November 16, 2011 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and are Tops in Local Sights to See Every year, thousands of visitors make their way through the National Capital Region s many historic and natural sites and its numerous museums and galleries. Local residents themselves make up a significant portion of these visitors and also represent important tourist guides in their own town. To gain a better understanding of how a variety of local museums and sites rank in the eyes of local residents, Quorus conducted a study with over 750 residents of the National Capital Region. Our research shed insight into where local residents have been over the past year, how they rate a dozen local sites and museums and which ones they would recommend to friends and family visiting from out of town. When asked to recommend, unprompted, three places to see or things to do in the region if friends or family were visiting from out of town, the most popular attraction to figure in local residents top-three would be, as mentioned by 57%. The Rideau Canal, and the Canadian Museum of Civilization made up the next tier of recommendations, each mentioned by roughly one out of four local residents. About 16% would include the Byward Market as part of their top-3 and 14% would include the. Geography certainly has a lot to do with the sites and museums local residents would recommend - the ranking among Ottawa residents is quite different from the ranking among Gatineau residents (as seen in the graph on the next page): was by far the most common recommendation among Ottawa residents (64%). For Gatineau respondents, (35%) came second to, which came in at 42%. Ottawa residents were also much more likely than Gatineau residents to include the following in their top-3: the Rideau Canal (30% versus 10% among Gatineau respondents), the National Gallery of Canada (16% versus 7%), downtown in general (10% versus 4%), the National Arts Centre ( versus 3%) and going to a Senators hockey game (7% versus 3%). On the other hand, sites that were more commonly noted by Gatineau respondents included the Canadian Museum of Civilization (33% versus 20% among Ottawa respondents), local bars and restaurants (13% versus 7%), and the Casino du Lac Leamy (11% versus 1%).
Top Recommended Local Attractions 57% Rideau Canal Museum of Civilization 23% 25% 25% Museums in general Byward Market 14% 16% 1 Downtown Local bars and restaurants 9% 11% Question: If relatives or friends from out of town were coming to visit you, what are the top three places in the region you would recommend they visit or things they should do? Base: All Respondents (n=753) Top Recommended Local Attractions Ottawa vs. Gatineau Respondents Ottawa Respondents Gatineau Respondents 64% 42% Rideau Canal 30% 35% 19% Cdn. Museum of Civilization 33% Cdn. Museum of Civilization 20% Museums in general 1 Museums in general 17% Byward Market 13% Byward Market 17% Local bars and restaurants 13% 16% Casino du Lac Leamy 11% 12% Rideau Canal 10% Downtown 10% National Arts Centre 7% Question: If relatives or friends from out of town were coming to visit you, what are the top three places in the region you would recommend they visit or things they should do? Base: Ottawa Respondents (n=501); Gatineau Respondents (n=252)
Geography also has a lot to do with the sites and museums local residents tend to visit. When asked whether they had visited any of twelve specific sites and museums over the past year, the most popular were, and the Canadian Museum of Civilization. Some of the trends observed earlier when considering what residents would recommend also appear when looking at where residents have been over the past year. is more popular among Gatineau respondents in fact 6 indicated they have been to over the past year. The Mont Cascades waterpark was also much more popular among Gatineau residents compared to Ottawa residents (21% versus among Ottawa residents). The most popular site among Ottawa residents was, at 57%, a site visited by only 47% of Gatineau residents. Ottawa residents were also more likely than Gatineau residents to have visited the following over the past year: o Canadian Museum of Nature (43% versus 26%); o The Central Experimental Farm (34% versus 19%); o The (33% versus 21%); and, o The Canadian Aviation and Space Museum (19% versus 12%). Despite having only been in operation for a few years, Calypso Park has seemingly made its mark on the local tourism scene. It has already become more popular than Mont Cascades among Ottawa residents and, despite its distance, was visited by 14% of Gatineau residents over the past year. Attractions Visited Over the Past Year Ottawa vs. Gatineau Respondents Ottawa Respondents Gatineau Respondents 57% 6 Canadian Museum of Civilization 45% Canadian Museum of Civilization 50% Canadian Museum of Nature 43% 47% 42% 30% 36% Canada Science & Tech Museum 29% The Central Experimental Farm 34% Canadian Museum of Nature 26% 33% Canadian Children's Museum 22% Canada Science & Tech Museum 32% 21% Cdn. Aviation & Space Museum 19% Mont Cascades waterpark 21% Canadian Children's Museum 1 The Central Experimental Farm 19% Calypso waterpark 14% Calypso waterpark 14% Mont Cascades waterpark Cdn. Aviation & Space Museum 12% Question: Which of the following sites and museums have you visited over the past 12 months? Base: Ottawa Respondents (n=501); Gatineau Respondents (n=252)
