With high profile clients in the world of Holiday Parks, Visitor and Leisure Attractions it made perfect sense for us to spend time at Leisure, Hospitality and Tourism World 2019. We went to listen speakers from some of the biggest park operators and busiest visitor attractions talking about what was important to them; to learn about the trends that are shaping our industry and importantly how we can respond to them in order to help our clients meet (and exceed) their objectives.

And, of course, meet old friends and introduce ourselves to new people – suppliers, partners and potential clients.

It’s all about The Experience

Micro Moments – engage at every one

This is an industry which understands the importance of guest and visitor experience. We live in a digitally connected world where mediocre, poor, or downright bad experiences get called out quickly and publicly. And that experience starts the moment that guests or your visitors ‘want to get away’, carries on through the planning, booking, waiting to explore, being on holiday or at your attraction and post experience.

Your website, app, messaging -(however you choose to communicate) should align with these moments; answering questions, creating anticipation, have clear calls to action, and become the ‘go-to’ source of information and action for guest and visitors.

 Mobile is no longer just a channel – it’s a way of life

Mobile is so integrated into our way of life that it is no longer realistic to think that people will leave them at home. However, it is only in exceptional circumstances that technology becomes ‘The Experience’.  On the whole available technology should be used in a way which is integrated, relevant and enhances rather than detracts from the experience.

 Personalised Experiences are the expectation, not the exception

We live in a data-driven world. Guests or visitors sign-up and, provide information about themselves as part of booking  processes. They also want to be able to communicate easily - wherever they are, whenever they want and on whatever device is convenient to them at the time. It is also now expected that subsequent communications/transactions will have core information pre-filled for them regardless of the initial device they used. In short, they are looking for an integrated, omni-channel approach.

They also expect (since you do have their profile) that content presented to them is relevant, and personalised. For an operator this provides the opportunity to use technology to provide information or offers pushed to them in a time-sensitive way eg ‘Hey, you’re nearby our on-park café, come and have a free coffee with your cake, while Zoe and Adam are entertained by our resident face painter. Here’s your voucher. See you there’

Know your Visitor, put them first

Sounds obvious, but it’s always worth taking a step back and looking at who your audience are and what they really want. When people are considering how to spend their hard-earned cash or time off they are looking for somewhere to go, something to do that is easy to book, provides spaces for them to be together to have fun and to make memories. A visitor journey /experience audit will provide you with insight into this, enabling you to provide them with what they really want not what you think that they want.

Content remains king…

Nothing surprising about this, but a great reminder that content should always be:

-          Relevant

-          Authentic

-          Engaging

-          Intriguing

-          Personalised

Provide visitors with content, stories, games, quizzes, audio, video, calls to action which help make their experience unforgettable – one to tell people about – socially, through reviews and word of mouth.

With multiple platforms to manage and for visitors to engage with it’s key for staff to be able to present the information is a way which can be layered and presented in a logical way depending on the device that the visitor is using. The importance of a good and intuitive CMS to manage this should not be forgotten when technology to manage content is being considered.

Measurement is a must.

You have a great product, you understand your audience, you have presented them with great, personalised content and offers. To capitalise on all this, from the outset, you have to have a plan to measure these impacts and do it on a regular basis. Doing this allows you to be responsive, have the tools for planning, to measure against your objectives and outcome to stay ahead of the game.

And so, lots of food for thought from this event, with ideas and trends which will help us help our clients…

If these trends have got you thinking about your business and want to have a chat about how digital could play a part, get in touch.