TL:DR Better service = happier guests. Cut lines, reduce chaos, and boost loyalty with smart tools like online booking software.
“I’m never coming back here again.” For tours and attractions, you want the opposite, and online booking software can help create a smoother, more memorable guest experience backed by great service.
Imagine how awful an experience a guest must have had to leave a review like that. Of course, as a tour and attraction operator, your goal is to drive the exact opposite response. And to do that, you need to focus on providing your guests a memorable experience backed by excellent customer service.
Regardless of how exciting, new, or “in” your attraction might be, your overall guest experience always boils down to the quality of the guest service you’re providing. Long lines, chaotic ticketing, and difficult-to-navigate venues can quickly spoil what could’ve been a positive visit.
That’s why in this post, we’re going to talk about ways to elicit the best possible reaction from your guests.
Businesses just like yours have realized that investing in the customer experience can boost customer satisfaction, referrals, positive reviews, and loyalty. Yet you may be wondering how to measure that guest service experience — and more importantly, what you can do to improve it.
Let’s dive into what it means to provide an excellent guest service experience at your attraction.
- How to define a great guest experience
- What’s the difference between guest experience and guest service?
- 3 key characteristics that make up a great customer service experience
- What are some strategies for handling difficult guests?
- 8 examples for how to improve and measure guest experience
- How to measure guest experience
How to define a great guest experience
A great customer experience is defined by your guests’ reactions to the service you provide them.
Excellent customer service is key in the hospitality industry, as well as the travel industry as a whole. When you’re in the business of hosting guests, every interaction between them and your company is expected to be positive.
The most straightforward path to accomplish this is quite simple: anticipating needs and exceeding expectations creates a great customer experience. Let’s say you’ve trained your staff to do just that — but you’re not sure how to measure whether it’s actually working. Are guests enjoying their visit? Are there any paintpoints getting in the way of a raving review? What’s stopping them from coming back?
To answer these questions, you can start by creating a customer journey map: A customer journey map illustrates the journey you’ll take your customer on from the first point they become aware of your brand to the point they exit your attraction.
This map highlights every interaction guests have with your attraction, and, in turn, pinpoints hiccups and speed bumps that may negatively impact your guests’ experience. Think: the long lines and chaotic ticketing mentioned earlier.
When you walk through the customer journey yourself, you’ll better understand how your guests are moving through your attraction. If a specific interaction — like a hard-to-find booking button — leaves you frustrated, your guests will likely feel the same way.
What’s the difference between guest experience and guest service?
So what exactly do we mean when we talk about guest experience and guest service? The two terms are often used interchangeably in the tourist attraction and hospitality management industries — yet there’s a clear distinction between the two.
Let’s start by talking about guest service.
Guest service refers to every interaction your company has with a visitor before, during, and after they visit your attraction. The main goal of guest services is to increase customer satisfaction.
Let’s say a guest named Amy books a ticket to your museum online and emails your team to ask if she can bring her camera. Someone from your company replies promptly, letting her know that photography is allowed, but only in outdoor areas. They also link to your visitor guidelines and offer tips on the best spots for photos. This interaction is a clear example of guest service: it’s a direct, helpful response to a guest’s specific question, aimed at improving the visit to the museum.
Guest service providers (or your customer-facing staff) are then responsible for many tasks, including:
- Answering guest questions before, during, and after their visit
- Helping customers make the right decisions about their visit
- Checking in with guests to see if they need anything ahead of their visit
- Providing guests with all the necessary information to make their visit a great one
- Troubleshooting issues before and during their visit
- Accommodating their requests, such as personalizing a visit for special occasions
As you can see, guest service is pretty much reactive. It’s a response to customer needs. The guest experience, on the other hand, is a product of your guest service.
A great guest experience is made up of the collective interactions your guests have had with your brand. This includes the first time they land on your website to the point they exit your venue — and every single interaction in between.
It’s essentially a measure of how your guests feel about your brand after their visit.