Just because someone has not visited a particular museum or site over the past year, it does not mean they think any less of it as a place to visit. To obtain a clear assessment of what local residents think of twelve specific local sites and museums, we asked them to personally rate each one as places to visit using a four-point scale: Excellent, Good, Fair or Poor. Respondents who did not have an opinion on a particular site were allowed to indicate they had No opinion. Our results show that local residents certainly think quite highly of most of the sites and museums in the region. For sites where positive scores were not so high, it had more to do with respondents having no opinion than having a negative one., and the Canadian Museum of Civilization have the most widespread positive perceptions in the region. Between 82% and 85% of local residents believe these sites are either excellent or good, of which roughly half consider them excellent. Other local museums also fared quite well. Roughly 69% to 75% of local residents think highly of the Canadian Museum of Nature (74%), the Canada Science and Technology Museum (73%), the Canadian War Museum (72%) and the (69%). The reputation of the remaining museums and sites on the list was much more limited. This had more to do with the fact that an important proportion of local residents do not have an opinion of them, suggesting potential marketing gaps for these particular sites and museums. For instance, 50% of local residents do not have an opinion of the Canadian Children s Museum. While families with young children were certainly more likely to know enough about this museum to provide a rating, there remain roughly 3 in 10 families with children 12 or younger who did not know enough to provide a rating. Regarding other sites and museums on the list, roughly 24% of local residents do not have an opinion of the Central Experimental Farm, 36% for the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum, 5 for Calypso and 4 for the Mont Cascades waterpark. A different perspective on the performance ratings for each of these sites and museums would be to only consider the ratings of individuals who have visited them in the past year. These results could in fact be considered general customer satisfaction ratings. From this perspective, all the sites and museums on the list fared quite well, although some better than others. Ratings were especially positive among those who had visited and the, among whom nearly 75% would rate each site as excellent. A continued focus on excellence also shows strong ratings for the (66% of visitors rated it an excellent place to visit), the Canadian Children s Museum (65% rated it excellent), and the Canadian Museum of Civilization (64%).
Some sites and museums, despite showing strong combined excellent + good scores (also known as top-2 box scores), seem to be performing relatively less well compared to other destinations in the region when we focus exclusively on excellence. Sites like the Central Experimental Farm (42% rated it excellent), the Canada Science and Technology Museum (46%) and the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum (4) may not be meeting all their visitors expectations. The relative scores for Calypso and Mont Cascades may also suggest that Calypso will continue to make inroads over the coming years. Site and Museum Ratings As Places to Visit All Residents vs. Recent Visitors All Residents Among Recent Visitors to Each Site / Museum Question: Overall, how would you personally rate the following sites and museums as places to visit : Base: All Respondents (n=753)
About the Survey The survey results presented in this document were derived from a study designed and executed by Quorus Consulting. They represent the opinions of 753 randomly selected residents in the National Capital Region (501 in Ottawa and 252 in Gatineau), 18 years of age and older, who completed a telephone survey between September 29 and October 6, 2011. The data for the interviews completed by telephone are weighted to replicate actual population distributions by age and gender within the NCR according to 2006 Census data. Overall results are accurate within +/- 3.6%, 19 times out of 20. About Quorus Quorus Consulting Group Inc. is an Ottawa-based market research consulting company with expertise in both qualitative and quantitative public opinion research. Quorus provides design, execution and reporting services to public, private and not-for-profit sector clients and is an accredited Gold Seal Corporate Member of the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association (MRIA). For additional information please visit www.quorusconsulting.com Media Contact Rick Nadeau, President Email: rick@quorusconsulting.com Phone: 1-613-837-4064