Tourism Trends: Summer in the City
5/25/17
Ahh, summer tourist season. That blissful time of year when millions of tourists descend on New York and spend their dollars, pounds, euros, and yen. And with all that money being spent, of course they’re seeing a Broadway show.
Wait, not so fast!
Actually, while hotel capacity (a good indicator of tourist activity) goes up every summer—well over 90% on average—Broadway doesn’t fare quite as well. According to the Broadway League’s stats, theatre attendance declines throughout the summer, from May through Labor Day, and then starts creeping up again in the fall. This has happened every summer for at least the last two decades, with very little variation.
Part of this may be a function of the number of shows. We know that shows close in the summer, after the Tonys®, and new shows don’t tend to start previews until after Labor Day. That puts compression on the existing shows and may have a negative effect on ticket buyers.
In addition, there are just more distractions in the summer: parks and outdoor activities, sporting events, shopping in the nice weather, etc. But again, that’s just part of it.
So if we’re comparing Broadway attendance to hotel capacity, we need to understand what drives the hotel stays. A very smart person told us that the seasonality patterns involve day vs. overnight, different international markets vs. domestic, and business vs. different kinds of leisure travel. So it’s not the number of visitors in the summer months; it’s the type of visitors.
But we as an industry don’t necessarily target the type of visitors who come in the summer (more on those trends in a later article), and we definitely don’t adjust our marketing to guide summer visitors towards a Broadway show. And no, advertising that the theatre is air-conditioned won’t cut it.
As we gain a better understanding of who these summer travelers are—NYC & Company is a great resource—we can start to move the needle and get them to put down the soccer ball in Central Park and come see a show. More to come!
For more information, visit www.shubert.nyc.
Wait, not so fast!
Actually, while hotel capacity (a good indicator of tourist activity) goes up every summer—well over 90% on average—Broadway doesn’t fare quite as well. According to the Broadway League’s stats, theatre attendance declines throughout the summer, from May through Labor Day, and then starts creeping up again in the fall. This has happened every summer for at least the last two decades, with very little variation.
Part of this may be a function of the number of shows. We know that shows close in the summer, after the Tonys®, and new shows don’t tend to start previews until after Labor Day. That puts compression on the existing shows and may have a negative effect on ticket buyers.
In addition, there are just more distractions in the summer: parks and outdoor activities, sporting events, shopping in the nice weather, etc. But again, that’s just part of it.
So if we’re comparing Broadway attendance to hotel capacity, we need to understand what drives the hotel stays. A very smart person told us that the seasonality patterns involve day vs. overnight, different international markets vs. domestic, and business vs. different kinds of leisure travel. So it’s not the number of visitors in the summer months; it’s the type of visitors.
But we as an industry don’t necessarily target the type of visitors who come in the summer (more on those trends in a later article), and we definitely don’t adjust our marketing to guide summer visitors towards a Broadway show. And no, advertising that the theatre is air-conditioned won’t cut it.
As we gain a better understanding of who these summer travelers are—NYC & Company is a great resource—we can start to move the needle and get them to put down the soccer ball in Central Park and come see a show. More to come!
For more information, visit www.shubert.nyc.
Originally published in Broadway Briefing.