Leisure and Recreation Industry.

Leisure and Recreation Industry

The UK leisure and recreation industry is made up of three sectors, public, private and voluntary.

Public sector

The public sector is the part of the economy that includes central government, local authorities and public corporations. A rough explanation is that they are owned and controlled by the government on behalf of the general public. They aim to provide a service to the public, provide employment, provide a facility and create an infrastructure for others to use (eg. Roads, railways etc.) However with the continuing programme of privatization, what are now public sector businesses could change to become private sector in the future. One example is Tourist Information centre where a programme of privatization has been considered for some time.

The public sector is funded by the government from taxation and also gets block grants from the Central government. An example is Oswestry Leisure centre, which is funded by the local council and is there to provide a service to the public rather than make any profit. They obviously make some money through charging people to use the centre but this does not cover the costs of staff, maintenance, electric etc. and so the centre needs outside funding.

Local Government

Local government also plays a key role in the industry such as operating local leisure attractions and marketing their area by producing brochures. Many local authorities provide funds to assist the Tourist Information Centres. In transport and general planning, local authorities need to balance the accessibility and development with the needs of the environment and community, as well as the interest of tourism and its benefits to the local economy.

Private sector

The private sector consists of enterprises that are in business to make a profit. They are run by the money they make through users and need an advertising campaign in order to attract the maximum number of visitors. Private sector businesses are owned by private investors who have taken advantage of an opening in the market and exploited it. This is the case with Oswestry fitness first, as they have taken advantage of the fast growing health and fitness market. They need to meet objectives set in their mission statement or they will not make a profit. Another example is a Golf club in which a membership fee must be paid in order to use the facility. Places like Chester zoo, JJB Sports and Alton Towers are all privately owned and are also aiming increase the size and value of their business.

This sector has shareholders who buy stakes in the business. They expect the business to grown and make money out of it. They also expect to have a say in how the business is run. Man Utd had a big saga when one of the share holders disagreed, so it shows how much of an impact they can have.

Voluntary sector

This sector consists of organisations that aim to promote a good cause. They get grants from the government and the lottery sometimes or raise money through fund-raising activities. An example is the Youth Hostels Association. They rely on meeting fund raising objectives to stay afloat and if this failed they probably would go bankrupt. It would be of no advantage to have shareholders in this type of business as it does not make profits. A local example is the Oswestry boys club, which is a voluntarily run football club for children from ages of about 8 to 18. The club is there to fill in some gaps which public centre businesses cannot fill. The club does not make profits and relies on fund raising, donations and even a small joining fee to keep the club going

Six main components of Leisure industry

There are of course facilities, which do not fit neatly into one category, they can be included in several. Theatres, for example are arts and entertainment centres but nevertheless they also often have a number of bars and restaurants. Similarly, Manchester United football club is no longer just a place to go and watch a game of football but a major tourist attraction with bars, restaurants, shops, a museum and conference facilities.

Arts and Entertainment

Arts-this is made up of activities which are not financially independent, like performing arts. Tickets for such events are expensive, the theatre Clwyd in ...

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Arts and Entertainment

Arts-this is made up of activities which are not financially independent, like performing arts. Tickets for such events are expensive, the theatre Clwyd in Mold charges about £50 per ticket. This means that fewer people will be able to go so this area needs Government support. The Arts Council is the main source of funding for these activities and over £200 million is allocated every year to help the arts. They also commission research, promote innovation in the arts and provide advice and information.

Entertainment-This is more associated with the more popular activities and so does not need so much financial help like the arts did. Cinemas have become very popular again after decades of decline, probably due to the new large multi screen cinemas such as the Odeon. Pubs and clubs are very big in entertainment, providing informal and easy accessible facilities which are used daily by different groups of people.

