Twelve years ago, Alton Towers' marketing was based on things that would improve the visitor experience. Now, marketing is based on girls not wearing very much draped over rollercoasters, and trying to extract as much money as possible from visitors.ALTON TOWERS TACKLES QUEUING HEAD ON WITH WORLD FIRST "VIRTUAL QUEUE" SYSTEM
When it opens for the 1999 season on March 24, Alton Towers the UK's number one, will be the first theme park in the world to truly begin to tackle one of the biggest complaints from guests - queuing - with a number of new initiatives.
When is a queue not a queue - when it is a "Virtual Queue".
The first of these is a unique ticket operated "Virtual Queue" system, which was successfully trialed on Nemesis last year and which will now be introduced on to Oblivion as well.
The system is a simple one and will operate on days when the park is forecasting that queues would otherwise be over 45 minutes. Guests will be directed to a number of turnstiles around the entrance to the rides to take a timed ticket. These are issued in batches with a pre-allocated number per slot, thus giving the Park some control over the number of guests arriving at a given time, and therefore the length of the queue, which it is hoped will be kept down to an average of 20 minutes.
Guests arriving at Alton Towers will be told when "Virtual Queuing" is operating, and will be given a leaflet explaining how it works, and encouraging them to get their tickets early. Staff will also be on hand at the two rides to offer help. Riders then present their tickets on or soon after the time allocated to get on the ride. No ticket, no ride.
Commenting, Emma Parsons, Head of Marketing said: "People's perception of queue lengths are often quite different from reality - which are at worst an average queue of around 45 minutes on the most popular rides on very busy days (such as special event days). It is more likely to find queues of 15-20 minutes, which is important time to build the fun and anticipation for the ride. Nevertheless, our ongoing customer satisfaction research shows that the belief that there may be queues can be one of the things which lessens the fun of the day, and as we are committed to improving value for money at the park year on year, this area was obviously one that needed to be addressed".
In addition to the "Virtual Queue", Alton Towers is investing a further £1 million on queue line entertainment, including a water based quiz at the Log Flume, TV screens at the Black Hole, water blasters by Ripsaw, and fun activities for toddlers at Squirrel Nutty.
"Our aim is to offer all our guests the best possible day out, with the best thrill rides in Europe, a host of other rides and attractions for all ages, live shows, and the best possible environment. We know that there are a lot of similar attractions out there watching our actions very closely, so the success of the "Virtual Queue" initiative is even more important to us" concluded Parsons.
Note to Editors:
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Distributed by PR Newswire on behalf of Alton Towers
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