Tower of London- Customers

Overall Status of Heritage and Culture as a Leisure Activity 

 The picture is from Visit Britain, within an article on the overall status of Heritage and Culture as a Leisure Activity of the United Kingdom itself. From this you can see that the arrowed activities are Cultural and Heritage to the UK, with the ‘Visiting castles, churches, monument and historical houses being the highest out of the sub sectors of cultural and heritage activities in the UK. The other sectors of this are;

• Visiting parks and gardens

• Museums and Art galleries

• Walking in the countryside

•  Visiting the coast, countryside

     

Visit Britain . (2014). Overall Status of Heritage and Culture as a Leisure Activity. Available: http://www.visitbritain.org/Images/Culture%20%26%20Heritage%20Topic%20Profile%20Full_tcm29-14711.pdf.

Last accessed 29.05.2014

‘Further Research

The above findings on this page and the preceding ones related to the importance of culture and heritage to Britain’s tourism offering are focussed on just two (albeit very large) surveys (the NBI and IPS). However, the power of Britain’s Culture and Heritage in attracting visitors has been demonstrated in all the relevant research that VisitBritain has conducted, in both established and emerging markets (Details of this research are illustrated throughout the remainder of this document). Britain’s offering of history and heritage combined with our unique blend of contemporary and historical culture are the key reasons people want to visit. Britain’s mix of “culture” is key to our success: from heritage, the arts, museums, through our creative industries (eg fashion, music, design, media) to living/contemporary culture (eg language, traditions, festivals, sport, cuisine). While some visitors exhibit a more profound interest in learning and understanding rather than just seeing sights, a much larger proportion are involved in “cultural activities” just by their involvement in enjoying the intangibles of a place - soaking up the atmosphere and watching life pass by.’

Specialist groups- when it gets to specialist groups they have a full coloured and comprehensive access guide which includes detailed information, help and advice for specialist groups. Specialist people who require mobility and wheelchair users there are coloured map provided with map detailing the routes and other useful information. There are British sign language interpreter available for bookings too which you can get one for the date people select. Visitors with mobility needs there have been told that the historic building place has difficult stairs and passageway and which where wheelchair accessibility is also limited. There are also a lot of stairs throughout the Tower with cobbles which are laid on some roads, however the Jewel house and the Crown jewels are fully accessible to all visitors. There are easy accessible toilets behind the Jewel house and next to the Salt tower. They also have limited number of wheelchairs at the front entrance of the tower. Specialist visitors are eligible for admission at the concession rate which where adults are given a entry free of charge. The guide is free with admission and comes with a tactile map. It takes about an hour and half and reveals much of the hidden history of this iconic palace. With interviews the tour tells you what it is really like to live inside a Royal Fortress. The tour can be collected from the multimedia guide desk in the Beefeater shop. The guides have a neck strap making them easy to carry. The sound can easily be controlled and clear detailed instructions are provided on the guide to help you use them. People who are Deaf or people with hearing loss there is induction loops introduced which would be provided at various points in the Tower wherever you see the multimedia guides can be used with hearing aids which have the T-switch.

Target groups

Visitors can be segmented according to their age as following:

0-5 year old (visiting with family, interactive event)

6-18 year old (visiting with family, educational events)

19-65 year old (talks and debates, educational events)

Over 65 year old

Through research ways I found out that Tower of London offers events mainly for young and adult people (6-65 year olds). For example, the event of family storytelling attracts families with younger children. Knight school targets children or young teenagers but of course, can be appealing for young adults as well.

Ceremony of the Keys can be an interesting cultural event for teenagers, adults and elderly as well.

Although there are baby-changing facilities at the Tower of London, some parts of the Tower are not pushchair friendly. There are two secure buggy parks around; however, carrying a baby in hand can be uncomfortable for parents. In addition, parts of the Tower, including the Torture exhibition and sections of the Yeoman Warden tour, can be frightening for young children.

In conclusion, events for children are available (events for families) but are limited. As the events of Tower of London mainly focus on education and history, the attraction aims to attract teenagers and adults, this is the visitor group targeted.

Income generation

Tower of London generates its income from sources such as venues, restaurants and cafes, shops and religious services.

