Charlotte Coates is blooloop's editor. She is from Brighton, UK and previously worked as a librarian. She has a strong interest in arts, culture and information and graduated from the University of Sussex with a degree in English Literature. Charlotte can usually be found either with her head in a book or planning her next travel adventure.
Showtime Pictures, a leading operator of photography concessions at major tourist attractions, has announced BrickArt Studios, the result of a new collaboration with Photobricks. BrickArt offers a new immersive experience and revenue generator for attraction operators which provides an educational and entertaining experience for the entire family.
Neither a gift shop nor a photo concession, the proposition enables leisure operators to provide guests with a customised piece of merchandise. Visitors are engaged with the process by providing a photo of choice from their mobile device, which is then turned into a unique piece of art from thousands of single stud bricks.
Showtime Pictures says the uniqueness of the concept allows BrickArt to be positioned independently from other retail offerings, potentially as its own standalone attraction.
"Overwhelming response"
BrickArt Studios is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Showtime Pictures, created in a joint collaboration between Showtime and Australia-based firm Photobricks.
Photobrick managing director Eyal Rael says "Photobrick is a fun experience and the ultimate gift to every occasion. We capture life journeys, memories, emotions through a new trend. The initial response has been overwhelming, our customer enjoys an artistic and joyful moment with their family and friends in a bonding activity and celebrate together as their memory comes to life brick by brick.
"We are very excited about our collaboration with Showtime Pictures’ BrickArt Studios concept. Their thirty years of experience and reputation in the attraction industry will make this venture successful in a very short time period.”
CEO of Showtime Pictures Kemal Arin adds "As we always look into creative ways to find new technologies and revenue growth in our industry, the BrickArt Studios concept was a no-brainer.
"This is the type of product for the entire family, very artistic and engaging. Our visitors would love to take one home and remember it forever."
Charlotte Coates is blooloop's editor. She is from Brighton, UK and previously worked as a librarian. She has a strong interest in arts, culture and information and graduated from the University of Sussex with a degree in English Literature. Charlotte can usually be found either with her head in a book or planning her next travel adventure.
WhiteWater, a leading waterpark manufacturer, will supply its Vantage platform to Enchanted Parks, which will deploy the system at its eight parks across the US.
The newly formed entity is backed by EPR Properties, and its portfolio includes six recently acquired Six Flags parks.
Its selection of Vantage as its enterprise-wide visitor engagement and unification platform marks one of the most comprehensive guest technology integrations in the attractions sector.
The deployment is anticipated to go live in Q2 2026.
Aaron Mendelson, senior vice president of Vantage, says: "Enchanted Parks represents exactly the kind of forward-thinking operator that is redefining what guests expect from a visit.
"By unifying ticketing, payments, point of sale, property management, and guest engagement under one platform, we’re giving Enchanted Parks the ability to know their guests better, serve them faster, and create moments that keep them coming back.
"This is what the future of guest experience looks like."
Strategic deployment
The Vantage platform will provide an easy, personalised experience by linking every touchpoint of the visitor journey, from ticket purchase and park entry to in-park spending, loyalty rewards, and post-visit engagement.
This is achieved by unifying a carefully selected ecosystem of top-tier technology partners into a single, cohesive visitor experience.
With this deployment, Enchanted Parks demonstrates how the reinvigoration of its rides and guest experience is core to its strategy.
James Harhi, founder and CEO of Enchanted Parks, says: "We evaluated numerous platforms and the decision to partner with Vantage came down to their ability to bring everything together.
"Our guests interact with dozens of touchpoints during their visits; Vantage gives us a single view of their entire journey and, more importantly, the tools to make every moment count.
"Combined with best-in-class partners like TicketSpice, Zucchetti, and VersioPay, we’re confident this technology stack will set a new standard for our industry."
TicketSpice will manage all ticketing and distribution across the venues, and VersioPay will deliver secure, omni-channel payment processing throughout the parks.
Zucchetti's TCPOS will provide quick, reliable mobile ordering, kiosks, and pay stations for dining and retail transactions, and its Lodgical system will oversee resort operations and data integration, with a robust API for unified property-wide data.
