Earlier this month, we spent a full week at IAAPA’s Attractions Expo in Orlando. We connected with some of our existing clients, met people from new parks and got great insight into the state of the industry.

Through discussions we had with FEC and karting track leaders, we learned a lot about current and future trends in activity centers, karting tracks, trampoline parks and amusement parks. The need for a self-service kiosk is growing with customer demand, as visitors want to minimize their interactions with staff within the parks and maximize the time for fun. Park owners continue to experience high turnover within their front-of-house staff and training new employees has become an ongoing challenge. Their staff has become a liability as employees spend too much time on their mobile devices without offering the friendly and positive customer experience that owners want to provide.

We also spoke with park owners who are adding more activities to their locations to appeal and attract more customers and encourage people to come back. Owners understand that offering discounts won’t keep customers in the park longer or keep driving them back in; the need to keep adults and children interested is the key to increasing average time spent per customer and repeat visits. Many FECs have decreased the footprint of existing activities in order to offer something new, while others have purchased adjacent land or knocked out walls and built entirely new offerings.

It’s clear that owners are following the multi-activity park business model in an effort to increase sales. As a result, being able to book and pay for any of these activities online through the park’s website has a become a top priority. The need for real-time inventory management as it relates to multi-activity booking online was also a hot topic of conversation.

We would like to thank everyone who visited our booth and to IAAPA for hosting such a great event. We’re already looking forward to next year!