The age distribution within the UK population can affect demand for the certain types of leisure product of service. The ageing population is beneficial to attendances at museums, art galleries, historic buildings and gardens. government predictions for the period 1994-2002 show that the UK population will grow by just 2per cent in which there are a quite significant decreases in rates of growth, and in some key age groups are set to decline in number among the child population, the number of children aged four and under is set to contract, to a lesser extent so is the number of children aged between five and nine. This decline is not positive for the leisure organisations who thrive on a high proportion of there business from young children such as theme parks like Lego land Windsor, zoos and wildlife parks. The numbers of 10-14 years olds are predicted to grow by 4 percent which will most definitely please theme parks like Alton towers and Thorpe park as it means that there attendances will increase. 15-24 age category will also grow by 4 pr cent which is also pleasing news for the theme parks and leisure pursuits. at the moment there is a decline in the age group 25-34 and many of these consumers have had babies or young children so within the next five years leisure organisations targeting young fam9iles will find there target market shrinking in the next five years. The number of consumers aged 35-44 years who would typically have slightly older children are set to boom between 1994-2002 growing by 18 percent this is beneficial to leisure organisations that target the more mature age group. The number of 55-64 year old are set to grow by 11 per cent faster then any other age group within the total population, this is seen as a positive thing to organisations targeting the older population this is a good thing as many in this age group have finished work and have lots of free time to pursue leisure activities.
The table below shows the trends in the age structure of the UK population from 1998-2002.
Consumer needs and expectations of leisure products and services are changing all the time and we now belong to healthier fitter society that is continually seeking new leisure facilities, and the more experiences that are provided the more our needs and expectations become. The effect of the changing fashions and trends in the 1960s is clearly evident. If we consider the development of selected leisure activities these include – development of many city centre football stadiums into modern all seated stadiums, development of traditional cinemas with one large screen into multiplex cinemas with several screens a restaurant a bar and other facilities on one site, fluctuating popularity of individual and team sports such as football, cricket, snooker, darts, squash and ruining and the development of new hi-tech holiday centres from traditional camps of the 1950s and 1960s. The two major technology innovations that have shaped peoples leisure activities since the 1960s are the ca and television .any investigation into leisure time in the UK will undoubtedly revel that that watching television has been and continuous to be the most popular leisure activity. And with more satellite channels being produced and more people buying satellite and cable then the figures that show the amount of people that watch TV for there leisure time will indubitably increase. Advances in micro-electronics since the 1980s have led to a whole range of consumer electronic leisure goods that have increased demand for home based leisure such as –
- the Sony walkman
- CD players
- VCRs
- Personal computers
- Camcorders
- Sony Play stations
Technology has also provided opportunities for away-from home leisure operators such as theme parks and museums. However over the next 25 years internet and interactive television will be the major technology influences on leisure industry.
Assignment 3
The UK leisure and recreation industry is extremely divers, an important feature of the UK leisure and recreation industry is that it is organised into three distinct sectors the private sector the public sector and the voluntary/not profit sector.
The Public Sector
Organisations are largely funded by central or local government.
The public sector services are provided for the public and collectively paid for by the government. Their operation is ultimately accountable to elected bodies, including local councils and parliament .the public sector regards the provision of leisure services as a social service to the community rather then as a profit making venture consequently, local authorities usually provide subsidised they serve. Public sector provision can be at one of two levels: national government. The latter includes county councils, metropolitan councils, unitary authorities and district councils.
Sports council – sports councils pay an important role in the development of sport and physical recreation .government responsibilities in the sport and recreation are largely channelled through five sports councils.
