Post-COVID, many visitors found that the experience at their favourite attraction improved, due to the introduction of capacity limits. After all, no one wants to visit an overcrowded museum, zoo or theme park, where it is too busy to see the exhibits or joining a ride means queuing for hours.
This has caused something of a shift in the attractions industry, with more operators aware of the need to find a balance between quantity of visitors and quality of experience. Even the big players are changing the way they do things; Disneyās CFO told investors in March 2022 that the company was unlikely to return to its pre-pandemic capacity at its theme parks.
We take a look at why finding this balance is important, and how accurate occupancy data can help operators to find the sweet spot for happy, safe and comfortable guests.
Finding a balance with occupancy data
Attractions need to get people through the door in order to make money. However, they need to do so in a way that does not compromise the visitor experience. Overly busy attractions are stressful, making it hard to fully enjoy the experience due to queues and crowds, and also leading to safety concerns around social distancing, fire regulations and understaffing. These all lead to an increase in complaints, negative feedback and ultimately, customers who are not going to return.
Keeping visitors satisfied should be the number one goal of attractions. Happier guests tend to spend more when they are on site. They also leave positive reviews, share their experience by word-of-mouth and return for more visits in the future. All this means more revenue for attractions, in a more sustainable fashion than the old model of getting as many people through the door as possible.
So, how can operators reach this perfect balance between quantity and quality? Duncan Mann, COO of occupancy monitoring specialist HoxtonAi, explains how visitor occupancy data can help visitor attractions to do exactly this, therefore enabling attractions to operate more efficiently, boost their revenue and reduce costs.
Data-driven decisions
It has never been more important to be data-driven in the decisions you make operationally about how you run your spaces, especially in the context of surging energy prices, rising staff costs, and changing guest expectations.
HoxtonAi helps some of the worldās top attractions maximise ticket sales, save on staffing and improve their layout. Its solution enables operators to access real-time information on how many people are in their spaces at any given time. This means that operators can make impactful changes in order to boost their visitor numbers and enhance the guest experience.
Introducing the company, Mann says:
āEssentially, we help anyone who runs buildings to do so more efficiently. Buildings are built for people. So, itās absurd that we don’t measure people more accurately in how they use those buildings when we’re making everyday operational decisions, whether that’s about things like staffing, heating and lighting, or ticketing. These are all decisions that should be based on how people are using the space.ā
HoxtonAi makes it easy for people to get that data:
āWe want the process to be easy, accurate, and cost-effective. Those are the three key factors for us. HoxtonAi makes the process simple, we ensure that our clients can trust the data, and then we also make sure that it is not financially difficult.ā
The five benefits of accurate occupancy data
There are five distinct benefits of reliable occupancy data.
Firstly, looking at it in terms of finding that balance, occupancy data allows attractions to know when they can admit more visitors, without impacting their experience or safety. The data clearly shows when capacity is being exceeded, or on the other hand, if entry is being overly restricted. Therefore, attractions can adjust ticketing levels accordingly and can limit entry based on live occupancy levels.
To see this in action, we can look at HoxtonAiās partnership with the Aquarium of Niagara. The aquarium had introduced timed tickets in the wake of COVID. To start with it was simply estimating how many people would arrive and when. However, Mann says, the aquarium was conservative in terms of the numbers that it had allocated to these slots:
āThe trade-off is often increasing the visitor numbers at the expense of the experience. But they were so far below that point that they could easily increase the number of people without decreasing the experience. We showed how they could raise the number of tickets without risking anything in terms of safety or visitor experience.ā
The aquarium also sees a lot of walk-ins. This means that it needs to be able to trust the data to show exactly how many visitors are inside, and how far away from the maximum level it is.
āWaiting in line is never good for customer satisfaction, so being able to get those visitors through admission and into the attraction meant they were boosting the guest experience as well as the revenue.ā
Kim Barrus, director of guest experience at the aquarium, was pleased with the results, saying:
āWe are able to allow more guests in as we now rely on the sensors and know exactly where we are at in our occupancy.ā
Setting the right limits
The second benefit of collecting accurate occupancy data is that that allows attractions to accurately determine the capacity limits at which the visitor experience is negatively impacted.