For example, Jorge visited a Disneyland park equipped with his MagicBand, a “smart” wearable device that’s connected to his tickets and credit card information. He used this band to scan himself into rides and a mobile app to order food ahead of time at restaurants. He even bought a souvenir at a gift shop by simply scanning the same wristband.
When he was near a show that was about to start, the Disney app on his phone let him know about it. He attended and really enjoyed the show. If it weren’t for the app, he would’ve never known about it.
Meanwhile, every staff member he spoke to was smiling and happy to help. Moreso, he never had to wait in line or dig through his wallet.
His guest feedback? It was the best experience he’s had in a Disney park. That’s what a truly remarkable guest experience looks like.
What’s the difference between customer experience and guest experience?
Customer experience and guest experience pretty much sound the same — so, what’s the difference?
The customer experience encompasses all interactions and perceptions customers have with a brand across various touchpoints, over the entire duration of their relationship with that company. This includes every stage of the customer journey, from when they first find out about it to the day they return for a repeat visit.
For example, imagine Sarah buys a new phone from an online retailer. Her customer experience with the retailer starts when she lands on its website. She’s able to navigate the site with ease and complete the checkout process efficiently, receiving updates on her order status and support for any issues with her new phone. As a result, Sarah feels satisfied and valued throughout her entire journey with the brand.
The customer experience term is used (and measured) across a wide range of industries, such as retail, e-commerce, banking, and telecommunications, and includes both online and offline experiences.
Guest experience, on the other hand, is more specific to industries such as hospitality, tourism, entertainment, and events. It focuses on the quality of service and interactions during a particular visit or stay. There’s also a special emphasis on personalization, comfort, and the overall atmosphere of an experience. The aim is to make guests feel welcomed, valued, and cared for during their time at the venue.
For example, let’s consider Luis, who visits a luxury resort. From the moment he arrives, he’s greeted with a warm welcome, his luggage is promptly taken care of, and he’s escorted to a beautifully prepared room with a personalized welcome note. Throughout his stay, every interaction with the staff is friendly and attentive, from the restaurant servers remembering his favorite tiki drink to concierge services arranging his dream snorkeling excursion.
This curated attention to detail and personalized service culminate in an exceptional guest experience, leaving Luis feeling very eager to return for a second visit.
While both customer experience and guest experience aim to ensure customer satisfaction and drive customer retention, customer experience is broader and spans multiple industries and touchpoints over time. The guest experience is more focused on a specific period of service among industries where hospitality and personalized service are paramount.
3 key characteristics that make up a great customer service experience
The service you provide to your guests is dependent on your employees. Keep these characteristics of an excellent customer service experience in mind when making that hire:
1. Professional
Consider this scenario: During a hectic weekend at an aquarium, a guest approaches the front desk upset that their behind-the-scenes tour was double-booked. The staff member behind the counter listens calmly, apologizes for the error, and politely explains the available options — including rebooking for a later time or receiving a full refund with complimentary tickets for a future visit.
Despite the guest’s frustration, the staff member remains composed and respectful throughout the interaction. By handling the issue professionally, the staff helps preserve the guest’s trust in the attraction and turn a negative moment into a manageable one.
This involves hiring reliable employees with excellent communication skills. Your customer service providers should be professional at every stage of the guest journey, treating guests with respect, patience, and kindness, no matter the severity of the problem your staff is dealing with.
2. Willingness to help
At a theme park, a family arrives flustered after realizing they left their child’s medication at the hotel. A guest services staff member immediately steps in — not only calling the hotel to arrange a delivery, but also offering a shaded area and water while the family waits.
They even coordinate with the on-site first aid team to ensure everything is in place in case of an emergency. No one asked your employees to go that far, and that’s exactly the point. Great customer service means stepping up before being asked, making guests feel genuinely cared for.
When training your staff, pay close attention to those who are exceptionally willing to help and naturally make guests their primary concern. These are your best front-facing employees.
3. Proactive problem solving
Problem-solving is a major factor in providing customer service. Your employees should be proactive in tackling customer complaints themselves, instead of just passing them along to someone else.
