How Visitor Attractions Can Increase Footfall And Revenue In Winter Months
Winter is a challenge for many attractions, even ones that are mostly indoors. It’s not only the colder, often rainier, weather that puts people off heading out for the day, it’s also the post-Christmas dip. The first month or two after Christmas is a time when the public are inclined to retreat from venturing out. However, there are still opportunities in January, February and March for visitor attractions. After all, expanding cultural experiences is something quite a few people endeavour to do in the New Year and this can be advantageous for the industry.
Attractions that ran successful campaigns and sold gift experiences or memberships over the holiday period also have an opportunity to reach out to those lucky enough to have been gifted with these passes.
Attracting visitors in the low season takes a certain amount of data analysis mixed with a good sprinkling of creativity. So, visitor attractions need to make the most of the data they have stored through ticketing, membership and CRM platforms to analyse what offers and incentives most appeal to their existing audiences. If your ticketing and CRM software is not allowing you to build customer profiles then it may be worth connecting with your software partner to see if they can better support you in using the booking, experience and post-visit data to effectively remarket to former visitors.
Don’t forget, if you have reservations about your ticketing partner, ReWork is here to offer consultation, guidance and advice. If you decide it’s time to upgrade or seek a new ticketing partner, we are uniquely positioned to provide expertise and support through procurement, so don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Ultimately, strategy is key to increasing footfall in the low season. So allow me to share some of the ways visitor attractions can increase footfall and revenue in winter months:
Connecting With Travellers In Low Season
There is less tourism in the winter months but tourism still exists. Yet, tourists may assume some attractions, particularly ones with outdoor spaces, may not be open all year round. Especially since it is quite common in Europe for visitor attractions in high-tourist areas to close for the winter season. Partnerships and collaborations with other local businesses in leisure and tourism, such as hotels, tour providers and restaurants can help steer tourists and travellers your way.
Remember, the type of travellers visiting the UK in winter months may not be your usual demographic. For instance, families are less likely to be holidaying. However, solo travellers (including those travelling for business) and retired people may be visiting the UK and seeking inspiration for days out. Therefore, it may be worth reevaluating your marketing strategy and materials, to ensure that you’re not overlooking, or failing to represent, these non-typical demographics in the low season. How well are you connected to the travel industry? Do you have the right tech in place and is your ticketing partner supporting in this area? Travel connectivity is a subject we’ll dive deeper into in the forthcoming months, so make sure you’re following us on LinkedIn to see new articles.
Making The Most Of Memberships
Memberships usually offer pass-holders the luxury of being able to visit all year round – so encourage them to. True, some attractions offer pre-paid memberships and therefore aren’t increasing ticket revenue by encouraging member visits but there are other benefits to having members present in the winter months. These include:
Word Of Mouth – Many people wouldn’t think of visiting certain attractions when the weather isn’t warm, but seeing other people do so might make them think again. Members can also help to bring new visitors to an attraction by some bringing non-members along on their visits, so it may be worth considering offering benefits for doing so.
The power of social media can also be used here so make sure you have plenty of social media photo opportunities available and consider creating backdrops for selfies to make visiting your attraction Instagramable, even in the winter months.
On-site Spend – Just because the ticket cost has already been paid for, it doesn’t mean revenue can’t still be made. Pre-paid trips can often encourage more spending on the day because members feel they haven’t had to purchase tickets. Therefore, make sure you have plenty of onsite facilities, such as food and beverages or other add-ons, such as private tours or experiences, to help members make more of their day.
Footfall – A lack of visitors during low season doesn’t just affect revenue, it can also affect the experience and/or atmosphere for other guests.
Whilst some activities are better with few others – and this is something you can highlight in your low-season campaigns – other experiences are elevated by having others along. For instance, a visitor finding out they’re the only person on a tour may seem an advantage initially but they may miss out on the learning opportunities that can come about when other group members pose questions or share information. Having members visit at off-peak times can help to keep a visitor attraction feeling loved and lively for other visitors. You’ll also need to look busy for those marketing photo opportunities (keep reading for more on this).
Attractions, with the support of software partners, should also make it easy for members to log into their online membership accounts. From here they should be able to fastrack booking but also receive a more personalised experience. Within this, attractions may consider offering more exclusive experiences and perhaps discounts for onsite facilities during the low season.
They may also receive tailored marketing communications since, as more loyal customers, they may be more invested in what is happening at the attraction on a weekly basis. Encouraging members to come along in low season means enabling direct communication to make them aware of what there is to see and do at different times of the year.
Off-Peak Events At Visitor Attractions
Depending on your attraction type, you may opt to host events or up your events over the winter period. There are plenty of options – from workshops to live music events and from gastronomy experiences to astronomy experiences – your facilities may be the ideal place to offer entertainment, education and/or unique experiences. These may even appeal to those who wouldn’t usually visit your attraction, allowing you to reach beyond your typical clientele and attract a more diverse range of people to return to your attraction as visitors.
Don’t want to or don’t have the resources to host events yourself? You don’t have to. Many organisations are looking for venues to host their activities. These might be team-building days on the grounds of a heritage site, watercolour classes at a wildlife park or pop-up private dining experiences in a castle or palace. They can be during or outside of opening hours and you can have as much or as little involvement as you wish. Although this may affect how much you can charge for venue hire. You may also wish to offer venue hire only during low season which may increase the bookings you get in the winter months and leave your peak season uninterrupted.