HoxtonAi worked with Cardiff-based interactive science centre, Techniquest, which needed a reliable way to see how many visitors were inside its exhibition spaces during specific time slots. The operator knew it was possible to allow more visitors in. But didnāt have the occupancy data it needed to do it safely.
HoxtonAi enabled Techniquest to trial its occupancy sensors, to show how the companyās solution could meet this need. After installing them, the attraction was able to increase the number of tickets sold in the first slot by 50%. In addition, the operator also managed to boost ticket sales by 20% in other time slots.
But how could the attraction tell what the optimum number of visitors was, in terms of providing the best possible guest experience? It did this by cross-checking the real-time occupancy data with its customer NPS (Net Promoter Score).
āItās an ongoing balance between how many tickets weāre able to sell, [visitor] engagement on the floor, and keeping an eye on the NPS score,ā explains Techniquestās head of commercial development, Gareth McTiffin. āHaving access to data that we never had before and being able to make decisions based on that data is reassuring to everyone in our organisation.ā
Matching demand and boosting revenue
The third benefit is that reliable occupancy data can maximise revenues by allowing attractions to match their prices to demand. It also enables the operator to focus marketing efforts where there is spare capacity.
For example, HoxtonAi was able to help improve the timed ticketing processes at Tate Modern in London, meaning the museum could safely admit more people into its sold-out Rodin exhibition. This, in turn, boosted both revenue and guest satisfaction.
āThis case study shows that where museums think they’re sold out for an exhibition, we can help them to find more capacity and sell more tickets,ā says Mann. āWhen a museum has an exhibition that they think might sell out, they figure out how much space there is in the room and they say, āOkay, what’s the ideal number of people?ā Let’s say it’s 100 people. So, they take that number, and if they think people will stay for one hour, they will set their limit at 100 tickets per hour.
āHowever, what this misses is the fact that a lot of people either donāt turn up, or they come in and leave quickly. And so, when we explore these assumptions about how many people are in a room, almost every time we’ve looked at this on both sides of the Atlantic, the exhibition is 20 to 30% under target occupancy. There was sometimes as much as 40% extra room for tickets than they thought.
āThese are material numbers. Let’s say youāre charging 20 pounds a ticket. If you’re missing out on 30 people per hour, thatās Ā£600 per hour in ticket revenue. Over the course of months, that is a significant amount of money.ā
Making informed decisions
Without knowing the occupancy of the room, it’s hard for a museum to know whether they have the capacity to sell more tickets. This means that gathering that data accurately and correctly is crucial, in order to maximise the space.
āOtherwise, you’re just leaving money on the table,ā says Mann. āWhen we worked with Tate Modern, we helped them to see the patterns over different slots at different times. This enables them to release more tickets and therefore increase revenue.
Doing this work is not just about driving ROI on a slot-by-slot basis either. Itās also about understanding the trends in terms of each day and then marrying that to marketing activities.
āFor instance, you could then give discounts for certain periods, to encourage more people to come. Or just simply give the concierge the power to be able to release tickets live on the day, so people arenāt being turned away.
āFor this client, the key drivers were really to understand when people would visit and how long people would dwell, and also that balance of keeping their staff happy and boosting visitor satisfaction. This piece of technology allowed them to balance all three and keep everybody happy. They have now rolled out into Tate Britain and their other sites.ā
David Hingley, head of visitor experience at Tate Modern, says:
āThe HoxtonAi dashboard shows us how visitors access our exhibition space and how this changes over the course of a day, a week, and through different seasons.ā
Occupancy data empowers customers
The next benefit of monitoring occupancy is that this data can empower guests to choose their visit times based on how busy the venue is. Attractions can publicise the live occupancy data and let guests decide for themselves when to visit.
Allowing visitors to self-regulate in real-time means smoother usage and better visitor experience. In addition, over time, weāve been able to improve operations, staffing and opening hours, based on reliable occupancy numbers
The Font, a popular climbing gym, had an issue where its members were turning up at the same times. This was leading to busy and overcrowded periods. However, the venue was able to use real-time occupancy data to address the problem. By publishing real-time occupancy data on its website, The Font was able to incentivise members to climb at quieter times.
