Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The main aim of the United Kingdom Day Visits Survey, the Great Britain Day Visits Survey (GBDVS), and latterly the England Leisure Visits Survey (ELVS), is to measure the extent of participation in day visits, and to estimate the scale and value of visits taken. In particular the principal investigators are interested in the extent of participation in different kinds of day trips, how frequently particular types of trip are undertaken, and associated expenditure. The survey also seeks to provide information on a number of other trip details, such as activities undertaken, areas visited, time spent at the main destination, modes of transport, distance travelled, number of people involved and the trip party composition. Respondents to the survey are generally asked to recall trips taken within the past two weeks.
The 2002-2003 survey covered trips within Great Britain only, not Northern Ireland as had previously been the case, hence the change of name from United Kingdom Day Visits Survey to Great Britain Day Visits Survey. The survey also sought to provide estimates of leisure day visits to three main types of destination, including towns and cities, the countryside, and the seaside or coast. Within these types, trips involving visits to any of three further subsidiary destinations (woods and forests, and both navigable and non-navigable inland waters) could also be recorded.
Main Topics:
The dataset provides a record of all trips from home in the last two weeks to towns, seaside areas, countryside areas, woods or forests, and water areas (with or without boats). Details are included for up to seven of the most recent trips undertaken by respondents within the last two weeks. If a trip of the kind listed above had not been undertaken in the past two weeks, respondents were asked to recall the most recent trip of this type in the last twelve months and to give details of that one instead. If a town or countryside trip had not been undertaken in the last two weeks, respondents were instead only asked to recall the last time a trip of this type occurred and the frequency of such trips in the last year. Changes between the 1998 and 2002 questionnaires: One of the major changes between the 1998 questionnaire and the 2002-2003 version was the exclusion of the series of questions on respondents' satisfaction with the facilities, information and general upkeep of woodland and forest sites and similarly for inland water sites. Another question from the 1998 questionnaire which was also omitted related to a secondary purpose of the leisure trip. In addition to questions omitted, some new questions were also introduced. For example, it was decided that more emphasis should be placed on identifying the geographical location of the various leisure trips undertaken. Consequently, interviewers were encouraged, wherever possible, to obtain from the respondents the postcode of the main destination visited on the leisure trip. Where this was unknown to the respondent, the interviewers were instructed to collect as much detail as possible about the destination to allow the postcode to be subsequently identified. Secondly, a question was added to establish whether respondents were accompanied on their leisure trip by friends or relatives, who were staying away from home overnight with the respondent or in local accommodation. The purpose of this question was to determine the extent to which the 'hosting' of friends and relatives acted as a motivator for taking leisure trips from home. Thirdly, for each leisure trip, a question was added which sought to establish whether the respondent had bought any locally-made products to eat or drink on the trip or to take home as a souvenir or gift. The question also identified what type of product or produce was bought. For further details of questionnaire structure, please consult the documentation. Standard Measures: Occupational coding of the chief income earner was carried out using the 2000 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC2000), published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). In association with other information such as the employment status and size of employment establishment, it is also possible to derive Social Class automatically and if required, the new ONS Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC).
Multi-stage stratified random sample
Face-to-face interview
