8 Reasons Why Apps Enhance the Visitor Experience (According to Visitors)
Apps can be a great tool for visitor attractions; helping communicate with customers, promoting offers and events, and streamlining the experience for visitors.
But how do you create something which enhances the experience, without detracting from the essence of a day out?
We sat down to brainstorm the answers to this question and came up with a bunch of reasons why we think apps are a great addition to the visitor experience. But when we stopped to think about it, it’s not really our opinion that matters.
The people whose opinion truly matters, is visitors. Families, couples, people…who visit the zoo, stay at holiday parks, go to the museum. So we decided to switch gear and look at what they were saying about apps.
We trawled the app stores, TripAdvisor, Google reviews and social media sites relating to clients who we had previously built an app for. Our aim was to try to gain insight into whether the introduction of an app had made an impact on our customers’ customers.
We were blown away by the responses. There were so many people that had their experience made better by an app.
Once we had collated all the data we started to see some patterns emerge. Which lead to 8 key reasons why apps enhance the visitor experience.
The 8 Reasons:
1. Digital maps provide a better experience than paper maps.
We came across a lot of comments which mentioned the fact that having an app meant that users no longer needed to carry around a paper map.
This meant that the map wasn’t exposed to the elements (paper maps + rain = a bad time) and was easy to find (because it was, you know, on the visitor’s phone).
Digital maps also have cool features that paper maps don’t (like being able to show you where you are on the map).
What Visitors Say:
“Wonderful for locating things without the paper map, especially in the rain” - Google Play Store
“Very handy, I like the function that helps me find my accommodation (I always get lost)” - Google Play Store
2. Receiving different content based on your location is pretty cool.
A pretty cool feature of apps is the ability to deliver content based on a user’s location. We already knew that our clients love this feature (it allows them to promote secondary spend by encouraging visitors to visit what’s nearby) so it was pleasing to discover that visitors like this too.
What Visitors Say:
“Lots of information based on your location” - Google Play Store
“Super map which links to your location, letting you know about what’s around you” - Google Play Store
3. Educational content is presented in a fun and engaging way.
A lot of visitors – particularly families – are looking for an educational element to their day out. Apps can bring educational content to life, allowing it to be delivered in a number of exciting ways. Quiz questions, fun fact pop ups, and audio content can all help with the delivery of educational content.
And all that content can be displayed to the user based on their location, so that it’s relevant to what’s in front of them.
What Visitors Say:
“Great information to educate all ages” - Google Play Store
“A week later my two boys are still listening to the animal noises and audio guide - fun and educational” - App Store
4. Having digitised audio is better than having a CD.
Let’s face it – no one has a CD player anymore. Over 10 million new cars were registered in the UK between 2015 and 2018 (Statista), and they simply don’t come with CD players anymore.
So when you pass out CDs at the entrance to your attraction, chances are a lot of your guests can’t access that content. And that’s a real shame, as that content is really valuable to visitors.
Digitising content and delivering it through an app is an easy way to ensure visitors can access it and helps to make your audio future-proof.
What Visitors Say:
“A great replacement for the Safari CD” - App Store
“Highly recommend the app as you have your own personal guide in Kate Humble as you drive round the safari - great idea and really brought it all to life.” - TripAdvisor
5. It’s easy to book extras.
Offering extra activities and upgrades is an easy way to make the visitor experience better. But visitors have to know about them in order to book them.
By having them visible in an app, they’re easy to find and book. And notifications, reminders and calendar integrations can all be great for reminding guests which activities they have booked.
What Visitors Say:
“We’ve booked loads of activities via the app, it was so easy” - TripAdvisor
“We always use the app to book extras for the kids before and during our visits” - Google Play Store
6. Apps are fun.
There’s no denying it - apps can be really fun. Quizzes, spotter’s guides, camera integrations, pop ups, augmented reality and fun facts are all things that can be offered via an app and add an element of fun and playfulness to the experience (not to mention they can also be educational…see reason number 3).
Especially when it comes to families with children, apps can be a great way of keeping kids entertained while the adults recuperate over a cup of coffee.
What Visitors Say:
“The quiz questions and spotter’s guide kept the family entertained as we went round the park” - App Store
“Excellent if you have children with you to answer questions or keep them interested” - Google Play Store
“I would really recommend the free app, as the commentary made it more interesting, and the kids liked ticking off the different species.” - TripAdvisor
7. It’s easy to set reminders about shows and events.
Special events and shows are often a highlight for guests, so it’s important that they know when and where they are happening.
And when you invest in making shows and performances amazing, you want your guests to see them.
Having an option for visitors to browse showtimes and event details in app, and set reminders for the ones they’re interested, is a great way to ensure your guests make the most of what’s on offer at your venue.
What Visitors Say:
“Fantastic app...enables you to set reminders for upcoming shows...made an absolutely fantastic day out even better” - Google Play Store
8. Planning a day out is simple.
It’s great when you offer guests lots of different things to do and take part in.
But making sure they prioritise the things that are important to them is key to ensuring a great day out.
Having ‘what’s on’ prominent in an app can help guests choose activities and plan events before they show up, meaning less disgruntled visitors at your Guest Services team complaining they didn’t know that the puppet show started at noon.
What Visitors Say:
“Really useful for planning a trip around the park” - Google Play Store
If you’re interested in learning more about the ways in which apps enhance the visitor experience (including how apps can pay for themselves) click here or email marketing@intelligentmobile.com to request a copy.