21/05/2008 - The market for cinema is generally considered to be almost entirely drawn from the surrounding residential areas. However, research in cinemas in places that attract visitors has shown that the potentials for additional cinema patronage of tourists and other people should not be ignored.

The market for cinema is generally considered to be almost entirely drawn from the surrounding residential areas. However, research in cinemas in places that attract visitors has shown that the potentials for additional cinema patronage of tourists and other people should not be ignored. Investigations in Australia and other markets investigated data collected on the demographic characteristics, place of residence and type of visitors to the area. Defined as travellers from outside the study area, visitors are staying at accommodation overnight and include holidaymakers, tourists, business travellers at conventions etc. Destinations attracting large numbers include Cannes and the Côte d’Azur, the Costa del Sol in Spain, city centres of Paris, London, New York, etc. The national average cinema attendance rate in Australia is around 4 times per annum, with some areas that have conveniently located good quality venues reaching an average of 8 or more per capita cinema visits per annum. As to attendance rates for individual cinemas, the best way to quantify them is to conduct a survey at the cinemas which can reveal important information on the source of patronage. The source of patronage can indicate the percentage of visitors coming from outside the natural attraction market of a cinema. In a typical situation that could be expected to be influenced by visitors, within a coastal holiday destination in Australia, the total cinema market is around 1.4 million attendances. This is generated from the approximate resident population of 275,000, plus a consistent visitor market, that contributes to a significant part of the potential. Measurements of attendance at single cinemas show that the effect of tourists on this market is very important for one cinema complex in particular. And this is not the main cinema operating in the area! Movement in and out across all of the urbanised area is moderate, with investigations suggesting that the contribution to admissions by tourists and visitors is within the range of 15% to 20% of the current market. Residents represent around 1,155,000 of the total admission market and tourists around 245,000. The attendance rate of residents at 4.2 visits per year is low by comparison with major national markets, although it is not atypical of the main provincial centres in Australia.

A 12-screen complex is the dominant operation in the area, with by far the major share of about 70% of the market (or around one million admissions). This is clearly a very well located cinema venue, recently extended and well presented with support from an adjacent regional shopping centre and outdoor dinning setting. However, the sole competitor of any significance, a smaller 5-screen cinema complex located within a rather separated settlement, is also significant, but only because it is well supported by visitor patronage.

Surveys of patrons at both cinemas with estimates of resident numbers have been obtained for immediate area by postal code area. From this information, the attendance rates at the 5-screen complex have shown a limited penetration of the market in terms of average visits per annum. Generally, the 30- minute drive time boundary encloses most of the resident market where there is any significant attraction to the cinemas at present. Closer to the dominant 12-screen cinema complex, the residents show an attendance rate at the 5-screen cinema complex as low as 0.6 times per annum throughout the over- all market, while in the adjacent areas near the cinemas it peaks at around 6 visits per annum. The attendance rate for variations follow normal patterns of cinema attendance, which reflect lower interest in travel by people living some distance away from the site, as well as the competitive attraction of alternative venues.

The visitor market represents almost 30% of the total cinema admissions of the 5-screen cinema, with an average annual attendance in the estimated visitor market of 5.1 per year, exceeding the rate of residents by 90%. Possibly, the place of stay of visitors in tourist accommodation is more conveniently located for access to the 5-screen cinema than are the areas of residence of local population who is living further away from this cinema destination.

John Arnison
President of Spectrum Group
Australia PTY Ltd.
www.spectrumanalysts.com