Vennersys, the integrated ticketing, retail and visitor management company, has started to examine how its software products can assist attractions dealing with an unpredictable leisure landscape.
Joseph Paul, a key account manager at the technology firm, has investigated the staycation trend, including how travellers plan to spend their holiday money and time in the near future.
Paul has six years of account management experience in the SaaS sector, working closely with visitor attractions to ensure they are getting everything they need to reach their potential when partnering with Vennersys.
Closer-to-home experiences
According to The Independent newspaper, UK international outbound flights decreased 94% during the pandemic, compared to the first quarter of 2020. UK cruise passengers followed a similar pattern, falling from 2 million in 2019 to just 259,000 a year later.
The primary cause was legislation inhibiting unnecessary cross-border travel, leading to many families seeking alternatives within the UK. Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and open spaces, such as Snowdonia and the Lake District saw unrecognisable levels of popularity, accompanied by an increase in interest for city breaks to destinations including the City of London, Manchester and Edinburgh.
“Our systems are designed to help your business grow, and are proven to help increase visitor spend, reduce wait times, and help increase brand exposure through our partnerships. In fact, official statistics from VisitEngland reveal that Blenheim Palace, a client of ours, was the fourteenth most-visited paid English attraction in 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Preparing for demand
A Staycation Market Report released by UK leisure firm Parkdean Resorts in 2021 claims that just over half of holidaymakers claimed they were planning a Staycation in 2022.
Further research by Opinion Matters, conducted for Hoseasons, also found that 83% of those that enjoyed a Staycation in 2021, planned to do the same again this year.
“As we enter summer with the school holidays within touching distance, your visitor attraction needs to be prepared for a potential influx of visitors from all over the country, and indeed the world,” Paul comments.
With pent-up demand for days out and worn-out pandemic workers looking for extended breaks from work-life, attractions should ensure that their facilities and assets are prepared to deal with fluctuating crowds.
With income taking a considerable hit, critical profit margins can suffer from systems that fail to operate efficiently. Paul explains:
“For example, just a few hours without the ability to sell food or merchandise from your gift shops could lower your income by hundreds, if not thousands of pounds for that day.”
Driving growth
With domestic visitors forming a larger demographic of guests than in previous years, attraction software should be designed and built with increased demand in mind. Systems used throughout the visitor experience, whether it be information systems, POS or table ordering systems, should be able to cope with peak days and seasonal periods.
Paul concludes: “UK attractions can benefit from the capabilities and functionality of our VenposCloud system, which is designed to morph around the specific needs of your business.
“Our integrated modules can be implemented individually or as a package, which means you can improve efficiency park-wide or focus on your speciality. We offer services for everything from event and facilities management to animal adoptions and automatic Gift Aid claiming.”
Earlier this month, Vennersys attended NFAN 2022, the annual UK conference organised by the National Farm Attractions Network.