Theatres range in popularity. The big shows in London book out months in advance and have no trouble generating income but there are also smaller theatres which can often struggle. Museums are mainly government funded and now have free admission to make them more accessible to the general public. Smaller museums, for example the Oswestry bike museum are often run by enthusiasts, who need to charge admission to meet running costs.

Sports and Physical activities

This section can be categorised into 4 areas:

Informal recreation (play, walking, gardening, etc)
Competitive sport (football, golf, tennis, etc)
Outdoor activities (rock climbing, hiking, sailing, etc)
Health and Fitness (gym, fitness suite, etc)

The Sport and Physical recreation industry is reliant on facilities. It may range from a small sports field to a multi purpose stadium. By far the most common facility is the latter, a small playing field, which is marked out with a football pitch and perhaps a rugby or hockey one too. They used daily by schools and by the local community out of school times, by clubs and local youngsters.

Swimming pools are normally part of some kind of sport complex or leisure centre and range is size from Olympic size to your local pool of about 25m.Most public pools have designated learner or toddler areas, which are shallow and self contained.

Football grounds may be private or public. Large professional grounds, found in the football league, are usually owned by the clubs, which operate as companies. Some of the larger clubs are Public Limited Companies (PLC’s) and will have a share price. Some lower clubs grounds can be council owned and sometimes have a athletics track or some other leisure form surrounding it. Pretty much all of the grounds however have some kind of catering facility, ranging from basic tea huts and burger vans to a boardroom suite with a perfect view of the game etc. Sports grounds are now becoming more and more geared to hosting multi sports, mainly to meet the needs of lottery funding. A typical stadium has a main stand, which includes the changing facilities, a sports field surrounded by a running track with the jumping facilities behind one goal.

Probably the biggest area of growth over recent years is the Health and Fitness industry. Leisure centres often have their own suite but these are often seen to be inferior to those in private clubs. These offer membership and run on trying to make profits. More recently hotels are introducing fitness facilities to attract customers.

Countryside Recreation

The majority of people live in the towns and cities of the UK. With the increased leisure time people now have the flow of people looking for leisure is from urban to rural areas. People often want to leave their home in the cities where living is associated with stress and go to the countryside for a weekend. The NET movement of people is now out of cities, so people are choosing to live away from the big towns and cities, where quality of life is perceived to be better, and now wish to commute. Because of tourists coming out of urban areas the National Parks of England and Wales are affected as they receive large numbers of visitors, which can cause problems but also can be beneficial.

The parks normally have some kind of purpose built facility, and those that offer rock climbing or horse riding for example will need specialist equipment and staff, as well as catering facilities.

Heritage

Britain has lots of historic homes, monuments castles etc. which make up the national heritage. Britain’s heritage and the evidence in the form of sites and buildings are a major factor in attracting visitors both from within the country and also from abroad. While other countries can depend on the warm climate to attract tourists, Britain uses its history to do the same.

Most historic properties are owned privately by individuals but the National Trust, English Heritage and other such bodies are taking up ownership and the responsibility to maintain the property.

The most well known heritage sites in England and Wales include Stonehenge, Bath spas, Buckingham Palace, Ironbridge etc. The heritage sites are often found in National Parks such as the Lake District and Snowdonia. This forms a link between Heritage and Countryside Recreation as many of the popular outdoor activities take place in National Parks.

Catering and Accommodation

When away from home for hours at a time you need somewhere to eat. The facility can be provided by a simple corner shop, a mobile fast food van and in the case of your own packed lunch a picnic area. These facilities are for people on the move who need somewhere or something to eat fairly quickly. Many people however regard eating itself as a form of leisure and choose to visit somewhere to eat, like a restaurant or pub.

The demand for food is huge so the supply of it is very wide ranging providing facilities for everyone whatever their type of catering need. Because of this catering is a great example of supply and demand. If there is a demand for food then some entrepreneur will come along and supply it. Service stations on motorways are built at a huge cost to provide food a place to rest a fuel for motorists. At the other end of the range is a lay by at a main road with a small fast food van in it in which is popular with motorists. Picnic areas near the main road are also popular.