During a vineyard tour, a staff member notices a couple who seem lost after taking a wrong turn on the property. What should this employee do next?
Instead of waiting for them to ask for help, the employee should greet them, explain where they are, and offer to personally walk them back to their group. By stepping in early and handling the issue directly, the staff member prevented a minor mishap from becoming a bigger problem, like them missing the entire tour and asking for a refund.
What are some strategies for handling difficult guests?
Demanding customers are inevitable. We understand that it can be frustrating for both parties. The key is to deal with the upset guest in a patient and respectful way.
Here are a few strategies to help you and your employees kindly help even the most difficult guests:
- Let the guest speak. Listen closely to what the guest is telling you, and don’t talk over them.
- Be empathetic. Find a source of common ground so that the customer can better relate to you. Show them that you understand and value what they are going through.
- Remain calm. Take a deep breath and treat the customer with kindness, even if they start raising their voice.
- Be reassuring. Make the guest feel like they are in capable hands and that their problem is your top priority.
- Map out what’s going to happen next. Instead of telling customers you’ll get back to them later, be transparent about your next steps and when they should expect to hear back from you.
8 examples for how to improve and measure guest experience
Let’s take a look at how three different attractions are using innovative methods to provide positive guest service and, in turn, improve the guest experience.
Paultons Park’s Mobile App Enhancements
Paultons Park, home to Peppa Pig World in the UK, partnered with Attractions.io to create an interactive mobile app that gave guests access to live queue times and show schedules. Plus, a built-in day planner allowed visitors to build a personalized itinerary that would automatically adjust based on wait times.
This meant families — especially those with young children — could avoid long waits and hit more attractions without the usual stress. By reducing the uncertainty of whether a ride would be packed or not, the app let visitors gain more control over their visit.
The result? Paultons Park averaged just seven-minute queue times from January to July 2024, well below industry averages. While not solely credited to the app, its real-time data likely supports smoother crowd flow.
UK Camps Training Staff in Soft Skills
At aerial attractions and adventure parks, meeting safety standards is expected. But to truly elevate the guest experience, operators are turning their focus to soft skills training. In the UK, training agency In2action has been working with attractions like Camp Beaumont to help staff develop interpersonal skills — like empathy, confidence, and clear communication — along with technical training.
The results speak for themselves: Camp Beaumont saw its Net Promoter Scores jump from above average to excellent across 30 locations. It’s a proven strategy. Staff trained in soft skills are more likely to make guests feel safe, encouraged, and supported, especially when visitors are pushing past comfort zones on ropes courses or zip lines.
In those moments, it’s the attitude and encouragement of the staff that turns a good day into a lasting memory. And that’s what creates those pivotal emotional connections that keep guests coming back.
Disney’s Special Assistance Passes
Disney found a way to improve the guest experience for disabled guests.
The park found out that disabled guests were feeling frustrated that they always had to notify staff members about their disabilities. They had to keep bringing it up in front of whoever else was in the vicinity, and this was making them uncomfortable.
The solution: Disney created “Special Assistance” passes for these guests so that staff members could better identify them. Staff members were also trained to better identify and fulfill the needs of disabled guests without having to invade their privacy.
Hotels Training Staff on Local Attractions to Personalize the Guest Experience
One effective way hotels and resorts have improved guest experience in recent years is by training staff to become local experts. A boutique hotel, for example, saw guest satisfaction scores rise significantly after implementing a training program focused on local history, culture, and hidden gems.
Staff participated in workshops and field trips to get to know the destination themselves. They then passed that insider knowledge along to guests, offering personalized tips that had the power to transform a traveler’s experience in that destination.
At another luxury resort, staff completed virtual training and explored nearby attractions on their own time, allowing them to make authentic recommendations based on what they liked. The result? Better reviews, more bookings for local experience packages, and stronger customer loyalty.
When staff can confidently guide guests to the best restaurants, scenic spots, and off-the-radar experiences, they become part of the reason guests return. This goes for attractions, too.
