Summary
Responses gathered in March 2021 by the Culture Restart Audience & Visitor Tracker from the Insights Alliance (Indigo Ltd, Baker Richards and One Further) show that:
- 48% of frequent cultural attenders say they have now booked for cultural events in the future or planned visits to cultural organisations.
- Of those who haven’t yet booked, 37% said they will now be ready to book within 3 months compared to 24% in February and 15% in January. Those not willing to book for more than 6 months has decreased significantly.
- With 74% of respondents having received at least one vaccine dose, confidence returning to cultural venues continues to grow month on month – 57% of respondents in March said they would consider returning with appropriate safety and hygiene measures in place.
- The largest increase in confidence is among the over 65s, with 54% saying they would consider returning with safety measures in place compared to 29% in January – a relative increase of 86%.
- 60% of cultural audiences are still uncomfortable about returning with no restrictions subject to Covid testing on arrival – though this has decreased from 72% in January. The proportion of respondents who said socially distanced seating was essential to their return has decreased from 51% in January to 39% in March, but the majority still answered ‘I’m OK with this’.
- There is a strong interest in online culture beyond the pandemic, with 33% of March respondents saying they would continue to engage online even when they can attend in-person, and a further 59% saying they would still consider it.