- The UK sports council operating as UK sport
- The English sports council operating as sport England
- The sports council for Wales
- The Scottish sports council operating as sport Scotland
- The sports council for northern Ireland
All the sports councils distribute government and lottery funds. UK sport focuses on elite athletes, while the home country sports councils are more concerned with the development of sport at community level. Here are some of the national sports centres:
- Crystal palace, London (main sports: athletes, swimming, and sports injury centre
- Lilleshall, Shropshire(main sports: football, hockey, gymnastics and archery)
- Inverclyde in Largs (gymnastics, golf and sports medicine)
- Tolleymore mountain centre, county down, northern Ireland
The private sector
These enterprises are, directly or indirectly, in private ownership and are in business to make as much profit as possible examples of these facilities are theme parks and fitness clubs etc…
The private sector is made up of variety of commercial operations owned by individuals or companies, whose main aim is to generate profits from services and products which they provide for there customers. The main activities of the private sector in the leisure and recreation industry take place in –
- Retail sales
- Catering and accommodation
- Entertainment
- Home – based leisure
- Health and fitness
Leisure and recreation facilities commonly provided by the private sector include golf courses, theme parks health and fitness clubs, night clubs restaurants and pubs. In general, private sector companies are unlikely to get involved in the non-profit making areas of the leisure and recreation industry.
The voluntary sector
Across The UK many thousands of voluntary organisations exist, ranging from national bodies to small local groups. There are over 200 voluntary groups with over 8 million members in total. These groups include –
- Youth and community groups
- Sports clubs and associations
- Conservation and heritage groups
- Touring groups
- Social clubs
- Arts association
The voluntary groups are a major provider to leisure opportunities in the UK in which many of the volunteers\are involved in work that involves the quality of life in there local communities or give their time to help organise events.
Most amateur sport in the UK for example is managed by local voluntary clubs and associations which are supported by there members local businesses and members of the community. One of the most important features of voluntary organisations is there ability to influence decision making and add pressure and lobby the national and local government. Some of the large organisations in the voluntary work include the national trust, the central council for physical recreation (CCPR) and the ramblers association.
The voluntary sector is funded in a number of different ways. Large organisations like the national trust, for example may operate along similar lines to private sector organisation sand run commercial operations but like all voluntary sector organisations it also relies heavily on a range of other funding sources, including
- Subscriptions from members, donations and legacies
- Grants from central and local government
- Sponsorship and fundraising events
Components of the UK leisure and recreation industry
Arts and
Entertainment
Heritage sports and physical
Attractions education
UK LEISURE AND RECREATION
INDUSTRY
Countryside
Recreation catering
Home based
Leisure
The industry is so diverse, so I will diverse the most significant areas of the activity into key components and explain them.
Arts and entertainment
This component of the leisure and recreation industry covers a very broad range of activities, from pubs and social clubs to museums and art galleries.
The art in art and entertainment is the art side of things this includes cinema, theatres and concert halls and museums and art galleries, The Cinemas population was at its peak in 1946 when 1,600 million tickets were sold however by this number had fallen to only 53 million this was mainly due to the developments of televisions. However since the 1980s there has been an increasing cinema attendance with 145 million visits in the year 1999 one of the main reasons for this growth was the introduction of large multi-screens to watch your desired film on. Theatres and concert halls – theatres and other venues for live performances are often heavily subsidised by the public sector. The main national companies are – the royal national theatre on London’s south bank, the royal Shakespeare Company and the royal opera and ballet, Covent Garden – all receive funding from the arts council of England. The society of London theatre estimates that in 1998 west end attracted a total of 11.9 million attendances from over 16,000 performances, generating receipts of £257.9 million. Museums and art galleries - Millions of people visit museums and art galleries in the UK every year, museums and art galleries can be run by private, public and voluntary sectors although most are mainly publicly owned. The museum association defines a museum as ‘an institute which collects, preserves, exhibits and interprets material evidence and associated information for the public benefit’. Here are a number of things that a museum provides –
- Archaeology
- Art and design
- Transport
- Maritime
- Personalities
- Weapons and war
- Natural history
- Science and technology
- Social history
- National collections
- Costume
- Archives
- World cultures
- Coins and medals
- Music
The English tourism council lists about 950 museums in the United Kingdom each are attracting at least 5,000 visitors a year.
