_ The leisure activities of the future - how can the industry keep up with our demands?

But we are demanding more from our social lives and want to be tempted with new activities and experiences. So how are operators keeping up with our demands?

We explore the emerging trends in the leisure sector, but also begin to consider the threats that occupiers are facing.

Cinemas – a mature market continuing to evolve

Let us first consider the trends appearing in the more traditional leisure sectors. The cinema is still a hugely popular leisure activity in this country, with admissions hovering around the 170 million mark and average annual spend per head just under £20 in 2015 and 2016.

Compared to other EU countries, we have the biggest box office figures with gross box office numbers of €1.7bn compared to €1.3bn in France, €1.2bn in Germany and €570m in Spain.

There are now over 4,000 screens in the UK, but we have noticed a shift away from the tired and dated screens that were previously commonplace. There is a new focus, with operators seeking to provide an enhanced cinematic experience with improved visual and sound systems.

Odeon, Cineworld, Vue and Showcase have all been investing in their cinemas to provide more intimate screens with fewer but better quality, reclining seats.

They often serve alcoholic drinks and a better quality food offering, with some even having waiter service.

We will need to wait to see the approach of new Odeon owner, AMC, but we anticipate them following a similar strategy of investing and upgrading their screens.

Surprisingly, this approach doesn’t necessarily result in obvious ticket price hikes for the customer; cinema operators often claim to keep prices the same for the improved screens in the hope that the enhanced experience will attract more customers away from the competition and spending more on ancillary products in their cinemas.

Nonetheless, average ticket prices have been rising ahead of inflation with the average ticket price in 2016 being £7.41, an increase of 2.8% from 2015. In 2015, the average ticket prices rose by 7% in a year when consumer inflation at 0.2% for the year barely shifted (Cinemagoing, Dodona Research).

Gyms – remaining fit for purpose

The gym sector has seen a polarisation of operators, with the best performing sectors in the market being the budget gyms and the premium end operators.

Since its acquisition of LA Fitness in 2015, Pure Gym has become the UK’s largest gym operator both in terms of number of gyms (over 170) and also number of members (c.450,000).

This is a major success for a gym operator which only started in 2009 with four sites. At the other end of the market, there is now also a trend for boutique gyms and studios, especially in London but also spreading across the UK.

These gyms offer small class sizes, personal training sessions, dedicated and tailor-made routines, body composition checks and luxury toiletries. They often specialise in one area such as yoga, boxing or classes but all command exceptionally high membership prices.

Bowling – rolling on

Even bowling is undergoing a revamp. Previously the domain of children’s birthday parties with sticky carpets and warm beer, the bowling world is being transformed.

New operators such as All Star Lanes and Lane 7 have reinvigorated the sector targeting a more grownup clientele and offering quality food, fine cocktails and craft beers.

They appeal to young professionals looking for an alternative night out or venue for a quirky party or corporate event.

Trampolining – providing plenty of bounce

At this point, it is impossible to ignore the overwhelming rise in popularity of trampolining.

Perhaps five years ago, you may have scoffed at the notion, but it has proven to be a phenomenally successful and growing sector.

The first trampoline park in the UK opened in May 2014 but there are now already around 100 parks across the country, with additional ones planned.

The benefits to landlords of this phenomenon are obvious – trampoline operators are now a key target for landlords with problematic 20,000-30,000 sq ft empty boxes.

They bring a new audience to existing leisure schemes, retail parks and shopping centres with footfalls of circa 200,000 per annum. The rents they pay vary for different locations but as a rough guide, rents can be circa £7-£12/sq ft. For a landlord with a tricky empty big box, they are a tempting tenant.

But as the sector becomes more competitive, there will be a consolidation of operators with the basic model being pushed out as the smarter operators develop their models.

The rise of “competitive socialising”

In our modern society where everyone is looking for the "next big thing”, the latest craze seems to stem from the hype for “Competitive Socialising” and offering a fully immersive experience. This trend began in London but is quickly spreading to major regional cities.

We can play table tennis at dedicated ping pong venues such as Bounce, which has two venues in London or at Twenty Twenty Two in Manchester.

Flight Club (which was co-founded by the founder of Bounce and co-founder of All Star Lanes) hails itself as the home of the “social darts” phenomenon and has a spectacular bar, supercharged games and bespoke technology.

Indoor golf has been transformed with the likes of Swingers, Urban Golf and Adventure Leisure aiming to provide full social experiences. Junkyard Golf began in Manchester, but now also has a venue in Shoreditch.

Swingers has also capitalised on the incredible popularity of street food with vendors such as Pizza Pilgrims and Patty & Bun serving up food on site, all served alongside cocktails, craft beers and fine wines. 

Lane 7 has reinvigorated the bowling market but also offers ping pong, pool and karaoke.

They are currently in Newcastle but are looking to expand into other regional cities. A whole host of other alternative leisure experiences are appearing and all are tapping into our desire to try something new whilst we socialise.

There are new Crystal Maze type experiences, adult soft play and ball pools, even axe-throwing has become a new way to spend your evening and weekends! It seems that anything goes in the world of leisure.

However, we mustn’t view “competitive socialising” as a fad.

As long as operators are able to stay flexible in their offering and bang on trend with their ways of keeping the fickle customer amused, then “competitive socialising” is here to stay. 

Flexibility and predicting the 'next big thing' are key 

It is clear that we are a nation of leisure lovers who are excited by new concepts and experiences. The operators use this to their advantage and seem to be able to continually evolve their offering to meet our demands.

Aside from the very real threats they face from other external pressures, operators must continue to be flexible and to stay on trend if they are to keep us spending our hard earned cash in the world of leisure.

Download Issue 5 of Retail News focussing on Leisure and the Food & Beverage ( F&B) industry or contact Knight Frank's award-winning Retail & Leisure team to discuss the latest opportunities.