Bosham Neighbourhood Plan
Policy 6 Visitors Estimation of Visitor Numbers
Summary
The total number of visitors is estimated at 240,000 per year.
Average monthly (daily) visitors vary from 9,000 (300 per day) per day in winter to 43,000 (1,400 per
day) in the peak summer holiday period. The peak number of visitors in any one day is estimated at
2,200.
Ticket sales of 1-3 hours account for 91% of total car park ticket sales – confirming the data
emerging from completed visitor questionnaires that the greater majority of visitors stay in Bosham
for no more than 3 hours. The estimates show that 97% of visitors come by car
Car Park Ticket Sales
Table A, showing the number of Bosham car park tickets sold over a 12 month period, provides a
solid factual basis for estimating numbers of cars using the car park – around 70,000 pa.
Table A. Bosham Car Park Ticket Sales
(Data provided by Chichester District Council)
2013
2014
Tariff
Ticket
length
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Total
112A
1hour
2,648
2,581
2,389
2,763
3,644
2,544
2,181
1,642
1,572
1,324
1,789
2,491
27,568
112B
2h
2,398
2,416
2,348
2,816
4,062
2,392
1,850
1,283
1,260
930
1,352
2,396
25,503
112C
3h
960
1,076
1,035
1,272
1,834
974
702
453
461
281
416
940
10,404
112D
4h
186
294
266
327
455
224
131
83
69
63
80
180
2,358
112E
6h
76
145
160
226
252
133
69
34
32
19
18
69
1,233
112F
24h
231
291
314
453
431
229
156
101
70
59
66
112
2,513
112G
48h
23
37
39
61
67
33
34
16
11
11
15
21
368
112H
Added
24h
7 day
5
15
5
9
19
3
7
0
1
0
2
0
66
1
1
1
1
4
1
2
0
1
0
2
1
15
6,528
6,856
6,557
7,928
10,768
6,533
5,132
3,612
3,477
2,687
3,740
6,210
70,028
112I
Total
Figure A illustrates the marked extent to which car park ticket sales (which are predominantly to
visitors) vary with the time of the year ranging from 2,700 in January to 10,800 in August.
The variation in numbers on a day to day basis is, of course, still greater because visitor numbers are
sharply affected by weather, school holidays and whether the day is a weekday or a weekend.
Estimation of number of visitor cars using car park
For purposes of estimating the number of car park tickets sold to visitors (Table B) it’s reasonable to
divide ticket sales into one group of tickets for a 1 to 6 hour stay and a second group for a 24 or 48
hour stay.
The first row in Table B shows the total number of 1-6 hour tickets sold. The second row deducts a
number of tickets which are estimated to have been sold to ‘business’ visitors. To be on the
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conservative side this has been estimated at 20 business visitors per day (including weekends) or
around 600 per month.
We believe this to be a cautious over estimate of the number of tickets sold to business visitors. The
car park serves only business visitors to the central old part of the village. It is observable that the
majority of plumbers, decorators, builders, gardeners and other services park outside the dwelling
they are servicing - simply because they need access to their tools and materials. The number of car
park ticket sales to business visitors probably does not exceed 200 per month (10 per working day).
The 3rd row therefore provides an estimate of the number of 1-6 hour tickets sold to pleasure
visitors.
The 4th row is based on an estimate that about 50% of the total 24/48 hour ticket sales are sold to
visitors (generally family or friends visiting a Bosham resident plus a very small number of visitors
staying in a B&B). The remaining 50% of 24/48 hour tickets are assumed to be sold to ‘weekender’
residents. (Many have a long term parking licence but require an additional overnight ticket if they
bring down a second car). Again, this estimate of the number of visitors buying 24/48 tickets is
believed to be on the conservative side.
The total number of visitor ticket sales is therefore estimated at around 61,000 pa.
Table B. Estimation of Number of Car Park Tickets sold to 'Pleasure Visitors'
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Total
6,268
6,512
6,198
7,404
10,247
6,267
4,933
3,495
3,394
2,617
3,655
6,076
67,066
-600
-600
-600
-600
-600
-600
-600
-600
-600
-600
-600
-600
-7,200
5,668
5,912
5,598
6,804
9,647
5,667
4,333
2,895
2,794
2,017
3,055
5,476
59,866
Add 50% of
24 hr - 7
day tickets
130
172
180
262
261
133
100
59
42
35
43
67
1,481
Total tickets
sold to
'pleasure
visitors'
5,798
6,084
5,778
7,066
9,908
5,800
4,433
2,954
2,836
2,052
3,098
5,543
61,347
Total 1-6
hour tickets
sold
Estimated
visitors on
business
Tickets (16hr) sold to
'pleasure
visitors'
Estimation of number of visitor cars not using car park
It is easy to observe that a large of number of visitors avoid car park fees by parking either on Shore
Road or on one of the village roads away from the shore. To make an estimate of visitor numbers
not using the car park a number of observations of the number of cars parked at various points
around the village were made at some random times.
