Ruth Fremson/The New York Times The line outside the TKTS booth in Times Square.Tourists accounted for nearly two-thirds of the tickets sold for Broadway shows last season, according to the Broadway League's annual demographics report, released on Monday.
The new study, based on audience questionnaires passed out at 81 individual performances of 31 different productions between June 2011 and June 2012, showed that tourists accounted for 63.4 percent of Broadway ticket sales, up from 61.7 percent in the 2010-11 season. Foreign visitors accounted for a full 18.4 percent of tickets.
The 2011-2012 season was the strongest in history, with more than 12.3 million total thea ter admissions, Charlotte St. Martin, the executive director of The Broadway League, which issued the report, said in a statement. Ms. St. Martin also pointed to a slight increase in the diversity of the audience, with Caucasians accounting for 787.8 percent of the audience, after spiking to 82.5 percent last year.
Otherwise, the survey reflected a continuation of long-term trends towards an older, more female audience. The average audience member was 43.5 years old, down slightly from 44 percent last year. A full two thirds of the audience were women, holding close to last year's figure but up significantly from 58 percent in 1980-81.
The typical Broadway theatergoer reported seeing four shows in the past six months. Plays tended to attract heavier repeat attendees, with the typical playgoer seeing six shows in the past year, compared with four for musica l-goers.
And die-hard theater-lovers continued to drive a significant share of the box office. Those who saw 15 shows or more made up only 5 percent of the overall audience, but accounted for 29 percent of admissions.