Transforming the visitor experience at scale
The Vantage integration layer connects disparate systems to ensure data flows across the platform and every visitor interaction is part of a unified, real-time profile. Additionally, it includes features for both guests and operators, making everyone’s day more enjoyable.
At Enchanted Parks, these will include SmartPay for fast and frictionless transactions.
In-app ecommerce functionality, MyCart, will allow visitors to easily add upgrades, merchandise, and experiences from their mobile device
With MyPerks, visitors will be rewarded by a gamified loyalty experience spanning the company's entire portfolio.
GuestVue, a white-label, multi-park mobile app, will act as the visitors’ digital assistant. Visitors will be able to download the Enchanted Parks app, powered by Vantage, from Google Play and the Apple App Store ahead of the rollout.
The deployment will equip the operations teams with the SmartControl access control feature, which uses the same workflow regardless of visitor or ticket type to simplify entry across all eight parks.
It will also include TeamVue, which helps staff engage guests in person to enhance service and resolve issues. SmartNotify, which will deliver intelligent push notifications, SmartVue, a real-time reporting and data analytics suite, and Vue360, which will provide a 360-degree view across all Enchanted Parks operations.
Last year, WhiteWater was honoured with the 2025 Best New Product IAAPA Brass Ring Award for Wall Runner, a unique attraction that marked the first-ever lateral drifting experience in a water slide.
Chester Zoo is leading a UK-wide call for changes to weather apps, which could be costing venues up to £137,000 in a single day.
The zoo said it is calling on the Met Office to change how weather forecasts are displayed on apps, as "misleading" rain icons can lead to attendance drops of up to 30 percent for visitor attractions.
Chester Zoo is leading the campaign on behalf of more than 80 outdoor attractions, including the Eden Project, RHS Gardens, Blackpool's Pleasure Beach, and Blenheim Palace.
It argued that a single raincloud icon summarising a 24-hour period can create the impression of a full day of rain, prompting families to cancel their plans.
Some visitor attractions report attendance declining by up to 30 percent after an unfavourable forecast.
"When families see a raincloud icon, many simply stay home. The reality might be a brief shower at 6am – but the symbol suggests a washout," said Dom Strange, chief operating officer of Chester Zoo.
As one of the UK's leading attractions, Chester Zoo is "speaking up for the wider visitor economy – from heritage sites to theme parks – and the thousands of jobs that depend on spontaneous visits," Strange said.
Chester Zoo has requested a roundtable with the Met Office, government and major weather app developers to explore practical improvements.
These include separate daytime and overnight weather icons, clearer written summaries, and indicators showing the amount of expected dry hours.
"With today’s data and technology, there’s an opportunity to present forecasts in a way that better reflects how the day will actually feel on the ground," Strange added.
In the current economic climate, families "are cautiously waiting for all deciding factors to align to ensure their investment guarantees the best possible day out", said James Cox, director of marketing, sales and PR at Pleasure Beach Resort.
"A significant amount of our bookings come within 24 hours before any given day, because people rely on that weather icon," he added.
“Accurate reports with imagery that better reflects overall conditions are vital."
Japanese video game company Capcom has announced its new Capcomix attraction, an experience-based amusement facility to open this spring in Osaka, Japan.
Per a press release, Capcom's arcade business currently operates a total of 59 locations, including Plaza Capcom venues, which feature crane games, medal games and themed attractions, as well as Capcom stores for official merchandise.
Capcomix is a new concept for the company and will provide an extensive lineup of attractions themed around Capcom's popular characters.
Located at the Hoop shopping mall in Osaka, Capcomix will appeal to guests of all ages, with experiences including a digital activity area, a VR area, and a shop.
Crazy Banet with Capcom All Stars is a large‑scale digital activity area offering a diverse range of interactive attractions, while the VR-X zone will boast cutting-edge, original VR experiences.
The shop, called Chara Cap, will offer a wide selection of exclusive and themed merchandise.
Capcom said the new concept is part of its efforts "to be a company that captivates people around the world with our best-in-class immersive content".
It said it "will continue to maximize the value of its rich library of game content through multifaceted initiatives, thereby creating new earnings opportunities and enhancing corporate value".
Further details on Capcomix, including the opening date and facility details, will be announced in the future.
Campcom is known for high-grossing video game franchises such as Resident Evil, Street Fighter, Monster Hunter, Mega Man, and Devil May Cry.
