Visitor Attraction, Heritage & Tourism Feasibility Study and Business Planning Consultants

Whether you’re testing a new idea for a visitor attraction, visitor centre or heritage property or ready to turn a proven concept into a funding-ready business plan we help clients and funders make evidence-based decisions at every stage of a project.

We work with both new and established organisations across the UK’s tourism, heritage and visitor attraction sectors, carrying out independent feasibility studies and preparing funding-ready business plans that give funders confidence and give clients a clear way forward.

Two stages, one team

Not every project needs to start in the same place. We can help at either or both stages:

Feasibility studies

Before committing to a full business plan, a feasibility study tests whether an idea for a new visitor attraction, visitor centre or heritage property actually stacks up. Ours typically cover:
Market and demand assessment: Is there a genuine audience for this attraction, visitor centre or tourism project?

• Site appraisal: Does the site fit with the project – location, access, linkages to local road networks, existing services?
• Planning:  Early engagement with the local authority planning officer is recommended at this stage
• Benchmarking: How do comparable visitor attractions, visitor centres and heritage properties perform, and what can be learned from them?
• Market assessment: Analysing specific drive time catchments, the wider tourism market, macroeconomic trends and the competitive landscape
• Options appraisal:   You may have a concept in mind for a new project or experience, or perhaps it is to enhance an existing business (e.g. to generate additional income, increase dwell time, engage with new audiences).  We can carry out an assessment of the options
• Outline financial viability: At a headline level, will the project wash its face?
• Risk identification:  What are the main risks to delivery and operation, and how significant are they?
• Funding Opportunities: An early view on which funding sources (Lottery, local authority, private investment) are realistic for a project of this type

The above can also be informed by direct primary research with visitors.

Business plans

Where we have already carried out the feasibility study, the business plan builds directly on that evidence rather than starting again from scratch. If you’ve already established your project’s viability, you are welcome to commission a business plan on its own. Our business plans include:

• Understanding the baseline position of the organisation
• Market assessment
• Benchmarking — case study analysis
• Strategic analysis
• Governance & delivery
• Management & staffing structures
• Detailed financial appraisal, including sensitivity analysis
• Risk assessment
• Approaches to monitoring & evaluation

Why start with a feasibility study

Board members, trustees and funders, including the National Lottery Heritage Fund and local authorities, expect to see feasibility work before they’ll consider a full business plan or funding application for a visitor attraction, visitor centre, heritage or tourism project. Starting with a feasibility study gives you:

• An honest, independent answer on whether a project is worth pursuing, before you spend on a full business plan
•  Evidence funders will expect to see as part of an early-stage application
• A clear steer on which aspects of a concept need to change before it’s viable
• A foundation that feeds directly into a full business plan, if the project proceeds — so you’re not paying twice for groundwork that’s already been done, because it’s the same team carrying it through

Projects we have worked on

• Northumberland National Park Authority: Carried out an options appraisal and prepared the business plan for Walltown Country Park, a gateway to Hadrian’s Wall
• Eden Project: Working with the SMT at the Eden Project to help produce the business plan for Eden Project Morecambe
• Pembrokeshire County Council: Prepared a feasibility study and development plan for the transformation of Haverfordwest Castle (Grade I listed) and Governor’s House into a flagship heritage attraction (the site incorporates the Town Museum). Latterly, we were commissioned to provide support for a funding application to the Levelling Up Fund, which secured over £17m
• Sussex Wildlife Trust: Working with the Senior Management Team, we prepared the business plan for the Rye Harbour Discovery Centre
• Rempstone Estate: Feasibility study and business plan to introduce 22 luxury self-catering lodges alongside an existing campsite business
• Forestry England: We carried out a feasibility study to develop the offer at Bedgebury National Pinetum and Forest, including introducing a visitor centre, walking and mountain biking trails, alongside supporting visitor infrastructure to increase market appeal and access. We also advised on operational considerations
• Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority: Prepared a business plan for Oriel y Parc Gallery & Visitor Centre, which incorporates an exhibition area alongside retail and event uses and a café
• Epping Forest Heritage Trust: We carried out a comprehensive feasibility study and assessment of the Trust’s activities to provide clear, practical recommendations on its services moving forward, with a focus on the visitor centre, which they manage and public engagement. A key remit of the Trust is education and learning across Epping Forest
• Natural England: Commissioned to carry out a site review and detailed market assessment to help identify appropriate opportunities to enhance the visitor experience at the Lincolnshire Coronation Coast National Nature Reserve
• Forest Holidays: Worked on a number of site finding, market assessments and feasibility studies. Sites include: Blackwood Forest, Beddgelert, Delamere Forest, Glentress Forest, Thorpe Forest and Sherwood Pines
• Warwickshire County Council, George Eliot Fellowship and Griff House Preservation Trust: Commissioned to carry out a feasibility study and prepare the supporting business case to assess the opportunity to develop a George Eliot Visitor Centre based on bringing to life the rich heritage associated with George Eliot in Warwickshire.
• Caerphilly County Borough Council: Carried out a feasibility study to introduce visitor accommodation within the grounds of Llancaiach Fawr Manor, a heritage attraction managed by the Council
• Enfield Council: At Forty Hall, a Grade I listed house, we carried out a market review and options appraisal to enhance income-generating opportunities. A supporting financial analysis for the lead options was also prepared

Please find out more about our feasibility studies and business planning projects at different sites.

Clients we have worked with

Our clients include Eden Project North, English Heritage, Natural Resources Wales, Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, Pembrokeshire County Council, Forest Holidays, Elan Valley Trust, Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council, Historic Environment Scotland, Sunderland City Council, Hampshire County Council, Sussex Wildlife Trust, Cornwall Heritage Trust, the Northumberland National Park Authority, and a private landowner developing luxury lodges in Dorset.

What makes us different

Most consultancies write plans from the outside looking in. We don’t. Through our sister company, Planning Solutions Limited (PSL), we have over 30 years of hands-on experience running and developing visitor attractions, heritage sites and tourism businesses ourselves. That operational insight, knowing what actually drives visitor footfall, spend per head and staffing costs on the ground, is what makes our business plans more grounded than most.

PSL manages and invests in:

• Conkers, a discovery centre set within 120 acres, including a covered amphitheatre
• Kent Life Heritage Park, celebrating rural life across Kent
• Cotswold Country Park and Beach, a seasonal country park and water sports destination
• The Royal Esplanade Hotel, a 70-bed hotel on the Isle of Wight
• Burton Bridge Brewery and Burton Bridge Inn
• National Brewery Centre (formerly the Bass Museum), managed 2010–2022

Talk to us about your feasibility or business planning project

Whether you need a feasibility study to test a new concept for a visitor attraction, visitor centre or heritage property, a new business plan, or a review of an existing one, we’d be glad to help.

Contact Richard Linington on 07866 742628 or email richard@pslplan.co.uk