Accommodation- Hotels

Hotels form part of the hospitality industry, which includes restaurants, pubs, catering and other leisure facilities. The hotel market is made up of a wide range of accommodation types, from guesthouses, B&B, inns, budget hotels etc.

Over the last few decades there has been a large growth in the hotel industry with more and more people staying in hotels. This is due to more business travel and also the increase in visitors from overseas in business and leisure.

The majority of people staying in hotels are there on business making up about 65% of the total turnover in 1997. Most leading hotel chains have introduced business packages and invested in upgrading their facilities to suit the business mans needs. There has also been a rapid growth in apartment style hotels designed for executives wanting to stay for longer periods at a lower cost.

A variety of other places to stay are also popular:

Staying with friend (This covers a large part of the sector and is important to tourism)
Camping and Caravanning
Boats
Home exchange or second homes
Time share
Youth hostels
Cruise liners

The structure of the accommodation sector can have a significant effect on tourism income. Accommodation that provides a service has the biggest income and also provides the most jobs per visitor. Unserviced accommodation like camping sites has a far lower income and provides very few jobs per visitor, but more people choose to stay at this kind of accommodation. This is because people who stay in caravans or camp tend to be more self-sufficient and have less money to spend.

Self service- this type of facility simply provides the accommodation and maybe some equipment. Caravans, country houses and cottages can all come under this sector as they can be rented and lived in.

Overall visitors decide what accommodation type to stay in based on a number of factors.

Its nearness to attractions or other facilities
The cost
Availability of certain services like a bar or allowance of pets.
The quality of service required.

Home Based leisure

Home based leisure is becoming more and more popular in the UK as it is quick and easy and you don’t need to travel.

Computer based entertainment is a popular form of HBL and can be on a dedicated games console like the Microsoft Xbox or games that can be on a home computer. Games Consoles can range in price from £50 up to £200 pounds with games varying between £10 and £45 pounds depending how new they are. Games for the PC are similar in price but because of the increased memory of the PC and faster operating system the games often have better graphics and are more enjoyable. PC’s are also used to access the internet which is popular with all ages as it caters for every interest possible.

TV is still popular as ever and with the release of Sky TV ten years ago it meant people now had a huge choice of viewing channels. Now with the switch to digital there are even more channels on offer appealing to a very wide range of viewers. The TV itself can also be used to view VHS or now DVD’s. These can be rented or bought easily and means people often stay in to watch a film.

Reading is not as popular as it used to be but is still a home based leisure. Books can be hired at libraries along with music and videos, which makes it easy to get any information you may want.

Some people prefer more active home leisure like decorating or the new craze of DIY. Local stores have appeared fairly quickly and cater for everything you may need for home repairs or improvements. DIY can be indoor or outdoor. Another popular outdoor activity, mainly among the retired and elderly, is gardening. These people again rely on local garden centres or stores, and people will often grown crops for home use.

Scale of the Leisure and Recreation industry

Employment in leisure related industries in the UK

Figures in 1000's

In terms of employment, the scale is clearly illustrated by the data above.

Scale of sport within the UK economy:

The sports tourism market has been estimated to be around £1.5 billion in 1995
Consumer expenditure on sport in 1995 was £10.4 billion in the UK being 2.24% of total consumer expenditure.
Sport provides over 400,000 paid jobs and the voluntary sector an equivalent of a further 108,000 full time jobs.

Sports participation

Some 29 million adults took part in sport and recreation at least once a month in 1990, representing two thirds of the population of Great Britain. The data provided by the Sports Council showed an increase of 2 million from 1987. If children were taken into account, the figures would have increased to some 36 million. More than 15 million men and 13 million women take part in sport.

The main reasons for the growth of participation is:

* increased awareness of personal health and fitness

* provision of more and improved sports facilities

* national, regional and local development programmes.

