Web Bonus: More Than In the Swim

We rely very heavily on our Web site. At one point, more than 80 percent of people that were coming to the aquarium bought their tickets online before they came. We utilize an advanced reservation system, so people choose the date and the time they want to come in and they get a ticket specifically for that entry time through our Web site before they visit. It allows them to not have to wait in line; if it’s busy or cold or rainy, they know that at 1 o’clock on the 15th they can come right in. It allows us to better manage the number of people in the building at any one time, and it also allows us to manage our expectations for staff for what the capacity for that day is going to be.

It’s been fantastic. Dealing with 3.6 million guests in our first year, there would have been no way for us to facilitate their visits and have them be good guest experiences if we didn’t know what to be expecting.

FS: What advice can you give to other institutions like your own in terms of Web-based ticketing?
KC: The thing that we’ve really learned is that it’s important to listen. It’s important to listen to the staff that runs the programs, listen to the staff that interacts with the guests, listen to the staff that talks on the phone so that when you make changes or when you’re choosing a ticketing program you can really understand the details.

When I first started here, that was the one thing that my executive director said. He said, “You know, it’s important to listen. Listen to everyone and then make your decisions.”

And so a lot of what we do here, a lot of the changes that we make and a lot of the programs that we implemented were based on listening not just to other aquariums but to other attractions, from baseball teams to theme parks to people that have worked in zoos and aquariums for years, or museums — listening to all different types of people to really incorporate best practices instead of making your decision based on just what every other aquarium does.