Running an attraction is no easy task. Operations across this sector are specialised, with a very specific set of visitor needs and expectations. As a result, operators need to make sure that they choose the right technology to support them in meeting these needs, for a memorable and frictionless guest experience.
Convious, a leading eCommerce platform for the leisure industry, provides a solution that is created by attractions experts, for attractions experts. Its team has a wealth of experience across the industry, with team members that have worked in key roles at some of the world’s most popular theme parks, zoos and more.
One such expert is Convious’ managing director for the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), Werner Dullmaier. He has been with the company since April 2022 and brings extensive leisure experience to Convious including nearly two decades at Merlin Entertainments with former roles including director of operations at LEGOLAND Deutschland Resort and general manager for SEA LIFE Aquariums.
Dullmaier left Merlin to create his own destination optimisation consultancy, specialising in infrastructure, product excellence, and marketing, to help attractions deliver high-quality guest experiences and streamline operations.
Speaking on his new role with Convious, Dullmaier says he was excited to join the team. He was chosen for the job due to his knowledge of the operations side of the industry and his understanding of what attractions operators really need. With this expertise, he can see how Convious is the right tool to meet these needs.
Dullmaier has also served on the board of VDFU, the Association of German Leisure Parks and Leisure Companies, and is active within IAAPA.
By the industry, for the industry
Expanding on the statement that the Convious platform is created by industry experts, for industry experts, he says that the main difference between Convious and its competitors is that so many Convious team members come from an operator background. This means that the company understands operators’ needs, and is, therefore, more able to develop solutions to meet these precise needs.
“There are many eCommerce, online ticketing providers and SaaS companies around and lots of them have technical backgrounds. For instance, they come from online resellers or travel operators, so they know the SaaS part of the business very well. However, at Convious, many of us come from the operator side, like me.”
As a result, the Convious team has a wealth of relevant experience and knows what it takes to efficiently run the key behind-the-scenes processes, from admissions and marketing to organising major events.
“Many of us have worked as managers or directors within major attractions operators, so we know that part of the business very well too,” he adds.
“However, it’s not only that we know how attractions work as a business. Foremost, we know how visitors behave and what their needs are. That is what sets us apart. Running an attraction is not comparable to anything else. And that’s probably one of the reasons why many of us stick within this industry because it’s very special. You either love it or you hate it, and if you love it, you stay here forever!”
The benefits of Convious’ industry-specific platform
For operators, the benefits are clear when it comes to choosing an industry-specific platform for their admission and ticketing, crowd management and eCommerce needs, compared with using a system that was not created for the experience economy.
A visitor attraction is a special type of business with specific characteristics. Many of these characteristics are shared across the attractions sector, whether it is a theme park, zoo, FEC or aquarium.
“They all have the visitor journey in common,” explains Dullmaier. “So, from the visitor side, you have the pre-visit research stage, where you browse the options and look at what is on offer before you make a purchase.”
At this stage, pre-visit communication is hugely valuable, both for the guest and the operator. Attractions can send an email to their guests beforehand, containing all the relevant information they might need ahead of their visit, as well as their barcode or QR code for entry. This helps the visitor to know what to expect when they arrive and makes the admissions process easier. It is also a chance for the operator to upsell, by letting them know about F&B offers or special experiences taking place during their day out.
“Following this, there is the visit itself, and then finally, there is the post-visit communication. And if you do it all right, as an attractions operator, you have a real engagement tool, to enable a revisit in the future. If you want to be effective, the touchpoints of this visitor journey should be pretty much tailor-made to fit your business’s needs and your visitors’ needs.”
Understanding and meeting partners’ needs
Explaining how the Convious solution is created to fit these needs, Dullmaier adds that the firm knows how to increase the conversion rate on our partner websites, in order to sell more tickets.
Often, people will go to a website, have a quick look around and go somewhere else.
“We try to keep these visitors on the website using specific marketing tools, things that make the website interesting to them and that will persuade them to buy a ticket.”
Convious has a conversion specialist working in the team, ensuring that all checkouts are optimised based on insight information and A/B testing.
