XX Commonwealth Games Visitor Study: Visitor Survey Results Report

5. Travelling to the Games

5.1 This section provides details on how visitors travelled to Glasgow to attend the Games and the modes of transport used to reach venues on the day of attendance^[14]. Key findings include:

• Around half of visitors from outside of Scotland travelled at least part of their journey to Scotland by car (52%) while around a quarter travelled by rail (27%) and around a quarter travelled by air (24%).
• On the day of the event, journeys from home or overnight accommodation to the venue most frequently involved travel by rail (47%), walking (41%) and/or car (21%).

Travel to Scotland

5.2 Visitors resident outside of Scotland were asked to provide details on how they had travelled to Scotland. As shown in Figure 5.1, modes used varied by place of residence with the largest proportions of UK residents travelling by road or train (57% and 29% respectively) while overseas visitors were more likely to travel by air or sea (51% and 19% respectively).

5.3 As shown in Table 5.1, the types of transport used by UK and overseas residents reflect those recorded by VisitScotland in relation to the normal overnight tourism markets to Glasgow^[15].

Figure 5.1. All modes of transport used to reach Scotland by place of residence (modes used by 1% or more of all visitors)

Base: All respondents from outside of Scotland (803)

Note: In the survey if multiple modes of transport were used by a respondent these would all be recorded. Therefore percentages sum to over 100%.

Table 5.1. Transport used to travel to Glasgow by normal Glasgow visitor markets*

*Scotland Visitor Survey 2011

Travel to the venue

5.4 Respondents were asked to provide details of the modes of transport they had used to travel to the venue on the day of attendance with day visitors reporting the methods they had used to travel from home while overnight visitors reported the methods used to travel from their overnight accommodation (e.g. their hotel).

5.5 Around half of all visitors (47%) travelled by train for at least part of their journey while 41% walked all, or part, of the journey. As shown in Figure 5.2, visitors on a day visit were slightly more likely than those on an overnight trip to travel by car, use regular buses or the Subway while overnight visitors were more likely to travel by train or to use the Glasgow 2014 Shuttle Bus.

5.6 Comparing the transport modes used by normal place of residence (see Figure A.8 in Annex A), those people who live in Glasgow were significantly more likely than those who live outside of the city to walk all or part of the journey to the venue (52%) but were less likely to travel by train or car (note visitors who do not live in the city may however have stayed overnight in the city e.g. at a hotel).

5.7 The modes of transport used to reach venues (see Table A.4 in Annex A) also varied by the type of event attended with those attending Glasgow 2014 events more likely than those attending Festival 2014 to travel by train while, reflecting the larger proportion of Glasgow residents in the audience, those attending Festival 2014 events were more likely to walk all or part of the journey.

5.8 Comparing the modes of transport used to travel to venues with the modes used in general during Tourism Day Visits taken in the West of Scotland, visitors attending Games venues in the West of Scotland^[16] were much more likely to travel by rail (48% compared to 10% of normal day visitor market) but much less likely to travel by car (20% compared to 69% of normal day visitor market).^[17] Although this should be viewed within the context that many of the venues were not easily assessable by car during Games time.

Figure 5.2. All modes of transport used to reach venue on day of interview by type of trip

Base: All respondents (2,214)