Dome Announces January Figures And Future Weekly Reporting

• Dome Announces January Figures And Future Weekly Reporting
• Higher Monthly Attendance In Peak Season Expected
• 12 Million Target For Visitors Attainable
• Dome Could Break Even With 10 Million Paying Visitors
• February And March 'A Great Time To Come'

366,420 people visited the Dome at Greenwich in January, the attraction's operators the New Millennium Experience Company announced today.

NMEC said that the number of visitors in January, and the level of demand for the rest of the year measured in opinion polls, showed that the Dome's target of 12 million visitors remained attainable. Of the 366,420 visitors, 21,800 had been admitted free of charge as schoolchildren on free visits, Greenwich residents, travel trade-unions promotional partners, media visitors, coach drivers, carers for disabled visitors and guests on New Year's Day. There were 344,620 paying visitors.

NMEC invited people planning a trip to the Dome to take advantage of the shorter queues in midweek and to come in February or March, before the peak summer season.

The first comprehensive customer survey, conducted by MORI, showed that visitors gave an overwhelmingly positive reaction to the attractions at the Dome. The findings were in line with media polls showing that 80 to 90 percent of visitors enjoyed their day at the Dome and that more than three quarters would recommend the Dome to friends.

The MORI survey of 1,068 visitors to the Dome, conducted from January 14 to 30, found:

• 82 per cent of visitors were either very (51%) or fairly (31%) satisfied with their day out
• 78 per cent of visitors would either definitely (52%) or probably (26%) recommend the Dome to friends
• 80 per cent of visitors thought the Dome was a value for money day out, with 35 per cent rating it 'very good' value for money
• 35 per cent of visitors would either definitely (16%) or probably (19%) come back.

The MORI survey also found that Dome Hosts who greet visitors got the thumbs up, with their friendliness and welcome rated 76% (very good) and 19% (fairly good), and their efficiency and knowledge rating 65% (very good) and 19% (fairly good).

NMEC said that the high satisfaction ratings reported by visitors to the Dome and the fact that the number of visitors rose towards the end of the month were encouraging.

The figures showed a rising trend in the second half of the month, suggesting that word-of-mouth recommendation was leading to a week-on-week increase.

The Dome opened successfully every day and the Millennium Show and other attractions had worked well. Some of the simple improvements made in early January, in terms of the information provided to visitors and queue management, had taken effect and made the Dome even better for visitors.

Although the last weekend of January represented the Dome's busiest two-day period, queuing was spread much more evenly around the Dome than was the case in the first few days. The company said that the management of visitor flow and queuing had undoubtedly improved.

NMEC published a day-by-day breakdown of visitor numbers for January and announced that from next Tuesday (February 8), visitor numbers would be published every week on the Millennium Experience website.

NMEC also published a range of information on the Dome's first month, including categories of tickets sold, means of transport used by visitors, and other statistics.

NMEC Managing Director Liam Kane commented:

"The peak season for visitor attractions is the summer months, with smaller peaks around school holidays. We expect our visitor numbers to follow the same pattern as the rest of the tourism industry, with the key difference that we expect a higher proportion of attendances in November and December when there is likely to be a rush to see the Dome before it closes. Time-limited exhibitions, like Expos, have a low start with the highest attendances in the traditional peak season and towards the end of the opening period."

"This would mean that against the industry average of 4 per cent of attendances in January, the Dome could be expected to attract between 2.5 and 3 per cent of its annual total in the first month. In fact the figure was just over 3 per cent of the target of 12 million. This and the published polls on demand show the Dome remains on course to attract 12 million visitors in the year."

NMEC also commented on speculation that a failure to attract 12 million visitors would prevent the project from breaking even.

The company stated that although the target of 12 million visitors was widely assumed to be a 'break-even' figure, this was not the case. The company's estimate of the number of visitors that the Dome was likely to attract remained at 12 million and the idea that the visitor numbers achieved in January meant the Dome would not be able to balance its budget was misplaced.

NMEC said that although expected demand remained at 12 million, it would be possible to balance the budget with around 10 million visitors over the year. The exact figure would depend on the proportion of visitors coming on discounted tickets and on takings at the Dome's catering and retail outlets, and on proceeds from the eventual disposal of the company's assets.

The company confirmed that surpluses on income would be repaid to the Millennium Commission in line with the original memorandum of agreement.