Manchester City Council Manchester Day Visitor Research 2014-17

The Project

Enventure Research has been appointed each year since 2014 by Manchester City Council (MCC) to deliver a visitor survey at the Manchester Day Parade, an annual cultural event which celebrates the creativity, diversity and collective pride in the city in a highly visual way. The parade features floats, inflatables and bands alongside groups and individuals representing a range of local organisations. It has been estimated that approximately 60,000 visitors attend the parade each year.

Research Methods

The survey measures the impact of the parade and visitors’ perceptions of the event via face-to-face surveying of attendees. The questionnaire each year has been designed in partnership between MCC and Enventure Research, with most questions replicated from previous surveys so that meaningful comparisons can be made and attitudes tracked over time.

An experienced team of interviewers has conducted the survey with visitors on each occasion at a number of sampling points along the parade route. The interviewing team wear branded Manchester Day Parade t-shirts and hand out parade information leaflets to respondents, who are approached using random sampling. The survey takes approximately ten minutes to complete.

Results and Benefits to the Client

The response to the survey has been very positive to date, with 266 visitors interviewed in 2014 and 270 visitors interviewed in 2015. The most recent survey took place on Sunday 19 June 2016 at nine locations across the parade route. Fewer interviews were completed on this occasion in comparison to previous years due to poor weather on the day of the parade; however the interviewing team managed to successfully interview 233 visitors.

Overall, the results have demonstrated very positive attitudes towards the parade, with many respondents visiting the city just to see the parade and staying longer than anticipated. After each phase of the research Enventure Research has delivered the raw data to MCC, along with a full research report detailing the findings and comparisons with previous years’ results.