It's a big question this one. Many visitors hate it but it can be crucial to managing visitor flow on your site. What would you do?
How do you make that decision to turn on the booking system and risk turning people away? So many organisations have been forced to do this as a result of Covid-19 and I wonder how many will keep it?
What booking does is manage your peak visit times, help you plan events, ensure you have your teams in the right place at the right time and it can secure your income. I would say moving forward this will remain important for many attractions.
Right now many visitors are frustrated by it, even hate it and the risks of the no-shows are huge. But those visitors who understand and embrace it will be treated to an enhanced experience as a result of the teams planning their offer to the numbers who can come. They will also avoid lengthy queues and they will have space to enjoy their visit.
Warner's Harry Potter Studio Tour have always pre-booked and as a visitor it works like a dream. Can you imagine people just pitching up to an attraction like that and everyone piling in? If you've been, you'll know it would ruin the experience.
Conversely, up until recently the National Trust did very little pre-booked activity with the exception of events at large properties or at the busiest times. This was totally the right decision for the smaller properties, but the larger ones were becoming over-run. It'll be interesting to see what decision they make long term about booking.
Have you thought about how managing your visiting times could help improve your offer? Talk to me about visitor capacity management and I can share my experience.
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