Food And Beverages At Your Attraction
Attractions should ensure they’re making the most of on-site food and beverage facilities in the winter months because it’s likely your visitors will.
Whilst summer months may bring higher footfall, fair-weather guests also tend to bring picnics. Winter visitors will be less likely to bring their own food or want to leave the attraction to go elsewhere for lunch. So it’s important to promote your on-site cafes and/or restaurants when bookings are made and also again the day before the visit – ticketing software should be integrated with marketing to allow you to do this.
Another obstacle to enticing visitors into your food outlets post-Christmas is a lot of people make efforts to eat a more healthy diet in the months following the New Year and it’s fair to say that visitor attractions haven’t always had the best reputation for healthy food. Back in 2004, both Which? And the Soil Association found UK attractions to be seriously lacking in healthy food options. Although many attractions have redesigned their menus multiple times since then and addressed some of these catering issues, the reputation still exists. So, if you do have healthy options at your restaurants then showcase these and, if you don’t, consider adding some at least in the post-Christmas months.
Advanced Booking Initiatives
Pre-sales are important for ensuring traffic in the quieter months. Many people assume buying tickets at the door will not be an issue during winter months so don’t bother to prebook. Yet, as we know, pre-booking means visitors are far more committed to attending – less likely to be put off the plan if it’s raining or cold. Therefore, it can be worth offering advanced booking initiatives, such as making it cheaper to book online.
Whilst applying online pre-book discounts during quieter times can seem counter-productive, when done as part of a planned and well-executed campaign, it can make those quieter times less quiet and has been proven to increase secondary spending on site
Marketing Visitor Attractions Off-Peak
Can you remember the last few images you saw of visitor attractions? Perhaps they were on the attraction’s website or posted on social media. I’m willing to bet that they were mostly pictures taken on sunny days.
Now, I’ve lived in the UK most of my life and I know that sunny days are precious here because they are few and far between. Yet, aside from the odd Halloween photo and Christmas-themed picture, most attraction’s visual marketing showcases the venue – whether it’s a historical and cultural attraction or an outdoor attraction – in glorious sunshine, all year round. I’ve even seen winter campaigns and promotions to specifically encourage visits in the winter months, accompanied by images of summertime visitors enjoying the attraction in shorts and t-shirts. It’s not very realistic, is it?
Focusing on promoting an attraction as it appears in peak times and on sunny days, pitches the visit as suitable only in good weather, even if it’s under an ‘open all year round’ banner. So, it’s important to market the attraction in real time all year round, highlighting the benefits of visiting off-peak – although it’s not advisable to use this term in your marketing.
Arundel Castle do this with their blog series from their Head Gardener. Each month there is an update, alongside beautiful pictures, of what is growing in the gardens of Arundel Castle, which serves as a reminder that nature is changing and flourishing all year round. I’m assuming that the attraction is sending these monthly updates to their members and subscribers to help attract them to visit the castle grounds in the colder months too. This approach also works for wildlife centres, zoos, viewing platforms and…well – any outdoor attraction!
Social media can be another great way to showcase visitor attractions in all weathers, letting the public know that the doors are open and there’s still much to see. So make sure you’re posting on Instagram and other social media platforms as much in off-peak times as you are in high season.
Why Should Visitor Attractions Invest In Low Season?
Low season is not the time to take your foot off the pedal. Given the difficult few years that visitor attractions have had in recovering from the pandemic and now tackling the cost of living crisis, we may be inclined to invest in the high season and merely survive through the winter months, pumping efforts into maximising footfall when the sun is out and tourism is up. However, for attractions that stay open to visitors during low season, this would be high risk. Higher than perhaps using this period to invest in attracting new visitors and building upon relationships with loyal guests.
Attractions need to be tracking visitor and booking behaviours to reward those who visit during quieter periods. Marketing funnels, supported by the right technology, could allow us to categorise bookers/visitors and personalise their experience, both leading up to and during the visit. For instance, existing members who book a special winter offer or attend an event or exhibition during the low season may be selected to receive a benefit upon entry, such as a discount on hot chocolate or soup in the cafe. Not only does this encourage spending onsite (even if it does decrease profit margins), but it also rewards those who visit during those quieter times. Furthermore, there’s a good chance these visitors will return and will speak positively about the experience. Plus, they might buy a slice of cake to go with that hot chocolate!
Of course, proper tracking and recording of the effectiveness of such promotions will be key in ensuring they’re working properly to build customer loyalty and attract return visitors.
Marketing teams working together with software partners should be able to build a better picture of the campaigns that work, with which customers, and when. This can decrease wasted spend on promotions that aren’t effective and allow venues to offer discounts, promotions and incentives only when they are known to be generally successful. Thus, low-season marketing can become more robust and cost-effective with data-driven analysis, enabled by the right technology, to facilitate strategic decisions and place precious investment where it’s going to make the most impact in increasing footfall and revenue.
Reporting and data aren’t the sexiest of subjects, but when it comes to ticketing/CRM solutions, they sit at the core of effective marketing and fundraising strategies, those that understand and engage with your audience to help your organisation flourish all year round!