The company’s platform adds to the pre-visit experience because Convious understands what information is relevant to visitors. For instance, it knows that, before they visit, guests want to know more about offers and upsells, such as audioguides or F&B deals, and what kind of events are taking place.
“These are the types of things that need to be communicated beforehand, in order to generate revenue and to upsell to visitors before the visit.”
Another aspect is the collection of useful data at this point. The more data that an attraction has from the visitors, the more they can understand the different demographics. This, in turn, allows the operator to target this group more effectively in the future.
As a data-driven company, Convious ensures that its partners have access to their data, so they can make the best decisions based on what is actually happening. The company also has its own in-house GDPR expert and makes sure that both its partners and its employees are aware of the vital importance of handling this data with care.
Crowd control with the Convious platform
Aside from the online business, there are other advantages that the company’s business partners have by choosing the Convious platform.
“You can, for example, control the crowd,” explains Dullmaier. “When people enter a theme park they tend to go to the right and travel counterclockwise. As an operator, if you know that, you can use our platform to steer the crowd in another direction, which means that you can avoid crowds gathering in certain areas. You can push certain restaurants or areas or attractions.”
One satisfied customer is Michael Höfig, head of sales at Movie Park Germany:
“With Convious Crowd Control, it wasn’t just us who were able to plan better. Our guests also quickly recognised the advantages. They now have to register via the system and book a fixed day, but then they get direct access to the park on the big day with their mobile phone ticket—without having to wait in a queue. If necessary, they can also change their reservation quickly.
“With just a few clicks, our guests can also reserve their parking space and time slots for special attractions. This eliminates the need for them to register using apps.”
Making the guest experience seamless
While the benefits for operators are numerous, a key selling point is that the Convious platform makes the experience more enjoyable for visitors by removing friction points. And, at the end of the day, happier guests will spend more and spread better feedback. They are also more likely to become loyal fans of the venue.
A lot of this is down to streamlining each aspect of the visitor journey, as Dullmaier explains:
“For instance, when we look at the pre-visit stage, as a visitor, seeing what is relevant for you right away makes it a lot easier to decide to visit a certain attraction. So, placing the right information on the website makes the visitors start into this journey a lot easier.”
An easy booking experience is vital. Everyone is familiar with the frustration of trying to book a ticket on a smartphone when the website is not mobile-friendly, for example.
“You just want to close the whole thing and forget about whatever your plans were,” says Dullmaier. “So, making the booking experience as well as the payment process easy is key.”
Convious’ customer success team is always in contact with the company’s partners, helping them to make the most of their platform. The firm is also able to give insights into how attractions can increase the conversion rate of their website, thanks to its in-house conversion specialists. In addition, it offers performance scans, evaluating the whole online presence of an attraction and explaining where it can improve. This service is offered for free to potential customers.
Everything at the visitor’s fingertips
This is where the Convious Tap App comes in. When a visitor buys a ticket through Convious, they receive their ticket by email, and can then download this ticket into the app. The app gives the operator the opportunity to add all kinds of content. This can include park maps, daily offers, show times, special events, discount coupons, the option to upgrade to a season pass and more. In addition, they can also offer mobile food ordering.
“As a visitor, that’s super exciting because you don’t need anything else,” says Dullmaier. “Whatever you need during the visit, you can look at your phone and it’s right there.”
The app is customised to each park so that it becomes its own branded app. It also allows the operator to send push notifications. For instance, they can tell guests about special offers at lunchtime or incentivise them to visit less busy areas. Push notifications can be set for different audiences and can be automated.
Extra functionality with the Convious platform
Dealing with the aftermath of the pandemic has also brought another benefit of the platform into sharp relief. Namely, the ability to change visit dates easily. In many countries around the world, attractions were opening and then closing again as the regulations changed.
“Even without COVID happening, there’s always the need from an operator side to offer a change of date,” adds Dullmaier. “For example, you have people calling to say my kid is sick or the car broke down, so I cannot come today.”
Usually, this would bring a wholly manual process. To do a refund, the operator would need to cancel the ticket and send out a date change ticket.
“However, with our eCommerce platform, we offer the functionality of a change date option,” says Dullmaier. “Guests can go to the website, input the order number, choose a new date, and they’re done.”