The sample observations counted the number of parked cars on the Shore Road, in the Millstream
and Berkeley Arms car parks and on the roads most commonly used for parking lying back from the
shore. The bulk of observations were made during the peak parking period of the day (11.0am to
4.0pm). The observation time, weather conditions were recorded for each observation. Because the
most popular ‘free’ parking area – Shore Road – is inaccessible at High Tide the tidal state was also
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recorded. As illustrated by the example observations in Table C, the observational data was used to
calculate the average number of visitor cars not in the car park as a % of the average number of
visitor cars in the car park.
Table C. Example Observations of Visitor Parking Not in Car Park
0304222829Date
Sep
Sep
Sep
Sep
Sep
Avg Sept
Day
Tues
Wed
Sun
Sat
Sun
Time
1915
1300
1145
1440
1500
Observer
DM
DM
DM
DM
DM
Weather
Sun
Sun
Sun
Cldy
Cldy
Tide
Low
High
Half
Low
Low
Capacity
Shore Road
70
12
0
17
33
45
Other roads
60
28
42
31
35
29
Millstream
36
32
31
27
20
26
Berkeley
22
2
6
2
4
7
Total
188
74
79
77
92
107
86
Daily average visitor cars in
car park in month observed
193
Total cars not in car park as
% of daily average visitor cars
in car park
44%
Estimation of total number of visitors
As the first row in Table D shows, one unexpected conclusion emerging from the observational data
is that the proportion of visitors not parking in the car park in winter appears to be much higher than
proportion not parking in the car park in summer.
The explanation for this is probably that visitors in winter are more likely to be retired couples living
fairly locally who are familiar with Bosham whereas in summer there is a higher proportion of nonlocal visitors (who won’t know about the alternative parking available on Shore Road). Elderly
couples are also more likely to simply sit in their cars and look at the sea and scenery.
Applying the %’s in the 1st row of Table D to the total number of visitors cars in the car park (row 2)
gives an estimate of the total number of visitor cars NOT parked in the car park (row 3). The
estimate is considered conservative because it is based on any ‘slot’ o Shore Road (or elsewhere
outside the car park) being used only once per day – whereas observation suggests strongly that
many slots are used multiple times during the day.
Row 4 in Table D yields the estimated total number of visitor cars (Row 2 plus Row 3)
Row 5 reflects observations made on sample numbers of cars which show that the average is about
2.6 people per car out of the holiday season rising to 3.1 people per car in peak holiday months
(when there is a higher proportion of families).
Row 6 shows the total estimated number of people visiting by car calculated from rows 4 and 5.
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Table D. Estimation of Total Number of Visitors
Cars parked
out of car park
as % of visitor
cars in park
Total car park
tickets sold to
'pleasure
visitors'
Estimated
visitor cars not
in car park
Total visitor
cars
Average
visitors per car
Total visitors
by car
Add cyclists
Add
walkers/rail/bus
Total
estimated
visitors
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
40%
40%
33%
33%
33%
44%
44%
50%
60%
60%
40%
40%
5,798
6,084
5,778
7,066
9,908
5,800
4,433
2,954
2,836
2,052
3,098
5,543
61,347
2,319
2,434
1,907
2,332
3,269
2,552
1,950
1,477
1,701
1,231
1,239
2,217
24,628
8,117
8,518
7,684
9,398
13,177
8,352
6,383
4,430
4,537
3,283
4,337
7,760
85,975
2.6
2.6
2.6
3.1
3.1
2.6
2.6
2.6
2.6
2.6
2.6
2.6
21,105
22,146
19,979
29,133
40,849
21,715
16,595
11,519
11,796
8,536
11,275
20,177
234,823
240
510
750
900
1,140
750
240
180
180
120
120
180
5,310
60
90
270
450
750
270
90
60
60
60
60
90
2,310
21,405
22,746
20,999
30,483
42,739
22,735
16,925
11,759
12,036
8,716
11,455
20,447
242,443
Finally rows 7 and 8 add estimates (based on observations of sample daily numbers) of the number
of visitors by bicycle and on foot (arriving by train, bus or foot). The number of visitors by boat is so
small as to be ignored.
The total number of visitors per year is estimated at around 240,000.
Seasonal variation in visitor numbers
As Figure 1 illustrates, the number of visitors per month varies from around 9,000 in winter (average
300 per day) to 43,000 in peak summer holiday period (average 1400 per day). Daily observations
taken over the August Bank Holiday period suggests that visitor numbers peaked at around 2,200
per day. On an extreme winter day it would be reasonable to suppose that visitor numbers dwindle
to zero.
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Total