Pubs and Clubs – public houses and social clubs are an important part of British life. The local pub provides valued social time and leisure time in many communities. National chains of privately owned clubs such as those of Mecca leisure and the rank organisation provide bingo and other entertainments as well a night clubs and discos. Libraries – libraries play an important part in leisure and in recent years they have diversified to offer records, cassettes, compact discs and videos. In the 1980s 33.1 million people representing 58 per cent of the population held library cards and at the end of the 1990s there were 34.4 million people held library cards. Theme and leisure parks – theme parks are parks with rides, bars, amusements and much more that provided a family fun day out.UK theme parks attracted over 37 million visitors in 1998, to pay for the cost of the rides the theme parks charge an entrance fee with Alton - towers having the highest entrance fee. The theme parks are attracting large numbers of visitors this has led to a huge financial investment running into millions of pounds for example the Pepsi max roller coaster at Blackpool pleasure beach cost 12 million to build while the nemesis at Alton towers cost 10 million to build.
Sports and Physical recreation – There is an enormous range of sport and physical recreation activities available to individuals and groups. Among the many facilities used for sport and physical activities are sports centres, leisure centres, ice rink squash courts and fitness centres. Swimming pools are a very well used facility in the UK with estimates of 1,400 indoor swimming pools in the UK. However it’s not just about normal 60 metre swimming pool now days there are many other things like water world, wave pools and slides which have led to increasing numbers choosing the swimming pool as a fun day out. Health and fitness centres – Growing awareness of the health benefits of an active lifestyle has created a demand for health and fitness products and services. When you go to gym now there are other facilities like Jacuzzis, saunas and steam rooms that you can use. Membership revenue whether from monthly annual or joining fees, represents the vast majority of the turnover of the average health and the fitness club. There are estimated to be 150,000 voluntary sports club in Britain affiliated to the 400 or so national governing bodies of sport. A typical village sports association might provide facilities for the football, cricket, hockey, tennis and bowls. Many will also provide social facilities such as a bar, function room and meeting room. It is impossible to obtain an accurate estimate of the total number of playing pitches but the estimate is 70,000 pitches football pitches alone in England alone. Popular national sports such as football, rugby league, rugby union, cricket, golf, motor racing and horse racing can draw large crowds of capacity. Sports stadium are now often multi-purpose leisure facilities for example lands down round in Dublin and old Trafford in Manchester are used for both football and rugby matches. In 1998 consumers spent an estimated £3,500 million on sports wear and equipment and manufacturers such as Nike, Adidas, puma and Reebok have all become household names.
Heritage sites and attraction – heritage attractions range from centuries-old historic sites such as Stonehenge and skabra brae to the latest technology-enhanced attractions such as the earth gallery experience at the national history museum in London. The cultural significance of what is deemed to be heritage is far reaching and consists of
- Historic buildings E.G. Windsor castle
- Historic cities and towns E.G bath, York
- Places with historic literacy and cultural associations E.G. Elgar and Malvern, dickens ANS Rochester
- Cultural collections E.G. royal armouries
- Historic landscape, e.g. Historic parks and gardens
- Industrial heritage, E.G. iron bride
- Local traditions and cultures E.G. Morris dancing
- Pageantry, E.G. the changing of the guard
There are around 450,000 listed historic buildings and sites in the United Kingdom they include –
- Stately homes, places and manors E.G. Blenheim place, castle Howard
- Castles and forts E.G. Edinburgh, Caernarfon, Dover
- Cathedrals, churches and abbeys E.G. Westminster abbey, Coventry cathedral Rievaulx abbey
- Monuments and ruins E.G. Hadrian’s wall Glastonbury tor
- Battlefields\E.G. Naseby, Tow ton
- Historic ships E.G. Cuty Sark, HMS victory, HMS Belfast
Many historic buildings and sites are owned and run by religious organisations, including west Minster abbey and York Minster both of which attract more than 2 million visitors every year.