Participation facts

It is estimated that 25 million English people take part in some sport or active recreation at least once a month. The top ten participation sports are:

Adults participating at least once a month in 1996.

Walking 44.5%
Swimming 14.8%
Keep fit/yoga 12.3%
Snooker/Pool/Billiards 11.3%
Cycling 11.00%
Weight Training 5.6%
Soccer 4.8%
Golf 4.7%
Running(Jogging etc) 4.5%

10. Tenpin bowls/skittles 3.4%

When reading these figures provided by the Sports Council you can debate whether walking is a sport. It may be not but it is a recreational activity just like yoga and jogging. Recreational sport and competitive sport should not be confused. Another interesting but relevant factor are the type of facilities required. Walking can be done virtually anywhere but it is interesting that a good percentage is done in combination with studying nature. There are some 1,400 swimming pools available in England alone. Pool is very popular but only because tables are available in public houses.

There is also the expense that needs to be taken into account. Cycling, Weight Training and Golf can be expensive but involve one off payments. The only team sport in the top ten is Football although some others such as Golf and Tenpin Bowling can be played as teams.

It seems that people prefer to participate independently although even if this is the case, they may do so to meet people. For example, although golf can be played by an individual, many do so to meet or entertain business friends. The data also reveal that the availability of facilities is a crucial factor.

Traditionally participation is sport has been highest among younger groups and declining with age. However traditions change and during recent years while participation has increased at all ages, there has been a higher increase among the middle aged and elderly. There are sports or recreational activities which the elderly do more than young people, walking being an example and the young will play more active sports such as football or rugby.

Factors influencing participation:

Age

Gender

Culture

Awareness

Accessibility

Standards Expected

Media influence

Success of National side

The leisure facilities in the UK:

2,328 public fitness facilities;
1,943 private health clubs;
5,839,565 public and private health and fitness members in total;
933 clubs are under development or in planning in the private sector and 641 sites in the public sector;
3,621 public sports centres;
688 bingo clubs;
122 registered casinos;
83,000 betting offices;
255,000 fruit machines;
4.1 million punters went to the dogs - attending the 50 odd greyhound racing stadia in 2000;
£5 million spent a day at the races;
2 million play the football pools weekly (compare that with the 25 million who attend football matches);
gambling is most popular with people aged 25 to 54;
the number of visits to theme parks in 2001 were (in millions): Blackpool Pleasure Beach: 6.5m; Pleasureland Theme Park, Southport: 2.1m; Legoland, Windsor: 1.6m; Pleasure Beach, Great Yarmouth: 1.5m; Flamingo Land Theme Park: 1.3m.

Employment

Number of people employed in leisure:

Sport and other recreation activities: 412,000.
Greyhound racing: 20,000.
Horse racing and breeding: 60,000.
Casinos: 12,000.
Bingo clubs: c21,000.
Gaming machines: c23,000

Types of employment:

At one stage, most jobs were permanent and full time. The situation has now changed and there are several types of employment.

Self employment: is particularly relevant in the leisure and recreation. At the end of 1994, 13% of those in employment were self employed compared with 11% in 1983.

Full time: A full time job normally means working for the same employer for about five days a week adding up to about 35 to 40 hours.

Part time: The number of part time employees has increased dramatically in recent years, partly as a result of women working part time in the labour market. The Labour Force Survey of Autumn 1994 revealed, that on average part time employees work 15.4% of a week.

Permanent employment: These are employees who have a contractual commitment to work for their employers whether full time or part time. It means that employees have an open ended contract as opposed to a fixed term contract.

Temporary employment: This may be part time or full time but is for a limited period. Many tourist attractions will take on temporary employees over the busy Summer season while many hotels do the same during the Christmas period.

Fixed term contracts: This is where an employee has been taken on for a fixed period of time. Professional footballers are normally on fixed term contracts after which further contracts can be negotiated or the player released.