Park Operations
www.parkworld-online.com
MISSION ADMISSION 2010
It’s over a year since Park World looked at new developments in ticketing for parks and attractions, so we thought it was time for a quick update. Here we talk to a panel of ticketing suppliers and park
representatives and discover that electronic applications are increasing in popularity
Our panel is as follows: Andy Povey (AP) is business development manager at Reftech in the UK (
www.reftech.com), which provides a flexible range ticketing systems for tourist attractions and events including trade shows and conferences. TJ Christensen (TJC) is director of business development at Accesso (
www.accesso.com) in the United States and spent several years developing ticketing programmes for Walt Disney Parks & Resorts. Vivian Lee (VL) is marketing director for the Ocean Park Corporation in Hong Kong (
www.oceanpark.com.hk), operator of China’s most popular amusement park
“
In just a
few years, ticket booths will no longer be the first thing you see when arriving at an attraction. Nearly all guests will show up with tickets in hand or on their mobile device and head straight to the park entrance
TJ Christensen, Accesso
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How do electronic ticket sales benefit attractions operators?
AP: They enable an operator to pre-book visitors and thus reduce the reliance on weather. If the online sales operation also includes timeslot bookings, the operator can manage the load throughout the day. Within the last 12 months we have launched a completely new ticketing system and a season pass membership system. TJC: Online, print-at-home ticketing is a key strategic lever that should be a central focus of today’s attractions business strategy. Not only do print-at-home tickets streamline front entrance operations and enhance the guests experience by getting them into the park more quickly, but pre-arrival purchases contribute to higher per caps and commitment to visit your venue. I can’t stress enough how important an effective ticketing solution can be for an organisation business strategy. It’s not simply a “system” that you use to get guests into the park. It is often your first touch point with guests and the backbone on which your sales engines run.
Do online sales make third party ticket sellers redundant?
TJC: The short answer is no. Even with a great website and e-commerce engine, parks are going to still need to work with third party ticket sellers to dive deeper into traditional segments that would otherwise not be feasible on their own. AP: A good online ticket sales system will provide for easier management of inventory by ensuring that all third party sellers are selling from the same inventory. Third party sellers should be far more important. For example, a visitor to a tourist information office should be able to gather information about local attractions and buy tickets while their interest is aroused. Added to that, a good online system will enable a group of attractions to cross-sell tickets to the benefit of all.
”
How important are discounts in driving ticket sales?
AP: When used too extensively discounts actually act as a detractor from the quality of your brand. A good ticketing system should allow you to do much more than the standard “buy x get y free” or money off discounts. You should be able to build packages to
create a better value product, attack specific markets through targeted discounts and add value to your members or season pass holders through loyalty schemes. It is now very simple and cost effective for park and attraction owners to run their own e-mail campaigns. TJC: It’s more a question of how you approach discounting from a strategic standpoint. Some of the questions you should be asking yourself when considering offering a discount should be: What is the end goal for this discount? How can you fully evaluate its effectiveness? How will the discount be promoted? Be careful of simply offering a “dollars off” discount. These types of promotion can devalue your product over time. Try branding your offers with names like “Spring Fling Savings” or “Summer Value Pass”, it will not only help with promoting the offer, but ensure your standard gate price keeps its value.
What percentage of your ticket sales are now made online?
VL: The majority of online sales happen during Halloween as our Halloween Bash event has limited capacity and guests tend to pre-purchase their tickets prior to their visit. Over the past years, we observe approximately 30% of our Halloween Bash tickets being purchased online. All online bookings are made at the full price.
Do you plan to develop any mobile phone applications?
AP: We are anticipating a massive change in the way attractions communicate with their audience driven by the use of more mobile media devices and are already investigating greater use of the Google Android platform. The largest market for parks is also the largest market for internet applications such as Facebook, Bebo and Twitter. The latest phones all come with applications to plug into these sites, which gives your guests the opportunity to take part from while in the queue line. If you aren’t occupying their attention, something else will be.
When will electronic tickets fully replace printed tickets?
TCS: Only time will tell, but we believe it will be sooner than later. We have clients approaching 50% of their tickets being sold online. In just a few years, ticket booths will no longer be the first thing you see when arriving at an attraction. Nearly all guests will show up with tickets in hand or on their mobile device and head straight to the park entrance. AP: Printed tickets are likely to remain for many years yet. Apart from anything else, no operator will want to risk alienating a sector of the market that doesn’t have the equipment necessary for electronic ticketing, no matter how small that sector may be. VL: We will unlikely get rid of printed tickets at the gate in the near term as a significant 30% of our guests still purchase tickets on-site at our ticketing counters.
MAY 2010
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