Consultants to the Visitor Attraction Sector
Few attractions reach the full potential of their commercial assets. Shops, cafés, admissions, membership, venue hire and events are often run as add-ons rather than as the integrated business they could be. Yet in a world where grant funding is harder to find, the income an attraction earns for itself is what gives it independence. We help attractions earn more from the visitors they already have, and attract more of them.
The value of each visitor now matters as much as the number coming through the door. Over the past decade we have watched commercial operations move from being a nice thing to have to being what sustains the whole organisation, and our work concentrates on margin as much as on sales, because turnover that does not reach the bottom line sustains nothing.
Commercial strategy and income generation for visitor attractions
What we do
Commercial audit
We review every income line against the visitor journey, from the website and ticket purchase to the shop at the exit. The audit covers pricing and yield, conversion and spend per head, range and layout, catering performance, membership and donations, venue hire and the use of space between them. It produces a set of actions, some for the next quarter and some for the next business plan.
Commercial strategy
For attractions planning a redevelopment or a new direction, we build the commercial model into the plan from the start: where the café and shop sit, what they sell, how events are owned and priced, and how commercial activity stays connected to the organisation’s purpose. Our work for the Immigration Museum in Melbourne set out a phased model with good, better and best revenue scenarios that showed how commercial income could roughly double from the same ticketed audience.
Admissions and pricing
Whether to charge, what to charge and how to structure memberships, concessions and resident pricing are decisions that shape audiences as well as income. We model the options and their effect on visits, revenue and mission, and help boards make a decision they can explain.
How we work
Our team has run commercial operations in attractions of very different sizes, so recommendations are practical and costed, not theoretical. We talk to front-line staff as well as leadership, and we test findings against data before we present them. Clients can take the audit and run with it, or ask us to stay involved while changes bed in.
Experience
Commercial work has ranged from a three-year advisory relationship with Bristol Zoo Gardens’ commercial operations to the Immigration Museum strategy for Museums Victoria, and from action plans for university and heritage sites to commercial audits for independent attractions. We write regularly on commercial strategy for the sector, and the theme runs through The Museum Doctor podcast.
Who this is for
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Attractions whose commercial income has plateaued or lags behind visitor numbers.
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Organisations planning a redevelopment who want the commercial model designed in, not bolted on.
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Boards weighing admission charges, membership schemes or new ventures.
Ready to talk it through?
Email paul@xcentuategroup.com
or call +44 (0) 7824 376390
