It is said that amusement and theme parks are among the most complicated businesses to run because of how departmentally complex they are. There are so many moving parts, and so much that needs to go right for the park to thrive. If you are new to the amusement business, it can be daunting when realize how much goes on behind the scenes that the guest never sees.
That’s how it should be! There is so much work that is done to make it look like it all just came together when the park opened for the day. Fortunately, there are many technological solutions that can take the burden of running an amusement park off of the operator.
Point of Sale / Ticketing. How are you selling tickets to your guests? With an all-in-one ticketing system, you can sell tickets online, whether on mobile or desktop, as well as onsite, through traditional ticket windows or self-service kiosks.
Annual Pass Management. Engaging with your most loyal guests is key to building advocacy. Managing your pass holders enables you to regularly communicate upcoming events or new attractions, as well as keep tabs on them when it’s time to renew. Better yet, implementing a recurring membership program takes the burden off the guest to actively renew their pass.
Group Sales Management. In addition to annual pass holders, groups make up a large percentage of an amusement park’s attendance and revenue. Equipping your group sales team with the tools to track and manage clients helps to ensure a strong relationship between the group leaders and your park.
Inventory Management. Food, beverage, and retail are constantly in a revolving door in an amusement park. To ensure you don’t run out of hot dogs or plush, stay on top of your supply chain for your food & beverage and retail departments.
Turnstiles / Access Control. How are your guests getting into the park? Your ticketing system must be integrated with your access control system so that the arrival process is smooth and efficient and avoids bottlenecks at opening or other peak times for arrival.
HR Administration. Hiring and firing is a regular occurrence, and so is managing large teams at a time. Make sure your Human Resources department can track the status of every employee and former employee to oversee the employment journey efficiently.
Employee Scheduling. In addition to managing the employment status of your staff, it is critical that employee schedules can easily be created and adjusted as necessary and communicated to the staff member promptly.
Timeclock. Since most employees in an amusement park are paid by the hour, there must be a seamless system for staff to clock in and out for their shifts and unpaid breaks, as well as for leaders to reconcile hours worked with hours budgeted manage any overtime accordingly.
Event Management. If group sales are big business, group events are the holy grail. Will you enable groups to buy out the park after hours or on non-operating days? An event management system can help you manage the group and ensure that any communication with other departments, such as catering, is handled accordingly.
Maintenance Management. Before rides and attractions can run, maintenance is usually required to perform a full inspection before turning it over to the operations team. Instead of using paper checklists, everything should be tracked digitally so the information can be accessed easily in an emergency.
CRM (Customer Relationship Management). Continue marketing to your guests after they leave. With a CRM, you can divide your guests into various segments, allowing you to market to them effectively, further nurturing your relationship and loyalty.
Reputation Management. Your guests are talking. They’re posting online, through social media and online reviews, and it’s all over the internet. You need a system that is consolidated into a dashboard that makes it easy for your marketing or guest communications team to view and respond to all comments as necessary.
Visitor Management. Understand the flow of your guests as they move throughout your park so you can effectively streamline your operations. Visitor management software shows you, among other things, where areas of the park are congested, leading to guest disbursement opportunities.
Guest Satisfaction Surveys. Guests may be talking about you online, but wouldn’t it be better if they were speaking to you directly. Implementing a guest satisfaction survey, such as the Guest Experience Score, can get the data that you need to improve your operation and further build relationships with guests.
Employee Satisfaction Surveys. Sure, your guests are satisfied, but how about your employees? Get critical information from those living and breathing your brand every day by regularly implementing employee satisfaction surveys that tell you what can be improved in various work environments.
The list may go on, but these core elements of your business will not only ensure that you survive but will help you thrive. Implement these management solutions into your park so you can go back to doing what you set out to do: create lifelong memories for your guests.