Joey Powis, managing director at The Font, explained the benefits:
āAllowing visitors to self-regulate in real-time means smoother usage and better visitor experience. In addition, over time, weāve been able to improve operations, staffing and opening hours, based on reliable occupancy numbers. HoxtonAiās plug-and-play approach made it easy to explore these benefits.ā
Know your running costs
The fifth and final benefit that attractions can take from HoxtonAiās occupancy monitoring solution is that the data can be used to get a better overview of running costs.
Most running costs should be linked to occupancy rather than metrics like foot traffic or ticket sales. This helps attractions to understand the costs associated with each space. For instance, the number of customer-facing staff needed during peak occupancy. Furthermore, the data helps operators to factor in the variable costs for essentials including cleaning.
āKnowing their occupancy at this level of accuracy helps operators to plan staffing better, to make sure that they’re meeting demand and whether they are truly maximising their best assets,ā says Mann.
For museums and cultural organisations, where funding can be limited and is often tied to performance, this increased efficiency can make a huge difference.
āI can guarantee that if you’ve got any sort of capacity limitation, if you ever sell out a space or attraction, we can say with certainty, that there is probably more space, and you donāt need to make people wait.
āThe quicker we help get people into venues, the better because a) the customers have a nice time and b) the institution is running its business more effectively and probably get better ratings. A lot of these institutions are still grant-funded or at least part grant funded. Being able to show exactly how many visitors they have and how popular they are is becoming more important. As a company and as individuals we’ve always loved the arts. That is why we are passionate about making a real impact in this space.
āWe love that weāre supporting cultural institutions and making sure they are available for the next generations.ā
Choosing the right solution
So, knowing these benefits, how do operators go about finding the right occupancy monitoring solution? HoxtonAi starts with the premise that operators should be able to understand exactly how people use their space, and its technology is designed to make that as easy as possible.
āThe easy bit is super important to us,ā explains Mann. āVarious forms of visitor occupancy monitoring have been available through different technologies in the past. But often it is a problem to get these things installed, particularly for a large building. You might have to get people to come around and survey. Or you might have to get quotes from your supplier, etc. However, we wanted to just cut all of that out.”
āOur device is self-installed, meaning that essentially, in about 20 minutes, you can start getting this occupancy data. The device sits in front of the door and it’s counting people in and out of different spaces. These devices are then linked, and the different datasets are all brought together to give you that occupancy number.ā
Occupancy data that visitor attractions can trust
While ease-of-use is one of the companyās priorities, it also ensures that the product is both accurate and cost-effective.
āIt uses cutting edge computer vision, which ensures that it is super accurate,ā says Mann. āThis means that our clients can trust the data, so when buildings like museums are making these decisions on things like heating or staffing, they can trust that their decisions are based on accurate data.”
āFinally, we wanted to make this approach something that could be a no-brainer in terms of the financial decision. Especially in the museum sector, where a lot of our clients rely on public funding. They have quite tight budgets. So, they want to put most of their thought and love into making a beautiful exhibition or planning their programming.
āIt is key that our clients can build a financial use case that pays for itself very quickly. We make that whole process easy, and we can show a return on investment within a matter of weeks.
āThe technology itself is pretty cutting-edge. We have sophisticated data scientists in the back end. But from the customer point of view, it’s easy, it’s super accurate and it’s cost-effective.ā
Whatās next for HoxtonAi
Being able to access accurate visitor occupancy data is vitally important for operators across the visitor attractions space. HoxtonAi is so confident in the product, and its ability to have a measurable impact, that it offers everyone a three-month trial.
āUsually within 30 days, we can help them build that use case that justifies the technology,ā says Mann. āThey can self-install and we give them access to our dashboard so that they can go and view the data straight away. They can set occupancy limits in a room, they can understand exactly how many people are in there, and they can start seeing the trends.
āOur most important message as we go out to everybody is that there have been some pioneers in this space, and actually the first version of our technology was one of those. But what we have learned is the importance of bringing it back to the basics, to what is most important. And that is to get fully accurate data. Now, we are excited to take our solution to visitor attractions around the world. We want to help them make the informed operational decisions that will keep these experiences flourishing.ā
To find out more about the benefits of occupancy data for visitor attractions, download a free copy of HoxtonAi’s latest eBook here.