Other video game developers to enter the location-based entertainment (LBE) space include Nintendo, Ubisoft, Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix.
Semantic, a company thatdesigns and optimises websites for visitor attractions worldwide, has announced that Sir Nick Varney, the former chief executive officer of Merlin Entertainments, has become a significant investor.
Varney brings over 30 years of experience to Semantic, and his involvement marks a pivotal point in the company's evolution.
Having established itself as a trusted digital partner to leading UK attractions, the company has experienced increasing demand for LOOP, its website platform designed specifically for the attractions, leisure, heritage, and tourism sectors.
The investment supports Semantic’s long-term dedication to the platform and will facilitate ongoing product innovation, stronger strategic focus and growth into related markets.
Delivering 'Premier League' websites
Beyond financial backing, this partnership marks a shared belief that websites now play a key role in generating revenue, handling demand and defining the visitor experience.
LOOP was developed to solve some of the sector's common problems. Typically, websites are costly to build, tricky to update and quickly become disconnected from operational realities. LOOP provides a flexible platform that can grow with attractions and adapt to evolving expectations and technology.
A high-profile influencer in the sector, Varney brings additional operational experience, a proven track record of scaling international attractions businesses, and ongoing mentorship to help ensure LOOP continues to meet the real needs of operators.
"I have known Neil and Semantic for some time and was particularly impressed by his vision in developing the LOOP platform," says Varney.
"In location-based entertainment and indeed broader hospitality, a brand’s website is its most important asset after the physical venue or attraction. It is both the provider of information (and inspiration!) and the key route to market for converting customer interest into ticket sales or attendance.
"As such, in a competitive world, you need your website to be optimised and constantly updated. For all types and sizes of location-based businesses, LOOP offers the ability to have a 'Premier League' website at an affordable monthly price.
"I am very much looking forward to working with Neil to develop the business further to the benefit of current and future clients."
Neil Lewin, managing director of Semantic, says: "Nick’s investment is a testament to the capabilities of the platform, how we’ve developed it and the potential to help attractions, leisure, heritage and hospitality brands around the world.
"With decades of experience already baked into the platform, we are delighted to have Nick’s support to take the platform to the next level.
"We look forward to continually growing and evolving LOOP to keep pace with client needs, guest expectations, evolving technology and AI."
Last year, Semantic ran a campaign offering support for attractions preparing for the summer season, using LOOP to quickly establish or enhance their online presence.
SSA Group has been working on a transformative approach to operations. By weaving its signature 452 Hospitality ethos, rooted in a legacy of welcome and human connection, into Scout, a new AI-driven operating system, the company demonstrates how AI can enhance rather than replace the human side of hospitality.
For nearly 60 years, SSA Group has been a staple in the cultural attractions sector, collaborating with zoos, aquariums, and museums to provide comprehensive guest services. As a family-owned business, the company has continually adapted, but its core mission remains centred on a simple, powerful concept: hospitality.
We speak with CEO Sean McNicholas and vice president of people and culture, Jason Stover, to unpack Scout's mission and learn how it can open the door to both greater efficiency and more memorable moments.
SSA reimagines the industry
Starting by looking at the bigger picture, McNicholas says: “What I love about SSA and our family business is our curiosity for continuing to reimagine the industry.
"Those are pillars of our plan. We approach 60 years as a family business in 2030, and what’s exciting to us is continuing to innovate, not just our business, but the guest experience for our clients and partners.”
Sean McNicholas and Jason Stover
This culture of curiosity is what prompted McNicholas and Stover to investigate the potential of artificial intelligence long before it became the industry buzzword it is today.
"Five or six years ago, Jason came to me as one of the early adopters of AI. We started talking about it, and the more we looked at tools like AI, we asked a very simple question: what one, two, or three areas could AI positively impact our business?"
For SSA, the goal was not to replace staff or remove the human element from the museum or zoo experience through automation. Instead, the emphasis was on liberation.
"The thing that became clear was how tools like AI could help us become more efficient with data, back-end systems, and administrative work," adds McNicholas.
"If we can be more efficient there, we can spend more time meeting guests where they need us, which is on the front line.”
