Deloitte has published a new research report entitled Passion for leisure: A view of the UK leisure consumer.

The Big Idea:

Deloitte has looked at how UK leisure consumer behavior is changing, the important drivers of this market, how its growth is impacting the UK economy overall, and potential Brexit impacts.

Key points:

• UK leisure consumption is growing faster than consumer spending overall, as a result of increased consumer confidence.
• 95% of UK consumers spent money on leisure activities in 1Q2016. Top subcategories:
  • 85% on eating out
  • 77% on in-home leisure
  • 75% on culture & entertainment
  • 73% at coffee shops
  • 70% on drinking in pubs/bars
• Two classes of leisure activities are emerging:
  • Considered & occasional
    • Leisure travel
    • Sporting events
    • Visitor attractions
    • Culture & entertainment
    • Other (bowling, etc.)
  • Frequent and habitual
    • Eating out
    • Gambling
    • Eating takeaway
    • Coffee shops
    • Gym memberships
    • Video games
    • TV/Movie paid subscriptions
    • Music subscriptions
• Relative size of leisure sub-sectors
  • Food 25%
  • Travel 21%
  • Nightlife 18%
  • Sports 13%
  • Gambling 9%
  • In-home entertainment 5%
  • Cinema/theatre 5%
  • Visitor attractions 4%
• Drivers of changes in consumer leisure behavior:
  • New hobbies and likes
  • Accessibility of digital gambling
  • New food-consumption choices, longer hours of availability
  • New pub offerings
  • Creating memories by attending live events
  • Focus on fitness
  • Holidays are special
• Activities consumers would cut if they had less money:
  • Gambling 45%
  • Eating out 39%
  • Drinking out 38%
  • Other 36%
  • Coffee shops 36%
  • Sporting events 35%
  • Holidays > 4 bednights 34%
  • Holidays < 4 bednights 34%
  • In-home leisure 28%
  • Culture/entertainment 27%
  • Gym/active sports 23%
• Possible impacts of Brexit on leisure sector
  • Immediate: Uncertainty, leading to reduced confidence, leading to spending cutbacks
  • Longer-term: Unknown; depends on terms of exit
• Key factors for future success in UK the leisure sector:

1.Innovation and technology

2.Watch trends in business models

3.Delight consumers, make them advocates

4.Keep a close eye on Brexit, adjust accordingly

Actionable takeaways I got from this:

• Depending on how Brexit goes, or consumer perceptions thereof, the UK leisure sector overall may be vulnerable through 2019.
• Casinos and restaurants are most vulnerable to reduced consumer confidence. Marketing and advertising in these sectors will likely do more to redistribute the shrinking pie than to unshrink it.
• Short breaks and longer holidays are apparently equally vulnerable, or invulnerable. Positive view of this is: people are reluctant to give up any leisure travel. There’s potential here for marketing and advertising to grow the pie at the expense of other sectors, as well as to redistribute it among competitors.
• Culture and entertainment looks to be in good shape; looks like a favorable time to invest in events.