With the UK’s roadmap out of lockdown and ongoing vaccination programme offering hope to millions of people across the nation, an end to restrictions has never felt more tangible.
No doubt this will bring much-needed relief to the live event industry, as more and more events are given the green light to go ahead. But exactly how do UK festival-goers feel about the possibility of returning to events once lockdown is lifted, and what changes – if any – do they expect to see when they do?
Festicket surveyed 140,000 festival-goers from the UK to find out more.
Customer confidence at a high
The survey found that 79% of respondents would feel comfortable attending a live event this summer – between June and August – with that number rising to 90% when events in the final four months of the year were also taken into consideration.
Given those high figures, it is unsurprising that over 82% of fans said that they are planning to attend two or more festivals or live events this year – a statistic that reflects the huge demand for tickets since the roadmap was first unveiled.
Additionally, more than half of the respondents said that they would be happy to book tickets for both international and domestic events, displaying a return in appetite for international travel and music tourism.
In the run up to events, clear communication and reassurance from festivals appeared to be of primary importance for customers; they expect transparency about refunds in the event of cancellation, and want any health and safety measures to be clearly communicated in advance.
Interestingly, on the subject of vaccinations just 7.9% said they would only feel comfortable attending an event if they had been vaccinated.
On-site expectations
In terms of the changes festival-goers want to see on-site, the most prevalent was extra cleaning and hygiene measures – 58.5% deeming this essential – followed closely by a desire for contactless and cashless systems to be in place.
Over 52% said contactless ticketing, contactless access control at the door and reduced queues would be key in their decision to attend, while 70% of people said they would be more encouraged to attend a festival/event if it were to implement a COVID-secure cashless system on site for bars, food vendors and all other payments.
This is a trend that Festicket’s Event Genius platform have seen coming, investing heavily in their contactless ticketing and access control solutions and egPay cashless product. egAccess is now fully contactless, while egPay is the most complete RFID/NFC cashless and contactless POS solution for events on the market, allowing promoters to create a safer, more hygienic event while also benefiting from increased revenues and intelligent analytics.
Zack Sabban, CEO, Festicket: “It’s clear there has been a shift in perspective in the UK over the past month. Following the Prime Minister’s announcement in February, stories of 2021 events selling out have become common but we wanted to dig a little deeper. Coupling customer opinion with ongoing event partner conversations puts us in a strong position to help the industry bounce back successfully. It’s important that the industry works within all government guidance available but more specifically, listening to your fans is essential and delivering events in the way they now demand is critical for success.”