The outcome of this exploration is Scout, an AI-assisted tool and ‘unified intelligence layer’ designed specifically for cultural attractions.
Scout is positioned not as a replacement for human workers, but as a co-pilot. It is an operating system that gathers data from across the industry to provide real-time insights. Unlike general-purpose AI tools, Scout has been built for the sector's operational realities.
"AI is trending now, but it’s not new," says Stover.
"I’ve been with SSA for almost 30 years, and my journey with AI in this company has existed since day one. When I first became a manager, we were already experimenting with predictive analytics, trying to forecast attendance and staffing.
"That was AI at the time."
However, the leap to generative AI offered a new opportunity to support SSA's secret sauce: its people.
Stover employs a cinematic analogy to describe Scout’s role within the workforce:
"I compare it to Tony Stark," he says. "He’s brilliant, but he doesn’t become Iron Man until he has Jarvis. That’s what Scout is. It’s a co-pilot that takes away routine, monotonous work so our people can focus on what matters."
Real-time, useful insights
Designed to support guest-journey walkthroughs, the platform collects real-time observations and converts them into actionable insights tailored to each attraction.
The tool was created in accordance with SSA’s core belief that technology should never replace connection; it should enhance it. The idea is that data and design can collaborate to create memorable guest experiences.
This supports SSA’s wider focus on innovation, which aims to turn curiosity into meaningful change that advances partners' missions. By automating data analysis, Scout helps operators make more informed decisions about designs, platforms, and revenue strategies.
"Guest expectations are evolving faster than ever," says Stover. "Scout was built to meet this moment as a tech-forward AI tool that allows us to keep experiences deeply personal.”
The heart of the system: 452 Hospitality
Although the technology is impressive, the engine driving Scout remains entirely human. At the centre of Scout’s design is 452 Hospitality, the cultural ethos that defines SSA Group’s purpose and character.
Named after 452 Leyden Street, the Denver home where SSA’s founders first lived and practised hospitality, 452 has since become both a numeric and philosophical code for what the company stands for: a spirit of welcome, belonging, and genuine human connection.
At 452 Leyden Street, anyone could come in for a meal, a chat, or a place to rest. And that sense of genuine warmth now lives on in every SSA service encounter.
Today, 452 Hospitality reflects SSA’s ongoing dedication to creating authentic, memorable moments that uplift guests, partners, and colleagues alike.
That same spirit guides Scout’s purpose: rather than replacing people, the AI system aims to enable staff to embody 452 Hospitality more fully, freeing them from administrative burdens so they can provide the personal engagement that makes guests feel welcome and valued.
In practice, this involves a particular method for engaging with guests and monitoring operations. Scout develops a digital framework for this using the SOQ model: Observation, Opinion, and Question.
"Scout is being trained by the entire zoo, aquarium, and cultural attraction industry," Stover says. "Every conversation, every audit, every partner insight gets ingested and shapes how Scout operates.”
Within the Scout ecosystem, there are various ‘agents’ dedicated to different tasks, such as labour optimisation and inventory management. However, the ‘452 agent’ is unique.
"It has vision and voice capabilities. As you walk through operations, it analyses images and observations in real time and evaluates them against our hospitality standards. It acts as a co-pilot for auditors and operators, making observations, offering insights, and matching them with best practices and solutions.
“You might miss something as a human, but Scout won’t.”
Scout in action
The deployment of Scout is already producing tangible outcomes, progressing from theoretical ideas to solving complex on-site issues. This highlights SSA’s focus on turning insights into action by combining data, technology, and human connection.
McNicholas emphasises that the team is "continually evolving Scout by testing it across multiple attractions," noting that "every new site adds more data and sharper insights.”
Stover offers an example of Scout’s operational intelligence in action from a working session with the Detroit Zoo. The team was exploring a complex “what-if” scenario: opening a new entrance near a new exhibit while navigating compliance considerations, budget constraints, and a nearby rail track.
“Using Scout as a sandbox alongside their team, we pressure-tested the constraints, surfaced relevant regulatory considerations, explored alternative approaches like repurposed shipping containers, and generated rough-order cost ranges. It was less about committing to a final plan and more about accelerating discovery.”
“What’s exciting is that every audit surfaces a new real-world question, and we ask: Should this become a new sub-agent? That’s how Scout keeps evolving.”
