Consultants to the Visitor Attraction Sector
Our business is visitor attraction consultancy and, more than most, we appreciate that each attraction is its own unique business and is at its own unique point in its development, each of our clients is special. Drawing on a wider network of affiliate consultants, where necessary, we assemble a team to tackle just about any issue you face whether that be accommodating a period of change or business disruption, navigating changes to the funding environment or pursuing a capital redevelopment, a leadership transition, how to expand your offer, reposition your brand, grow attendance, widen audience and more.
We would be very happy to discuss your business and how we can support you.
planning support
We offer a fresh pair of eyes during the planning process. This can range from feasibility assessment to facilitating a planning session with your management team or board. Recognising that planning can be a lonely place we can also act as a sounding board on which to test proposed approaches for which we will offer feedback.
We never profess to knowing your business better than you but will support your efforts to reach clarity over business goals and how you overcome the hurdles to getting there. This is where our more than 25 years of experience and work with over 40 clients comes into its own.
Our recent experience has extended to supporting the development of strategic business cases for several multi-million pound capital projects including a major new comic-based attraction, a new Science Centre and major redevelopment of two internationally important maritime-linked attractions.
fundraising & business development
The planning support we provide often goes hand in hand with both identifying and delivering ways of funding them. We have considerable experience of delivering both revenue and capital funding with our work directly fuelling £millions of pounds of capital development. We are skilled at building the essential narrative that helps ‘sell’ a project.
Fundraising and funding is almost always part of delivering a new or augmented vision for our clients but is rarely, if ever, the whole solution and why we like to work with clients in considering challenges and opportunities in both a pragmatic and holistic way.
.jpg)
commercial activity
Few visitor attractions tap the full potential of their commercial assets. While typically recognised as an important part of an attraction few operators resource them appropriately and/or invest in them regularly…..even major attractions/attraction groups make their fair share of mistakes.
Our commercial and forensic audits identify strengths and weaknesses within client attractions and details areas where adjustments are likely to see improvements in key metrics. This work often extends across the whole range of a clients commercial offer.
Our commercial work for clients delivers a very clear picture of where adjustments can be made to improve the health and viability of the activity in order to achieve stronger sales and a healthier net contribution.
Depending on the clients internal capacity to deliver against areas we identify as important we can also provide operational support at all levels and provide the staff training that will always be the key to building long-term results.
In a world where external funding of any kind is increasingly difficult to secure we work with clients to ensure they are maximising the commercial opportunities that exist within their own facilities, in essence we help our clients generate more of their own income, making them less dependent on external support.
visitor experience
The ultimate success of any visitor attraction is directly reflected in the quality and depth of its visitor experience. New attractions that (hopefully) wow visitors in their first years of operation need to evolve and change in order to remain fresh and relevant. Many attractions are dependent on attracting repeat visits and all the more reason for these to change regularly.
Our experience audit starts before we arrive at our client’s attraction and includes the website, information offered over the phone, directional signage, the welcome, wider staff interaction, cleanliness of the facility and, of course, the quality, breadth and depth of the core experience.
Unlike the majority of quality assurance schemes that are operated we also like to talk to staff as an integral function of an audit. Without this there is always the risk that maybe staff serving were caught on an off day. By digging deeper we are able to assess the wider organisational commitment to service, where it sits within the culture of the organisation. Within this approach it is also critical that we interview leadership.
Beyond audit we offer a number of services available and which are tailored to each specific client based on their needs. This might include staff training, review and revision of experience flow, searches for temporary exhibition content or development of new content, including the integration of new technologies.