A Lasting Impression - Quality trumps quantity in 2022.

For visitor attractions, the question of business sustainability often boils down to a choice: pursue more visitors, or prioritise fewer but more satisfied and engaged visitors? In 2022, the consensus leans towards quality over sheer quantity.

Maxine Bradley, Zoo Curator at Northumberland Country Zoo, envisions a future where her zoo might not need to be open seven days a week, every week, just to remain operational. While seemingly counterintuitive, this approach could allow for greater focus on exhibit development, enriching the visitor experience, improving animal welfare, and advancing conservation research. The core challenge then becomes how to generate the necessary income without being solely reliant on a constant influx of onsite visitors.

The Pandemic's Impact and Digital Leap

The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly impacted the tourist attraction sector, highlighting the vulnerability of revenue streams tied exclusively to onsite visits. This experience catalysed a significant shift in thinking across zoological attractions worldwide, prompting them to explore new strategies to safeguard against future revenue droughts.

Rapid Digital Adoption

The pandemic also accelerated the global adoption of technology, influencing nearly every aspect of life. Rather than being reluctantly drawn into the digital era, many visitor attractions embraced digital transformation with open arms, leveraging technology born out of necessity.

Social Media as a Revenue Generator

Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok have become powerful tools for reaching wider audiences. These channels serve as peer advocacy podiums, capable of spreading messages far and wide, especially when content resonates and goes viral. Paradise Wildlife Park, with over 229,000 TikTok followers, and Northumberland Country Zoo, with over 165,000 fans, exemplify this trend.

Crucially, successful social media channels are evolving beyond mere marketing platforms to become direct revenue streams. The challenge for attractions is to create compelling content, both in terms of the physical onsite experience and digital communications, while avoiding the pitfalls of 'meme tourism'.

Industry Challenges Post-Pandemic

Despite these digital advancements, leading attractions are still tracking 57% behind pre-pandemic visitor levels, according to March 2022 figures from the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA), reflecting their members' 2021 performance.

Overcrowding detracts from the visitor experience. Consequently, attractions are reassessing their capacity-driven operations and marketing, moving towards value-based offerings. While a steady flow of visitors remains essential for survival, particularly for arts, cultural, heritage, and animal/marine sectors, long-term sustainability may increasingly depend on fostering extended relationships with visitors.

Quality Over Quantity: Prioritising Satisfaction

The pre-2020 'rack it and stack it' mentality is being replaced by a focus on maximising visitor satisfaction and experience. By understanding how visitors feel and what they gain from their visit, attractions can cultivate more loyal and profitable relationships.

Sentiment plays a vital role, offering exceptional insights for brands. For example, AdFreeway uses sentiment-driven voting to help brands gauge online ad effectiveness, rewarding viewers for their opinions. This creates peer-recommended campaigns that gain momentum.

While much of this research originates from the retail sector, with Gartner reporting that 81% of marketers believe customer satisfaction is their main competitive differentiator and 80% of customers are more likely to buy from businesses that personalise experiences, these principles directly apply to visitor attractions. Attractions compete for the same consumer spend and audiences, with their businesses fundamentally built on providing compelling experiences.

There is a growing need for a deeper understanding of the visitor experience and the factors that drive customer satisfaction and engagement.

Harnessing Audience Engagement Platforms

For the attraction sector, the solution lies in precisely understanding what content moves an audience in the desired direction, both onsite and after they leave. It also involves analysing visitor sentiment towards specific exhibits or experiences.

By understanding behavioural triggers, attraction operators can develop strategies to encourage initial visits and increase repeat visits.

The Power of AEPs and Apps

Audience Engagement Platforms (AEPs) and their accompanying audience experience apps are becoming essential tools in the experience economy. They offer the technological capability to automatically gather and process substantial amounts of data. This data is then analysed according to operator requirements and segmented to deliver personalised information to visitors.

Cloud-hosted, Software as a Service (SaaS) AEPs are highly customisable, yet simple to install and use. By tracking visitor dwell time via their mobile devices using the attraction’s app, operators can identify which exhibits or displays are effective and which are not. This insight informs curation decisions and allows for tailored content delivery to visitors interested in specific material.

Comprehensive Features

AEPs serve as foundational platforms that can integrate various other software solutions. For example, the n-gage.io platform offers a standard suite of tools designed to enhance the audience experience, boost engagement, and track behaviour. These features include:

• Event planning and education modules
• Beacon triggering and object recognition
• Heat mapping, digital navigation, and signposting
• Digital asset and content management
• Push notifications and membership management
• Gamification, feedback collection, and behaviour tracking

These platforms even cater to the 'meme tourist' with features like digitally downloaded and shareable image frames.

Ultimately, AEPs empower visitor attractions to operate more intelligently, requiring fewer resources and freeing them to concentrate on their core mission: creating exceptional experiences that leave lasting, positive impressions.