Another success story comes from the Dallas Zoo, where Scout was instrumental in helping the zoo team explore their own AI journey while SSA conducted an inter-department relationship audit.
Scout is tailored to each user’s psychology
What makes Scout different from typical business AI tools is its incorporation of behavioural psychology. Acknowledging that strong operations don't happen by accident, SSA has combined leadership development with its technological roadmap.
Stover, whose background is in people and culture, insisted that if they were to create co-pilots, they had to understand the humans who would use them. So, instead of providing generic recommendations, Scout adapts its guidance to each leader's thinking and communication style.
"One of the first things we decided was that if we were going to build AI co-pilots, they needed to integrate Behavioural Essentials," Stover says. "We already use behavioural assessments that give leaders a 21-point profile, with strengths, tendencies, and blind spots. We’ve now incorporated that into Scout.”
This means that when a manager logs into Scout, the system is tailored to their specific personality profile.
"It understands how I communicate, where I might need softer language, or where I might need more structure," Stover says.
He adds that McNicholas served as the ‘guinea pig’ for this feature:
"We merged his traits and blind spots into Scout as he was working through our future roadmap. Scout isn’t just an AI tool; it understands your psychological makeup and helps cover your blind spots as you operate in your role.”
The future of the workforce
A common concern about AI is the risk of job displacement. However, SSA’s leadership firmly states that their investment in technology aims to safeguard, not eliminate, their workforce.
"As CEO, culture is my responsibility, and culture starts with values," McNicholas says. "Hospitality, human-to-human interaction, has always been our foundation. I don’t want a world of all robots and automation. I love people too much.
“That’s why Scout exists. It helps us live what we love to do: creating special moments for people.”
Stover shares this view, considering AI as a safeguard against the decline of interpersonal skills observed in other industries:
"We have to be proactive in shaping the future. Many companies will use AI purely to impact the bottom line. That’s their choice. But SSA has always been people-focused. We’re adopting AI safely and intentionally to better our people. As interpersonal skills decline elsewhere, we’re protecting them by freeing people up to reconnect.”
The efficiency gains are clear. Stover notes that tasks like scheduling, which previously took hours to analyse against weather and sales history, now happen in seconds. "That frees managers up to spend time with their team. That’s the point.
“We’re hospitality people. We want to be in front of guests, not behind a screen.”
A vision for 2030
Looking ahead, SSA has set bold goals for the next five years. As the company approaches its 60th anniversary in 2030, the vision is for a fully enabled workforce where each employee has a digital partner.
"By 2030, every person in our company will have a co-pilot that helps them be more efficient," predicts McNicholas. "We’ll also bring a unified revenue strategy to attractions, something the industry lacks.”
He also believes the metrics of success are shifting. It is no longer enough to simply count heads at the gate:
"The future metrics won’t just be attendance. They’ll be revenue, guest experience, and fulfilment," he says.
"There’s more competition than ever, and we have to be the place where guests leave thinking, 'That felt right.' To do that, our people need tools like Scout so they can spend more time creating those moments.
“That’s how we reimagine the industry.”
The future of hospitality
Summing up the benefits, COO Travis Kight says:
"AI is the future of hospitality, but not in the way most imagine. We see AI as a co-pilot, not a replacement, designed to protect the human connection that defines our industry.
“Tools like Scout allow us to turn data into real-time insights, freeing our teams from repetitive tasks so they can focus on creating unforgettable guest experiences.
"As Sean mentioned, by 2030, our vision is for every team member to have a digital partner that amplifies their strengths, covers blind spots, and helps us deliver hospitality at a level the industry has never seen.
“AI isn’t about automation. It’s about empowerment.”
As SSA Group looks towards the attractions of tomorrow, its message is clear: the path to the future is built on data, but the goal remains human connection.
By anchoring Scout in 452 Hospitality's philosophy of creating meaningful, human-centred moments, SSA isn’t just adopting AI for efficiency. It’s enhancing its ability to deliver heartfelt experiences that define its brand and shape the future of the guest experience.
"That’s the foundation of Scout," Stover says. "If a tool doesn’t protect hospitality or make us better people-facing operators, it doesn’t get built.”