Japan’s Robot-Driven Hotels
Japan’s Henn na Hotel shows how automation, when thoughtfully implemented, can enhance both operational efficiency and the guest experience. While most attractions won’t be replacing staff with robots anytime soon, the hotel’s hybrid model — using robots for repetitive, low-touch tasks — frees up human employees to focus on higher-value interactions, like offering personalized dinner recommendations. This shift in staffing allowed one Tokyo property to reduce its team from 40 to 8, without compromising service quality.
For attractions, the takeaway isn’t to go fully robotic. It’s to think critically about where automation or self-service can support staff, not replace them. Whether it’s mobile check-in, self-serve kiosks, or real-time updates via text, the goal is to remove friction while empowering your team to spend more time creating memorable experiences. The novelty of tech may attract guests, but it’s the balance between convenience and human connection that keeps them coming back.
LEGOLAND’s Customer Service Kiosks
LEGOLAND Florida uses customer service software that allows for real-time reporting to mitigate guest issues throughout the park.
A guest could, for example, report an issue with a bathroom facility on one of many kiosks available throughout the venue. LEGOLAND’s customer service team receives the complaint right away and can meet the customer in real-time to solve the problem.
This allows guests to receive instant customer service for any issues they run into during their visit, which minimizes negative reviews afterward.
Georgia Aquarium’s customer feedback
The Georgia Aquarium is the largest aquarium in the Western Hemisphere and a wildly popular attraction in Atlanta. Yet as the number of visitors grew stagnant, so did the aquarium’s revenue.
The aquarium had to find a way to bring visitors back. It invested in software that would better allow them to understand customer feedback across all online platforms and pinpoint the necessary areas of improvement.
Through this process, they began to notice a high number of complaints about crowding. This helped the attraction identify that overcrowding was negatively impacting the guest experience and made changes to fix the issue.
As the aquarium put measures in place to manage visitor flow, the negative reviews dropped and attendance increased 20% over the year.
W Hotels Rebrands to Focus on Emotional Connection
W Hotels is reimagining guest experience by shifting from disruption to emotional connection. Once known for neon lights and a “work hard, play hard” attitude, the brand is softening its design and centering around what it calls “emotion per square foot.” This translates to how a space feels, smells, and invites guests in.
From offering zero-proof drinks to curating wellness experiences, the hotel group is leaning into what its guests are looking for: authenticity and a sense of romance.
For attractions, this signals a move toward feeling. How can you strike an emotional connection with your guests? What kind of experiences are they leaning toward today? Whether it’s rethinking sensory design, partnering with local creatives, or curating more meaningful “wow” moments, the focus is now on creating experiences that resonate emotionally, not just visually.
How to measure guest experience
One effective way to gauge guest experience is by collecting direct feedback through surveys and questionnaires, which can be distributed during the visit, at the end of the experience, or via email follow-ups. Key metrics to focus on include Net Promoter Score (NPS), Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT), and detailed qualitative feedback.
Another method is monitoring behavioral data, which involves tracking how guests interact with your venue, engage with different attractions or services, and their purchasing behavior. Tools like Wi-Fi tracking, mobile app analytics, and CRM systems can facilitate this.
Plus, monitoring social media and online review platforms can provide valuable insights into public sentiment. Guests often share their experiences and opinions on platforms like TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Instagram. Sentiment analysis tools can aggregate and analyze this data to identify common themes and areas for improvement.
Implementing real-time feedback systems is also key. Installing kiosks or feedback stations throughout the venue allows guests to provide immediate reactions, highlighting issues that need quick resolution. This can improve guest satisfaction on the spot.
By systematically measuring guest experience, tours and attractions can continuously refine their offerings, address issues promptly, and ultimately enhance the overall guest experience.
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In conclusion, your guest experience is largely dependent on the customer service you’re providing to your guests.
Now that you understand the building blocks of how to provide a great guest experience, it’s time to start exploring the different technologies that can better equip your business and employees to offer experiences guests will love.