Top ten UK historic houses and monuments
Heritage sites which are visited by large numbers of people are likely to provide additional facilities and services such as –
- Retail and souvenir outlets
- Cafes
- Restaurants
- Guide services
Catering – hospitality, catering and accommodation is an industry in it sown right, but one which is closely linked to the leisure and recreation industry. Many leisure and recreation facilities and events include some of catering. Examples Include:
- Sports centres – bars, cafes, meeting rooms
- Cinemas – bars, snack and confectionery shops
- Theme parks – restaurants, bars, accommodation
- Sports stadium – conference and reception facilities, restaurants
- Social clubs – bars, restaurants, reception facilities
In 1998 there were around 44,500 restaurants, cafes and takeaway food shops in the UK with a combined turnover of £13.5 billion.
The restaurant and takeaway market
Countryside recreation – All sectors of the industry are represented within this component, For Example, in a national park area the following organisations will be involved in managing and providing leisure facilities and services:
- Public sector: parks authority, local authority, countryside agency, forestry commission.
- Private sector: accommodation and catering provides, shops, pubs, farmers and attractions.
- Voluntary sector: recreation and conservation groups such as the ramblers association and the national trust.
The countryside commission estimates that around 10 million people visit the national parks each year. In addition to the national parks there are other designated areas of the countryside which provide recreational opportunities. These include:
- Ares of outstanding natural beauty, e.g. Kent downs, north Pennines.
- Heritage coasts, e.g. southwest coast, Norfolk coast.
- National trails and long-distance paths, e.g. Cleveland way, Thames path.
- World heritage sites, e.g. Hadrian’s wall and giants causeway.
- Country parks, e.g. Strathclyde park, Motherwell, Crawford burn park Belfast.
Home based leisure – The term home-based leisure covers a wide range of activities. LTRC identifies the following main types of home-based leisure markets, based on the volume of UK consumer spending:
- Video
- Pets
- Magazines
- Books
- toys and games
- DIY
- PCs
- Photography
- CDs, records and tapes
- Gardening
- Audio equipment
- Television
Home-based leisure in the UK the information below is from 2000
- 31.9 million adults read books, spending over 1.9billlion
- consumer spending on television is £7.2 billion
- 42.1 million adults listen to the radio, and 39 million listen to cds and tapes
- 84 percent of households own cd players
- consumer spending on DIY is 7.8 million
- consumer spending on toys and games is 2.1 billion
The internet is becoming a widely used services and is used for all sorts like shopping from your own home or just listening to music over 6.2 million households have access to the internet. As the internet becomes more established as a source of the interactive leisure activity its influence on the market will become significant.
The market for in-home interactive media hardware and services includes computer hardware, computer software and non-terrestrial broadcasting as well as the internet. Digital televisions are also on the up however there as been a great deal of debate about the advantages offered by digital television. Its most important technical features are as follows:
- better pictures with no interference
- CD-quality sound
- Access to e-mail and the internet
- Opportunities for interactive television (including home baking, shopping etc..
- Wide-screen television
- More channels (capacity for a virtually unlimited numbers)
- Pay-tv options
- Improved Tele text services
- Electronic programme guides.
Working in the leisure and recreation industry
In this section im going to investergate –
- The range of employment oppurtunties
- The nature of employment
- Personal and technical skills and qualities required by employers
- How to find jobs in leisure and recreation
There are many jobs that come under different headings for example jobs in arts and entertainment – performers/presenters, barmaid/barman and theatre workers.
Sport and physical recreation – health an dfitness instructer, physical education teacher, professional sports men, sports medicine etc…catering – waiter/waitress, barman/barmaid, pub manager etc… heritage attractions – education officer, archaeologist, facility manager etc… countryside recreation – garderner, groundsperson, park ranger, conservator etc… home-based – sales assistant, shop manager, food and beverage sales etc…
T eh lesure and recreation industry is considered the peoples industry vast numbers of jobs involve dealing with people. The following list gives typical examples –
- Waiter or witress
- Leisure assistant
- Fitness instructer
- Lifeguard
- Sports coach
- Ride attendnet
- Box office cashier
Progression is a ropute at which you can prceide up in the in your particaualr job and the leisure and recreation industry offers great promotion prospectys below is aexamples of good progression in the leisure and recreation industry.
