Gateway Ticketing Systems, a leading provider of admission control systems, spoke to reopened attractions in its latest webinar to find out what they have learned so far.
Gateway Ticketing Systems is pleased to continue hosting its Webinar Wednesday series, which provides support and insights for attractions as they navigate the COVID-19 crisis.
The latest episode, held on 27 May, was called These Attractions Have Already Reopened – Here’s What They Learned So Far. This featured a panel of professionals from attractions that are now open again, talking about their experiences so far.
Insights from reopened attractions
The panel included Alan Mahony, Vice President, Marine and Waterpark Operations at Atlantis Sanya; Becky Mackie, Vice President & COO at The National WWII Museum; Angelina Davanzo, Director of Visitor Services at The National WWII Museum and Heather Doggett, Chief Operating Officer at Loveland Living Planet Aquarium.
“When we reopen, we get one chance to make a second first impression for the cleanliness, safety and guest experience of our venue – so we need to get it right,” says Randy Josselyn, co-host of Gateway’s Webinar Wednesdays series.
“Many of our customers have already reopened. So we wanted to connect the wider industry with a few of them; to learn what worked, what didn’t, what was expected, and what was surprising, when they reopened.”
Top tips
Mahony talked about the reopening Atlantis Sanya’s aquarium and waterpark in Hainan, China and outlined his four tip tips:
- Work closely with your local government.
- Have a full understanding of your operations. Know the parts of your attraction that you can operate profitably.
- Keep as many staff in their current roles as possible.
- Understand that there is light at the end of this tunnel.
Mackie and Davanzo from The National WWII Museum then explored the difference between a successful reopening and an unsuccessful one, including their experiences with a nine cent stylus, on-mission signs and pictures of staff.
Doggett also talked about the importance of analysis and training. The Loveland Living Planet Aquarium used crowd engineering to see how much space guests would need with its venue and then made sure its staff were fully training to help visitors maintain social distancing safely.
“It’s just as important now to stay connected, stay united, and learn from each other as we move into the next phase of this crisis,” says Peter Wolf, Director of Sales and Marketing at Gateway Ticketing Systems. “We hope to continue the conversations around sharing successes, and even failures, to help every attraction successfully reopen.”
The session finished with a straightforward question: “What is one mistake you made, and what did you learn from it?” To see how the panel responded, you can watch the full webinar here.
The previous webinar looked at creative ideas to generate revenue and featured a special guest appearance from Cincinnati Zoo’s Fiona the Hippo.