The £42 charge is pretty ridiculous when you actually think about it. If anyone here walked up to the gate and paid full whack, would anyone actually feel they had received good value for money? I'm pretty sure that most would not. Towers may still be the best theme park experience in the country, but it prices itself too high and relies on Merlin's BOGOF strategy to get the guests in. I know that Merlin use this as the vouchers can be used across the whole of their portfolio of attractions, but I wonder how many people research the gate price of Towers and just think "no!"
It would be a much more welcoming and appealing pricing structure were Towers to charge a price of around £25 on the gate and not push vouchers so much. Maybe releasing £5 off ones at off peak times, or multi-buy offers like 3 for 2's would still be good to be pushed, but they would not be relied upon to get guests through the gate as the price would be low enough to attract visitors without vouchers. In fact, the park would receive more per guest as a £25 per head charge would be more than the £21pp received through BOGOFs. People value price reductions and hate to feel ripped off.
If feeling ripped off at the gate, people will hold onto their cash for the rest of the day. If they feel that they are paying a good value price, they will no doubt then spend more money on upselling - be it merch, photos, food or fastrack. Merlin would already be taking more per guest at the gate and would then equally be receiving more through other purchases within the park - therefore it would be win-win and may reduce the need for
I also think Towers2 could be looked at. Whilst it is a fantastic way to save money on a return trip, it relies on people knowing that they will return! Otherwise the ticket is a waste of money. Ideally, Towers could give every guest a return voucher for £10 entry as they leave and this would definitely encourage people to return! In order to stop these flooding the market in place of the original entry price they could use T's & C's that mean you need to show your original entry ticket as well as the voucher to gain entry. They could also only make them usable at off-peak times, or have an off-peak and peak return price. This would keep the park busy and once again give people the feeling that they have experienced good value for money.
No matter how much upselling is done, people will spend MORE if they feel they are getting a bargain, not the faux 'bargains' that are currently on offer like the 2 for £10 photos, extra donuts for £1 and so on....
. Stupid misleading pricing structure 
