & wildlife

“Quiet - lovely scenery”

- Scout Dike

Great for dogs

Unprompted

Q13a. Why do you say that? Base: All respondents (402)

“Really safe for dogs” - Agden

Reason for visiting

48% Dog walking

28%

18%

13%

Stroll/walk

Scenery

Peace/quiet

10% Fishing

Why here and not somewhere else? Location 44%

For a change 9%

Scenery 30%

Free day out 5%

Like/love it 22%

Recommended 5%

Q3. What are your main reasons for visiting today? Base: All respondents (402) Q4. Why here rather than anywhere else? Base: All respondents (402)

Thoughts on potential new activities on site Visitors are much more vocal about what would detract from their visit than what would add to it Activities which would improve visits Nothing

Activities which would detract from visits

60%

4x4 driving

Cultural/charity events

9%

Motor biking

Canoeing

9%

Shooting

BBQs/fires

8%

Jet skiing

Camping/Natural material shelters

6%

BBQs/fires

Rowing boats

6%

Horse riding/cycling

Raft building

6%

Mountain biking

Boat fishing

5%

Police dog training

Mountain biking

4%

Camping/natural material shelters

Open water swimming/Triathlon

4%

Paragliding/hand gliding

Q17a. Which of the following water and land activities do you think would improve your visit to a Yorkshire Water site such as this? Base: All respondents (402) Q17b. Which of the following water and land activities do you think would negatively impact upon your visit to a Yorkshire Water site such as this? Base: All respondents (402)

85% 73% 66% 59% 54% 45% 42% 40% 34% 31%

Conclusions and recommendations Conclusions • • •

Visitor satisfaction with recreation sites provided by Yorkshire Water is outstanding at 98% across all four sites surveyed The beauty of landscape, pathways, accessibility and a feeling of safety are the key draws to our recreation sites Change is not something visitors are keen on although recent enhancements to a couple of the sites were appreciated (improved pathways etc.)

Next Steps • •

Yorkshire Water will examine comments made by customers on how to improve our recreational sites. In line with our Customer Promises outlined in our Blueprint 2020 we will continue to survey customers on a yearly basis to understand their satisfaction with our sites. Every year we will select different sites in different areas of the region to ensure we reach a broad range of visitors and sites.