Many school and college students choose the impact of tourism on Stratford-upon-Avon as a subject for special study. This page outlines material held at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Records Office which can be used for such research.

Visitors to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust properties

In May each year the Trust publishes an annual report. This includes figures for admissions to its five historic properties:

From 1945, these figures have been tabulated on a single sheet.   Click here for statistics.  For Shakespeare's Birthplace only, tabulated figures are also available from 1852/3 to 1944/5.  Click here for early admission figures for Shakespeare's Birthplace (21.00 KB).

The Annual Reports themselves are also worth studying as, from 1945, they contain a yearly analysis of the countries of origin of those signing the visitors' book in Shakespeare's Birthplace. These cannot be used as more than a rough indicator because only a fraction of visitors sign the book: in 1996, for example, only 80,533 signed out of a total of 548,379. Nevertheless, they do reflect the general character of patronage. These figures are stored on a database and details for particular countries over given periods can be printed out on request.

The Annual Reports also contain other information on the Trust's work which might be relevant.

Effect on town-centre retailing

There is no doubt that the character of town-centre retailing has changed in recent years, although whether this is solely due to the impact of tourism is a matter of debate. The change can best be plotted by consulting Goad Maps. These are large-scale maps of the commercial heart of the town, annotated to show the use to which each property is put. The earliest dates from 1969, subsequent issues appearing every two years or so.

Four reports, now useful for comparative purposes, are:

• Development Analysts Ltd., Municipal Borough of Stratford-upon-Avon: Final Report of Economic Survey, 1964.
• Stansgate Planning Consultants, Stratford-upon-Avon: Shopping Study and Impact Assessment, 1988.
• Tomlinson, Paul, Stratford-upon-Avon: a centre and catchment profile report, Goad, 2000
• Heart of England Tourism, Shakespeare's Birthplace visitor survey, 2004.

Planning and Tourism

Given the importance of tourism for Stratford's economy, it is no surprise to find that local planners have carried out several surveys to gauge its precise impact and how best to plan for it. The most recent, and most detailed, was carried out between 1992 and 1995 by the Stratford Visitor Management Action Programme. Its detailed reports, together with a useful executive summary, are available in the library. Drawing largely on this, the Heart of England Tourist Board has produced a strategy document, From Strength to Strength (1998).

Other reports and studies carried out over the years include Stratford-on-Avon District Council: Report of the Tourism Steering Group, 1978, updated in 1987 by Stuart Peebles in Tourism in Stratford-on-Avon: an Independent Review of Developments since the Council's study in 1978.

Theatre Patronage

The annual reports of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre give details of box office admissions.

Visitor Accommodation

Up-to-date figures for 'overnight visitors' are difficult to obtain, but an indication of changes in provision can be traced from accommodation registers which we hold, published annually from 1947. From 1992, we also have figures for those both visiting the Tourist Information Office and using its accommodation booking service.

Background

The best introduction to the growth of Stratford as an inland resort is an article by Roger Pringle, 'The rise of Stratford as Shakespeare's town', in R. Bearman, ed.,The History of an English Borough: Stratford-upon-Avon, 1196-1996, 1997. This has references to other books which can profitably be consulted.