OPERATIVE SUPERVISORY MANGEMENT
LEISURE ASSISTANT DUTY MANAGER SPORTS CENTRE MANAGER
WAITER/WAITRESS HEAD WAITER/WAITRESS RESTURANT MANAGER
LIFEGUARD ATEENDENT DUTY MANAGER SWIMMING POOL MANAGER
RIDE ATTENDENT RIDE MANAGER HEAD OF OPERATIONS
TRAINEE GOLF PROFESSIINAL ASSISTANT GOLF PROFESSIONAL GOLF PROFESSIONAL
The job that I am going to write about is a personal fitness instructor -
Coaches and instructors are needed to help millions of people who regularly participate in sport. Someone to demonstrate the necessary skills and techniques and if they have an aptitude for the sport. Coaches an instructors teach the skills an techniques of one particularly sport or a few related ones, to a wide range of people, from beginners to experts.
I am going to concentrate on the health and fitness instructors’ part of sport and coaching work. Health and fitness instructors train people in aerobics, keep fit, weight training, and other forms of exercise at privately run health and fitness centres and local authority sport centres. Their work includes assessing clients’ fitness when they arrive at the centre and developing a programme of training that is neither too easy nor too demanding. They must be aware of the health and safety aspects of different forms of exercise and prevent clients from injuring themselves by working too hard or using faulty techniques. Instructors may work in gymnasiums, sports centres, sports clubs, outdoor pursuits, centres on playing fields etc… they may have to work outside in all weathers and spend long hours training and observating there trainees. Instructors must be enthusiastic about there sport and have an in depth knowledge and under standing of it. They must want to help people achieve their full potential and this means knowing how to find the right approach for each individual. to do this job no formal academic qualifications are required but individuals must have experience in there local sport and coaching qualifications from relevant governing bodies, also you can do a level 1-3 at a college and this will give you a qualification in personal health and fitness training. Health and fitness instructors must have been recognized qualifications such as the RSA/sports council-validated basic certification in the teaching of exercise to music. The physical education association offers a certificate in exercise and health studies and the YMCA has a number of module courses in exercise and fitness. Full time paid jobs are very scarce .professionals sport is extremely competitive and many coaches and instructors also do administrative and other work. However over the last decade people have been beginning to under stand the importance of keeping fit and eating the right food as the numbers show that the majority are either over weight or obese so there has been a nationwide crack down on fatty foods and more people are going to the gym so the health and fitness industry is booming at the moment. Instructors tend to work unsocial hours since most sport is done ai evening and weekends. They may also have to work during the day as training for professionals and high level amateur sport is virtually full time, pay can change in the health and fitness instructor industry you can start on about 17,000 a year when you first get into the industry then once you have been init a number of years you can star up on your own and earn anything from 30,000 and above a year as you can charge your own hourly rates which could be from 10-20 pound an hour.
Why I would be suitable for the type of job stated, personal fitness instructor.
A personal fitness trainer is a very important job in today’s society with so many people going to the gym in the last phew years and the industry is only going to grow. A personal fitness instructor involves training people in aerobics, keep fit, weight training, and other forms of exercise at privately run health and fitness centres and local authority sport centres. Their work includes assessing clients’ fitness when they arrive at the centre and developing a programme of training that is neither too easy nor too demanding. They must be aware of the health and safety aspects of different forms of exercise and prevent clients from injuring themselves by working too hard or using faulty techniques. I feel that this job would benefit me as I have always done sports even from an early age and I have always been good at sports and I feel that teaching people would be a great job as you could also work with them and keep them in shape along with yourself .it would also be great to train with someone and change there lives and see them lose weight and get fit and it would be all down to you the trainer. I would be good for this job as I am very sociable and I know a lot about fitness and sports as I have did G.C.S.E. PE and got an A in it and I am now completing a 2 year a/level PE course in which when completed I plain to go to university to sports studies I then plan to go into the personal training industry.