Venues are available for hire at this World Heritage Site. The Moat can accommodate the largest number of visitors in the Tower, up to 2000 guests for reception or dinner and also available for exclusive evening events. The venue is one of the few available spaces in the City for large events; previous events include the Tower Music Festival and Tower Ice Rink. The White Tower, Jewel House and St Thomas’ Tower are some of the popular venues also available for functions.

Restaurants and cafes offer rest for those who are visiting the attraction. New Armouries restaurant serves British snacks and meals. Raven’s Kiosk is an outdoor café for coffees, teas and homemade savouries. Apostrophe is accessible without admission to the Tower, offering pastries, sandwiches and coffees at a riverside.

In addition, shops are also a source of income for the Tower of London. The official online shop of the Tower is available at the Historic Royal Palaces web shop. At the Tower each shops has different history and character. Tower of London shop is the main one at the entrance and can be visited without having an admission ticket to the Tower. Jewel House shop offers fabulous collection of precious and design-led jewellery. For those interested in historic souvenirs, selection replica armours, weapons and masculine are offered by the White Tower shop. There is also something for children; Ravens shop sells a variety of products from dresses, t-shirts to themed books and souvenirs. Celebrating Yeoman Wanders, visitors can find souvenirs inspired by ‘Beefeaters’ in the Beefeater shop.

Religious services are also held every Sunday at the Tower, however, for those wishing to visit it need to buy an admission ticket, generating income to the attraction.

Tourism and urban regeneration. To invest the income of Tower of London, the Historic Royal Palaces undertook their largest project by conserving the White Tower. The external repairs and conservation was taken place from 2008 until 2011. Tracy Simmons, Project Manager stated:

‘We hope now the White Tower will not need to be scaffold and cleaned in this manner for at least 60 years. In 1075 Londoners could only stand and stare as the White Tower rose up to dominate their skyline. In 2011 Londoners, visitors and staff can again be in awe of this striking and historic building and admire the Norman architecture in all its glory.'

Pollution research (2009) is another project funded by the European Commission to measure and minimise the pollution level inside the Tower of London. The aim is to monitor pollution level to protect the valuables objects within.

References

Historic Royal Palaces (2014). Ceremony of the Keys (Available at: http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/WhatsOn/theceremonyofthekeys May 2014)

Historic Royal Palaces (2014). Family storytelling (Available at: http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/WhatsOn/QueenAnnesCoronation Last accessed: 22nd May 2014)

Historic Royal Palaces (2014). Food and drink (Available at: http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/caf%C3%A9sandrestaurantsatthetoweroflondon Last accessed: 29th May 2014)

Historic Royal Palaces (2014). Knight School (Available at: http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/WhatsOn/KnightSchool Last accessed: 22nd May 2014)

Historic Royal Palaces (2014). Shopping (Available at: http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/shopping/ Last accessed: 29th May 2014)

Customers-categories to include examples of segmentation:

Age groups:

0-5 - games and makes;

6-18 – learning, educational, storytelling programmes;

19-65 – workshops, talks and events;

Over 65 – descriptive sessions for visually impaired or blind visitors. Also, an assistance available whilst explore the Tower of London. Tower of London volunteers can be available for guidance and orientation around the Tower that particularly suits for elderlies.

Income generation and links with tourism and urban regeneration: the money that comes from the tourists that visit Tower of London goes into its development and preservation for example they invested money for The White Tower conservation project in 2008. At the same time, Tower of London creates jobs for the locals in souvenir shops, pubs, restaurants etc.

Visitor Levels and Usage Rates

Tower of London is the 7th highest tourist visitors, just behind the British museum, National Gallery, National History Museum, Tate Modern, Science Museum, and the V&A museum.  For the figure below you can see that the Tower of London has in fact 2,894,698 in 2013 having gone up by 5,000 by the previous year, this is a 1.8%

http://www.alva.org.uk/details.cfm?p=423

Association of Leading Visitor Attractions . (2013). Latest Tourist Numbers .Available

http://www.alva.org.uk/details.cfm?p=423.

Last accessed 29.05.2013.

By Robyn, TJ, Adrienn and Oksana