There’s no doubt about it, most holiday park operators have felt pressure to invest more in tech in the last 2 or 3 years than ever before. And there are a few factors that have contributed to that.

1. Change in customer demographic

The pandemic brought a change in demographic of holiday park guests and owners. When foreign travel simply wasn’t an option, holiday park operators saw a huge increase in bookings from customers who had never holidayed in a UK park before. Now, as the cost of living crisis continues, even more people are being pushed to explore the possibilities that holidaying in the UK can offer.

2. Change in customer behaviour

Lockdown restrictions during the pandemic saw people working from home and home schooling. Potential customers spent more time online than ever before and grew accustomed to the ease and speed of online transactions and interactions.

3. Advances in digital technology

Digital technology continues to transform consumer habits. In the holiday park industry specifically, technological advancements have impacted the guest journey. Guests and owners have grown to expect quick responses, personalised interactions and connected experiences across digital channels.

 

Let’s take a closer look at the holiday park customer journey and identify which steps would benefit from investment in technological advancements and implementation of IT solutions to ensure continued improvement in customer engagement and satisfaction.

THE HOLIDAY PARK CUSTOMER JOURNEY

Search

The guest experience starts way before the customer even steps foot on your park. They’ll start forming an opinion about the park and what experience they might have there as soon as they start researching their holiday options and come across your park listed in their Google search, on Trip Advisor or on OTA listings such as Hoseasons.

This is where you can create a great first impressions so invest time and expertise in SEO, paid search and social ads, and in your photography and videography.

Tech considerations: Lots of considerations here from a marketing perspective, but not much tech or IT solutions required at this stage.

Book

It goes without saying that easy online booking is a must, but how easy is it for customers to find the information that matters to them on your website? Is this booking experience seamless, fast and simple?

It’s crucial that your website is linked to your Park Management System which should in turn integrate with your CRM to allow you to commence your guest communications, starting with an immediate and automatically generated booking confirmation email.

Offering real-time communication channels such as a live chat facility provides assistance and answers to potential guests’ queries and questions promptly.

Tech considerations: Customised changes to your existing software and review of your system integrations and automations.

Pre-arrival

You’ve got the booking, but that’s just the start. The pre-arrival phase is the time to continue building a relationship with your customer, get them excited about their stay and introduce upsell opportunities.

If you don’t have an automated series of pre-arrival emails you’re already missing a huge opportunity. Pre-arrival communication allows you to share useful information with your guests and give them confidence that they’ve made the right decision by booking with you.

At this stage you may also give guests the opportunity to download your mobile app to pre-book activities.

Tech considerations: CRM is your key technology in this part of the process so you need to ensure you can rely on the integration with your park management system.

In-stay

Contactless and paperless check in is now considered ‘the norm,’ and where wifi in accommodation was once viewed as an added benefit, guests now expect quality Wi-Fi to be available across all areas of your park.

Apps are being used more and more to take the guest offering to the next level. By integrating your booking system with your app, you can personalise the app experience and offer appropriate offers and extras. Apps are most definitely a clear opportunity for holiday parks with owners too.

And lastly, there are more and more opportunities to use smart technology in accommodation to significantly enhance the guest experience e.g. smart thermostats, lighting systems and entertainment systems allows guests to customise their environment to their preferences. Smart lock can provide key-less entry too enhancing convenience and security.

Tech considerations: Investment in IT solutions to ensure your app and contact-less strategies are delivered.

Post-departure

It’s standard practice to collect feedback, reviews and react to any guest satisfaction issues once a guest has returned home. But the relationship with the guest doesn’t end when they leave the park so the engagement shouldn’t stop there. Now is your opportunity to develop a loyal customer and advocate.

However, it’s one thing gathering the guest feedback; but what do you do with it? Analysing those customer insights is key to helping you better predict and meet customer needs going forward.

Tech considerations: Tailored bespoke solutions can help you unlock the hidden value that’s sitting in your customer data. Simple reporting and dashboards will help you to identify business growth opportunities and areas of focus.

 

Used correctly, digital solutions can seamlessly integrate into the overall customer experience. But what’s key is striking a balance between embracing technology and maintaining the all-important human touch.

 

This array of tech considerations might sound overwhelming but that’s where we come in – as experts in the holiday park industry we can review your current IT set up, translate techy jargon into relevant, cost effective and market-leading IT solutions for you which will cost-effectively scale with ease as your business grows. Start by booking your 30 minute discovery call today.