As in other areas of the UK, the arts, culture and heritage sector in Wales is open for business again, having faced a series of unprecedented challenges since March 2020, prompting organisations to adapt to new ways of working.


Organisations

Under Welsh Government guidelines, many organisations have experienced a different set of challenges to some of their counterparts across the border – whether that be the introduction of Covid Passports or a separate timeframe for closures and event restrictions.

As a result, there’s been a need for organisations in Wales to be ever-ready to adapt their approaches, and to maintain the creativity to reimagine their activity and engagement as entities unaided (but also unconstrained) by their buildings.

For many theatres, galleries, art centres and venues, funding via the Arts Council of Wales’ Cultural Recovery Fund has provided a lifeline. For some, the break from routine has offered an opportunity for vital audience research and in some cases a re-evaluation of where they sit within their communities. Many will have faced the prospect of reopening their doors with a new sense of purpose.


Audiences

Audiences too have had to adapt, taking part in new experiences online and seeking new ways to support their local organisations, while at the same time becoming less constrained by geo-specific activity as virtual content provides new access to previously distant experiences.

A renewal of audience confidence amid a period of lifted restrictions in 2021 saw a welcome return to in-person cultural activity for many of us, and 2022 has seen a resurgence of what feels like normality for many organisations.

Keeping an eye on trends, as well as gaining greater insights about your own previous and potential audiences, has been key to building COVID recovery strategies. Our evidence-based resources can help build that picture.


Audience Spectrum Profile | Wales

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Tools and evidence sources to help you understand, contextualise and advance your organisation's relationship with existing and untapped audiences:


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Wales | 2022

Booker and population data through the lens of the new Audience Spectrum subsegments

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Wales | Audience Spectrum Mapping

These maps offer an overview of Welsh regions' demographic makeup through the lens of Audience Spectrum - a tool that segments the whole UK population by their attitudes towards culture, and by what they like to see and do.

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Wales | Welsh and Welsh Language Performance

During Wave 5 of the Cultural Participation Monitor, we asked respondents based in Wales four additional questions:

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Wales | Hynt Cardholders

Our analysis of HYNT cardholders maps the distribution of audience members by access preferences across Wales.

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Wales | 2021

Multiple lockdowns have meant working from home has become the norm and unlike some of their counterparts across the border, Welsh Government rulings have kept doors shut for many organisations.

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Wales | 2020

This report summarises results for Wales from the first wave of The Audience Agency’s COVID-19 Monitor.

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Audience Finder Wales

Use the Audience Finder Data Tools to benchmark your audience data against your local population and other organisations in your sector.

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Arts Council of Wales

The Arts Council of Wales is an independent charity, established by Royal Charter in 1994. We’re ambitious for the arts in Wales, and our strategy is to build a place where we can find, nurture and share the best talent.

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Cultural Participation Monitor

The Audience Agency's nationwide longitudinal (ongoing) panel survey of changing views about participating in creative and cultural activities through the pandemic and beyond.

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Sales

Delving into Audience Finder ticketing data to monitor the sector's financial recovery.

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Sectors

Different sectors in our community have faced specific challenges over recent years.

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Digital

We've been gathering evidence about how arts, culture and heritage audiences have responded to online content during the crisis.