The impact of pre-booking on visitor experience

Spontaneous days out are indeed back, at least for the National Trust and many other visitor attractions including Hever Castle and Wakehurst. But the return to spontaneity isn’t the case across the board, and not all attractions – nor all visitors – are keen to return to the days of visitors arriving at will.

Puzzlewood in Gloucestershire has chosen to stick with the pre-booking process. It’s something that Helen O’Kane, Puzzlewood’s Managing Director, was already considering before Covid-19 entered our daily lexicon:

“When the pandemic began, I quickly realised that [pre-booking] was now essential in order to control visitor flow, keep everyone safe, collect and store data securely…Now, I wouldn’t turn back as it’s been a great success. It has improved the visitor experience, especially during peak periods, and helps our team manage visitor numbers more efficiently.

Puzzlewood is a designated ancient woodland, one of the very few left in the UK, so it does need protecting. Online booking is yet another tool that we can use to help do this by controlling footfall and improving messaging to our visitors.”

A quick Facebook poll of UK-based friends, family and colleagues reveals a wide range of reasons visitors might object to pre-booking. These include:

• frustration at the lack of spontaneity (“totally sucked the spontaneity out of it,” is how one person put it)
• the additional stress of having to arrive at a certain time
• the “annoying” inability to plan around the weather
• the need to be organised to book far enough in advance
• the “extremely unhelpful” impact that having to arrive at a particular time can have on people with conditions that affect executive function, such as ADHD, bipolar disorder, autism, OCD, depression and anxiety

There’s no doubt that pre-booking requires visitors to be more organised, but like the technology that enables pre-booking, visitors’ attitudes to the requirement have come on leaps and bounds over the last year and a half.

The more positive responses via Facebook indicated an appreciation of the added confidence that came with knowing they were expected and that parking was unlikely to be an issue. Some even voiced an appreciation of the personal improvements the pre-booking requirement encouraged: “It did make me get my act together and plan ahead, which is most unlike me!...I intend to plan ahead in future, certainly for busy places, as it gives the family a date in the diary to get excited about and look forward to.”

For visitor attractions, the benefits of sticking with a pre-booking system are numerous and include.

• A controlled footfall helps protect attractions that are vulnerable to the impact of high visitor numbers, such as Puzzlewood
• Easier to manage visitor flow, from car parking availability to queuing for the toilet, meaning less crowding at common pinch points
• Even out visitor arrival patterns across the day
• Allows for more-effective distribution of VA staff, according to anticipated visitor number peaks and troughs
• The psychological effect on the visitor helps to eliminate last-minute changes of plan (perhaps due to competitor attractions or the weather) and to increase secondary spend (as any entry fee has already been spent)
• VA staff feel less vulnerable to Covid-19 when working in a more controlled environment; the same applies to visitors
• Can make it easier for people with disabilities to visit at times that are dedicated to visitors with disabilities, or to choose days and times that are quieter
• Enables more data capture and, in turn, better communication at every stage of the visitor journey

Of course, all these factors ultimately point towards an improved visitor experience, especially once any residual nervousness about days out in the time of Covid-19 has passed.

On the other hand, pre-booking for free and member-only visits still leaves VAs vulnerable to no-shows.

But there is a middle ground to be explored.

How about allocating longer arrival time slots, or like Tate Modern, allowing visitors to book the next available time slot on arrival in the entrance queue using a displayed QR code? Or you could explore a hybrid model of pre-booked and walk-in visits, to ensure your attraction still appeals to spontaneous, disorganised and weather-dependent visitors. Meanwhile, targeted communication in the lead-up to the visit (enabled by the enhanced data capture) can help discourage no-shows.

Government grants have made the switch to a pre-booking system possible for many visitor attractions, while the restrictions imposed by the pandemic made the switch essential. It will likely only take a little longer for public perception and behaviour to catch up.

Soon, pre-booking could become just another factor that helps differentiate your attraction, like location, cost and family friendliness. Visitors who prefer to decide what to do during the day ahead can do so over a leisurely breakfast, while those who prefer to plan ahead can benefit from the certainty and confidence that comes with pre-booking.

Download the New Visitor Experience guide