PARTNER POST | SPONSORED BY GetYourGuide
How do you reduce negative guest reviews at your attraction? Managing guest flow and reducing crowding, wait times and noise will go a long way towards this — and technology can play a key role.
According to GetYourGuide’s Spring 2025 Travel Experience Trend Tracker, crowding and technology are two of the biggest detractors that guests mention when leaving negative reviews about their experience.
But while the vast majority of the world’s largest attractions are leveraging the growing array of technology to streamline their processes and improve the guest experience, many smaller attractions still aren’t using the tools available to them.
In our latest report, based on the findings of Arival’s Global Operator Landscape (3rd Ed.) research and developed in partnership with GetYourGuide, we take a closer look at tech, distribution, marketing & product operations of the world’s largest visitor attractions — and what other attractions and tour operators can learn.
We’re sharing a few highlights from the report below. Download the full report today — available at no cost to Insider Free and Pro Access members.
Ticketing Tech: Powering Advanced Booking and Dynamic Pricing
For large and enterprise attractions, the shift towards advanced booking, online ticketing and timed-entry has necessitated a shift towards modern ticketing tech that can facilitate these processes — however, this is an area with room for improvement for small and medium-sized attractions.
Nearly nine in 10 enterprise attractions and eight in 10 large organizations use a ticketing system, vs. only six in 10 small to medium attractions. Ticketing and booking system technology in 2025 is still not as widely adopted as it should be.
There are more technology options than ever for visitor attractions, and the deployment of advanced tech is essential to offer advanced booking, timed entry and variable or dynamic pricing — all of which can help reduce pain points in the guest experience, such as overcrowding. As well, modern ticketing systems can help attractions to expand and manage multiple distribution partners effectively, and grow direct online bookings.
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Beyond Ticket Sales: Improving Guest Experience through Tech
Technology is not just about ticket sales and connecting to distribution partners like online travel agencies (OTAs). The right technology is critical for attractions to manage the guest experience, from waiting times in line and guest flow through the attraction to the quality of audio guides and the use of headphones by tour groups to reduce noise.
Attractions should leverage the growing array of technology, from ticketing, inventory and pricing tools, to audio guides and more to improve crowd management and the visitor experience.
Tip: Reduce Noise with Audio Guides
Audio guided experiences are on the rise among visitor attractions: more than half of museums offer or plan to offer self-guided tours and audio guide experiences, according to the Arival Guide to Self-Guided Tours and Audio Experiences (3rd Ed.).
Learn more in the full guide, which includes insights on how to develop high quality and engaging self-guided tours and audio experiences, and two matrices of self-guided tours (SGT) and audio-guided technology (AGT) platforms and providers.
Dig Deeper with the Full Report
The latest Arival report delves into the trends, tech, distribution & product operations of the world’s largest visitor attractions and is packed with actionable takeaways both attractions and tour operators working with attractions can implement in their own businesses today. Learn more by downloading the full Inside Enterprise Attractions report, available at no cost thanks to report sponsor GetYourGuide.
Learn More with Arival Research
The Global Operator Landscape (3rd Ed.) Research Series
Arival’s annual survey of the global operator industry is the most comprehensive and in-depth study on travel’s third-largest sector: experiences. Based on a survey of more than 7,000 operators worldwide, the third edition of Arival’s Global Operator Landscape research study informs a series of reports on different sub-segments and geographic regions within the tours, activities and attractions sector.
- Global Operator Landscape: The State of Experiences
- Getting Direct: The State of Digital Marketing
- Global Operator Landscape: The State of Visitor Attractions
- The State of Women+ Leaders in Travel Experiences
- Global Operator Landscape: The Profitable Operator
- Global Operator Landscape: The State of OTAs & Operators
- Inside Enterprise Attractions
- Global Operator Landscape: The State of Booking Tech (coming soon!)
- More reports to come: stay tuned!
Arival thanks our study sponsors: Launch Partner GetYourGuide, and Strategic Insights Partners Catalunya, Expian, Rezgo, Tripworks and Viator, as well as the many Fielding Partners that helped distribute the survey — see the full list here.
Get the full Arival experience by joining us at an upcoming Arival event, and hear the latest research insights and tips on digital marketing for the experiences sector directly from tours, activities and attractions industry leaders and experts.
Become an Insider Pro Access member today and get access to the full library of Arival research, plus many other benefits such as free consulting sessions, special discounts and 20% off in-person events, starting from $179 per year.
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Header photo: Provided by GetYourGuide