There are also times when a park might need to close unexpectedly, for instance, due to bad weather. A recent UK example is when storm Eunice hit, and attractions had to close at short notice. With the Convious platform, situations like this can be managed easily with the bulk refund function.
Adapting to meet changing expectations
Post-COVID, guest expectations have changed. Visitors are now more used to using digital technologies, and increasingly expect to be able to reserve tickets online before their visit.
During COVID, pre-booking online was a major business need for everyone:
“Everybody needed a solution. We were all looking for ways to make the whole thing happen online without any direct contact. It’s interesting because pre-COVID there was the beginning of a trend for going online and ordering a ticket, and people were starting to see the benefits of pre-visit communication. Then, during COVID, it was 100% everywhere.”
After COVID, most operators have seen that it’s not only easier for visitors, because they don’t need to stand in line for 45 minutes to get a ticket, but that it’s also more effective for the operator.
As a former operations director, Dullmaier understands how the old model takes a lot of resources, with the need to staff turnstiles or ticket sales counters, and how it leads to long queues. Now, operators have seen that it’s an easy way of saving resources.
“If you do it right, it’s a win-win situation. You are always going to have a small number of visitors who prefer just turning up and getting a paper ticket. But most of us are so used to this new model. It’s been happening with air travel for 20 years, so it’s not something that we invented, but the digital trend is certainly here to stay.”
The Convious platform and the rise of dynamic pricing
The move towards pre-booking has also given rise to another growing trend: dynamic pricing.
“Again, dynamic pricing has been a possibility within the airline industry or in the hotel sector for a decade. It’s something we all understand. Take musicals, for example. It’s always going to be cheaper to go and see a musical on a Tuesday afternoon than it would be on a Saturday evening.”
The interest in this from attraction operators is now increasing.
“They are seeing this trend in other industries, and they realise that as an operator, one of the main benefits is controlling your crowd a lot better,” says Dullmaier. “One of the main challenges you have as an operator, and I’ve run small indoor attractions and huge theme parks, it doesn’t matter what type of attraction, is controlling your crowd forecasting. It’s about knowing who is coming and planning your resources accordingly.
“What every operator would love to be able to say is, I’m opening in April and I’m closing in November, and I will have 10,000 visitors every single day. That would make life so easy, but of course, it’s not possible. However, what we can do with dynamic pricing is steer towards that.”
Giving people more choice
By offering different prices operators can, for example, move visitors who are flexible time-wise from a large visitation day to maybe a mid-day or even a small date.
For instance, a family with pre-school-age children might decide to visit on a Tuesday morning, instead of on Saturday afternoon, if they see the right price. This helps operators to move visitors from one day to the other. In turn, this makes planning a lot easier. That is because it results in a levelling up between the days of the week.
It also helps to increase revenue, adds Dullmaier:
“You will have a certain number of visitors who are not willing to pay a certain ticket price. That’s a fact. With dynamic pricing, you won’t have these people leaving your website straight away. They will see that they can book a visit at a cheaper time.
“That’s what people love. People love having the choice.”
Treating the visitor journey as a whole
Essentially, operators should choose a platform that can handle their visitor journey in its entirety, from pre-visit to post-visit and everything in between.
“When you have different providers, it makes things a lot more complex,” says Dullmaier. “You need more resources to manage this, and you have separate agreements. It is always complicated when you have different systems or types of software that need to communicate with each other. I can say from experience that this always causes faults!
“With a company like Convious that offers the whole package and a platform that can handle the complete visitor journey, it’s just easy.”
“In addition, you have one single point of contact, which is a customer success manager. If you need to speak to us, you don’t have to sit in a queue and then explain who you are. This person knows you from day one. No matter what it is you need, if you have marketing questions or want to know about upselling propositions, the customer success manager will be supporting you, helping to make you more successful as an operator.”
Convious is a company that works to build true partnerships with its customers. Its industry experts, alongside its specialist conversion, UX, IT and marketing teams, work together to ensure that the company’s partners are meeting their full potential. This means that the operator can focus on what is most important to the guest: offering an unforgettable visitor experience.
