Visitor survey
Introduction
A visitor survey was undertaken to establish how people from outside the area currently travelled to Reston and whether this may change due to the introduction of the rail station. Due to the lack of major tourist attractions in the immediate survey area, it was challenging to find a large enough sample of people who visited from outside the area. Therefore, online panels were used instead of CATI interviews. The panels were programmed to capture visitors from the nearby areas of the Scottish Borders, Edinburgh & The Lothians. Figure 2 below shows the target areas and response rate from each area.
The panel approach allowed a wider target of participants from this expanded geographical area.
While the survey was termed a visitor survey, it was also designed to capture a subset of ‘non-visitors’. The purpose being to establish why these people currently choose not to visit Reston. For the purposes of analysis, anyone who visited less than once per year was classed as a non-visitor.
Respondent Profile
In total, 102 visitors within the target area completed the survey. Of these, 56% (n=57) were female and 44% (n=45) were male. The age breakdown of respondents was as follows:
- 55% (n=56) were aged 0-44
- 36% (n=37) were aged 45-64
- 9% (n=9) were aged 65+
Most respondents (95%, n=97) came from a white ethnic group or background.
| Ethnic Group or Background | Number | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| White (total) | 97 | 95% |
| Scottish | 81 | 79% |
| Other British | 9 | 9% |
| Irish | 1 | 1% |
| Polish | 2 | 2% |
| Other White Group/Background | 4 | 4% |
| Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British (total) | 4 | 4% |
| Pakistani, Pakistani Scottish or Pakistani British | 1 | 1% |
| Chinese, Chinese Scottish or Chinese British | 3 | 3% |
| Arab, Arab Scottish or Arab British | 1 | 1% |
Table 5 below outlines the annual incomes before tax of those who specified this.
| Annual Income | Number | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Less than £10,000 | 5 | 5% |
| £10,001 - £20,000 | 27 | 28% |
| £20,001 - £30,000 | 24 | 24% |
| £30,001 - £40,000 | 9 | 9% |
| £40,001 - £50,000 | 14 | 14% |
| £50,001 - £60,000 | 7 | 7% |
| Over £60,000 | 12 | 12% |
| Total | 98* | 100% |
* A further 4 respondents preferred not to disclose their annual income.
Overall, 15% (n=15) of respondents indicated that they had a physical or mental health condition or illness that would last or was expected to last 12 months or more. Of these, 40% (n=6) stated that their condition or illness impaired their mobility.
Just over one fifth of the total sample (21%, n=21) had a NEC, while around two thirds of the respondents (67%, n=68) had full access to a car. As shown in the table below, 22% (n=23) of respondents indicated that they had no access to a vehicle.
| Access to a vehicle | Number | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Full access to a car | 68 | 67% |
| Shared access to a car | 10 | 10% |
| No access | 23 | 22% |
| Prefer not to say/Not answered | 1 | 1% |
| Total | 102 | 100% |