A number of valid avenues of academic enquiry may prove useful for future research, several of which are discussed in this paper. The project sought to determine whether there might be a role for lights and illuminations to play in attracting visitors to city centres and enhancing their visit once there. General visitor attitudes towards one particular lights display, Leeds Lights, were surveyed across a fairly representative selection of visitors to the city centre of Leeds over the 1995 Christmas period. Families and older people constitute the majority of these visitors. But for the Lights, these visitors may otherwise not have come.
Lights play a contributory role in attracting visitors.
For many people the Lights were an important factor to consider when deciding whether to visit or not. Lights help create a positive atmosphere in which to shop and experience the city - they enhance the visitor experience. Lights are likely to remain a minor attraction for most visitors. Greater numbers of Lights, greater variety and complexity of displays may entice more visitors but it is likely to be costly and the economic benefits remain unclear. Local media seem to be effective in raising awareness of the Lights display.