Illustrative engagement. A representative scenario showing how we approach this kind of work in leisure. It does not describe a specific client; outcomes are described qualitatively.
Industry overview
What is shaping leisure
Leisure and recreation businesses compete for limited free time and holiday budgets. Visitors and members want value, convenience and memorable experiences.
- Holiday planning starts online, months ahead
- Memberships need visible value to renew
- Local tourism depends on infrastructure and cleanliness
Client background
A state tourism board, working in Himachal Pradesh. This is an illustrative engagement: a representative scenario showing how we approach this kind of work, not a named client project.
- Organisation
- A state tourism board
- Sector
- Leisure
- Team engaged
- Market Research
- Services
- Government research, Offline data collection (CAPI), Quantitative research
Client challenge
The board needed data on visitor origins, spending and satisfaction for planning.
Research objectives
- Deliver on the brief: a visitor survey for a state tourism board.
- Produce results that can be compared across groups and locations.
- Give the client evidence it can act on within 8 weeks.
Target audience
Scope: 3,000 visitors.
Audiences we typically reach in leisure
Visitors and touristsMembersFamilies planning holidaysLocal businessesTourism boards
Geographic coverage
Coverage: Himachal Pradesh. Market: India.
- India
Research methodology
A structured quantitative design, so results could be compared across groups, locations and time.
- 1Brief
- 2Visitor intercepts
- 3Insight
Interviewers surveyed visitors at major destinations about trip purpose, spending and experience.
Government researchOffline data collection (CAPI)Quantitative research
Sampling strategy
- Respondents were selected across Himachal Pradesh using quotas set in advance for each location and respondent type, so no single area or group dominated.
Data collection
- visitors
- 3,000
- Trained local-language interviewers conducted interviews in person on tablets (CAPI), with time and location recorded for every interview.
Data quality & validation
- Back-checks on a share of completed interviews
- Time and location checks on field interviews
- Supervisor accompaniment in the field
- Logic and range checks on the final data
- Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures
Data analysis
- Cross-tabulation by key groups and locations
- Significance testing on the differences that mattered
Key findings
- Road connectivity and waste management were the main concerns.
Visitor data guides infrastructure priorities.
Recommendations
- Build on the core insight: visitor data guides infrastructure priorities.
- Focus effort where the evidence was strongest: road connectivity and waste management were the main concerns.
- Re-measure after the changes to confirm the effect.
Business impact
- The board prioritised them in its plan.
What changed in the business as a result of the work. Impact is described qualitatively.
Deliverables & next steps
- Insight report and management presentation
- Cleaned data file and data tables
- Evaluation findings with programme recommendations
- Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
- A natural follow-on question: who visits, and what do they value?