...National
Destination Benchmarking Survey
Four hundred street face-to-face surveys took place in the centre of Chichester from June to the end of September 2000 analysing visitors' perceptions about the quality of the tourism experience offered by Chichester. These results were compared against perceptions of those at destinations across the country as well as at a group of historic towns such as Salisbury, Winchester, Guildford, Shrewsbury, Tunbridge Wells, Oxford, Ely and Colchester. These were also scored against participants in the survey for 1998, 1999 and of course 2000.
The survey sought to identify ratings for a range of specific factors including:
- Cleanliness of the streets/environment
- Sense of welcome/friendliness of local people
- Range and quality of shops, pubs, entertainment facilities
- Availability and cleanliness of public toilets
- Public transport services
- Feeling of security
- Adequacy and value for money of parking arrangements
- Adequacy of pedestrian and road signs
- Views on accommodation range and quality
- General ambience of town
- Service offered by TIC
- Traffic levels/congestion
Respondents were asked to rate each factor on a scale of one to five, where 1 = very poor, 2 = poor, 3 = average, 4 = good, and 5 = very good. This enabled an average opinion score out of 5 to be scored for each question asked.
The results for Chichester were extremely positive. In practically every area Chichester received higher scores from visitors against the mean scores of 'All Destinations' and of 'Historic Towns' involved in the survey. It highlights that the general visitor experience in Chichester is extremely positive.
On the right is a table of results to give an idea of how Chichester compares with other destinations. The percentages are of those visitors giving a rating of 'very good'.
| % of visitors saying 'very good' | Chichester | All Historic Towns |
All Desti- nations |
| Accommodation - quality of service | 57% | 44% | 49% |
| Accommodation - value for money | 57% | 39% | 45% |
| Ease of parking | 65% | 37% | 41% |
| Attractions - range | 60% | 41% | 34% |
| Attractions - quality of service | 51% | 35% | 30% |
| Places to eat and drink - range | 63% | 36% | 36% |
| Places to eat and drink - quality | 58% | 28% | 29% |
| Shops - range | 61% | 40% | 39% |
| Shops - quality | 56% | 36% | 33% |
| Shops - quality of service | 54% | 29% | 30% |
| Ease of finding way around | 65% | 30% | 32% |
| Pedestrian signs | 66% | 30% | 30% |
| Public toilets | 42% | 22% | 21% |
| Street cleanliness | 56% | 38% | 29% |
| Upkeep of open spaces | 49% | 49% | 38% |
| Choice of nightlife | 25% | 25% | 31% |
| General atmosphere | 74% | 42% | 37% |
| Feeling of welcome | 73% | 40% | 38% |
| Feeling of safety | 52% | 30% | 25% |
| TIC - quality of service | 61% | 52% | 50% |
| Will recommend destination | 73% | 50% | 51% |
Source: The Destination Benchmarking Survey 2002 was produced by the South East England Tourist Board Research Department.