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  5. Visitor attractions - best practice

Visitor attractions - best practice

15 minute read • Last updated: 25 February 2025

Scotland offers a wide range of attractions, museums, tours, and activity-based experiences. No matter what type of experience you operate, you need to provide high standards across all aspects of your business to meet your customers’ expectations.

Enticing and informative marketing, exceptional customer service, and retail and catering options are just some of the elements you need to consider alongside the stimulating and accessible core experience that your business offers its customers.

Find out more about how to offer a visitor experience that will make your customers more likely to recommend you and return in future. 

In this article:

  • Allowing customers to visit with confidence
  • Welcoming your customers
  • Overall standards
  • Core experience

Allowing customers to visit with confidence

Whether a customer is considering visiting you for the first time, or requires assistance with an existing booking, the information and service you provide online and through direct contact is a vital part of the overall experience.

Online information

A strong online profile and presence through your website, social media channels and booking platforms (if applicable) is fundamental. Consistent information and high-quality content mean that customers should know exactly what to expect.

For example:

  • opening/closing times
  • prices
  • a clear description of the core experience
  • catering and retail options
  • inclusivity
  • parking availability

You will also need to be clear about whether pre-booking is required, advised or not necessary.

For tours or activity-based experiences, it can be especially important to provide detailed information around itineraries and preparation.

This might include:

  • meeting points
  • departure times
  • tour/activity overview
  • suitable clothing
  • food and drink provision

Remember your website and social media are windows into your business, so in addition to comprehensive information use high-quality images of all aspects of the experience.

For further advice on websites, social media and more, take a look at our guidance on promoting your business.

Man and woman using tablet by shore of loch

Loch Katrine Experience

Provide a seamless booking experience

Some experiences will require a booking or ticket purchase in advance. Give customers confidence in your business with a clear and transparent process regardless of whether they might be booking direct or through an online travel agent (OTA).

What to have on your website

  • Terms and conditions visible when the booking is being made, with clear guidance around cancellations, irrespective of how the booking was made.
  • If different packages are offered, be clear as to what each offers and the costs involved.
  • Up-to-date availability calendar allowing for simple phone and online bookings.
  • Secure online booking system that takes bookings without your personal interaction (unless requested) – allowing 24/7 transactions from anywhere in the world.

After a booking is made

  • Set up automated confirmations of bookings with all relevant details including dates, prices, and terms and conditions.
  • Provide receipts for every payment made and send appropriate reminders if a full balance payment is required (eg a week before the payment is taken).
  • Send a pre-arrival email to all bookings 1-2 days before their reservation. For tours and activities this is again an opportunity to remind customers about things like meeting points or suitable clothing.
  • Tell pre-booked customers about any likely disruptions due to bad weather or roadworks in your area and ask that they get in touch if their anticipated time of arrival changes significantly.

Further guidance

For information on online booking systems and more, check out our page on making visitor attractions bookable.

Welcoming your customers

Make a great first impression

The arrival area will most likely be the first face to face interaction your customer has with your business, so have easily identifiable staff on-hand to offer a warm greeting and comprehensive scene-setting information to ensure customers get the most out of their experience. They should also be able to handle any queries customers may have at this point or throughout their time with you.

Staff member behind desk giving directions to a customer

Royal Botanic Garden

Deal quickly and efficiently with admissions

Depending on the nature of your business, customers may want to move quickly from the arrival area to the main attraction/activity, so have measures in place to assist them.

Examples of best practice

  • Use technology such as registration apps to make any ticket purchase/collection process seamless and prevent delays.
  • Have enough staff on duty at peak times and trained to take appropriate measures if queues begin to form (eg open another till, requesting extra staff, or organising queue lines).
  • Display prices clearly outside and inside attractions, ensuring consistency with online pricing, or any other marketing. Using digital displays means prices can be updated more easily.
  • Upsell and cross-sell where possible (eg booking customers in for lunch before entering the core attraction).

It can be good practice to keep in touch with customers following their visit. Find out ways to do so, along with further advice on delivering great customer service and the benefits it brings to your business.

Overall standards

No two experiences are likely to be the same – an activity provider, museum, distillery tour, or farm shop are clearly all very different businesses – with differing approaches in terms of exhibits, activities and facilities that customers might interact with. Whatever experience you offer, have the same commitment to quality in every area that customers might engage with.

Exterior and grounds

How your business is presented outside can give an indication of the quality and standards your visitors can expect to find on the inside.

Your grounds, from the route in to the parking area and front doors, all play a big part in establishing a positive first impression. These are all areas that customers will see as being under your control so make sure they are maintained in good condition and litter free.

Examples of best practice

  • Provide sufficient car parking - clearly marked with consideration for separate coach, family, and accessible parking spaces.
  • Use clear signage that provides an overview of what the customer might expect, as well as opening hours.
  • Display prices externally If advance booking / ticket purchase is not required (remembering to be consistent with any other marketing).
  • Position lighting to provide a safe entry and exit for customers and consider extra measures for the security of vehicles (eg CCTV) if appropriate.
  • Keep buildings in an excellent condition - safe, clean and well maintained.

A high-quality build and innovative design can really add that wow factor you want to create. Additional architectural features, external lighting, banners, and signage can all help raise the overall presentation of the business. Even installing hanging baskets or window boxes can make a difference.

Person looks at painting in a a large gallery with statue in foreground.

National Galleries of Scotland

Décor and maintenance

Displays, equipment, vehicles, or any other element customers interact with, should be regularly checked to be hygienic, safe and compliant with any applicable legislation.

Examples of best practice

  • Maintain high-quality décor across all areas (eg flooring, fixtures and fittings, paintwork, and woodwork) in excellent condition.
  • Install high-quality and hard-wearing flooring, appropriate to heavy use in high traffic environments, such as your entrance area.
  • Invest in high-quality furnishings that are co-ordinated in finish and ensure they remain in excellent condition.
  • Ensure ventilation, heating, and lighting are of an exceptional standard and appropriate to the purpose of each space.
  • Maintain a consistent and comfortable ambient temperature, with an instant controllable source. This is particularly important in areas where the number of customers can fluctuate and impact on the temperature.

Cleanliness

Cleanliness is crucial – it’s often the first thing a customer would notice if it’s not right. Focus on the highest standards possible in every public area of your business to avoid that negative feedback.

Have in place well organised processes to ensure all public areas are cleaned and restocked for the beginning of each day and also as required throughout opening hours.

Areas that need continual focus

  • customer toilets
  • any catering or retail areas
  • bins and recycling points (internal or external)

You should also be seen to be cleaning and sanitising high-use touchpoints regularly such as door handles, touchscreens, card machines, and tops of counters.

If you operate seasonally, consideration should be given to a full deep clean of the entire site before you reopen.

If you employ external cleaning companies

  • Provide detailed expectations to ensure cleaners are working to the same high standards.
  • Regularly monitor customer feedback for any comments regarding cleanliness standards.

For further ideas on introducing standards around areas such as cleanliness, take a look at setting product standards.

Core experience

If you can deliver an engaging experience that surpasses expectations, then your business will stand out from the crowd. This is the reason your customers have chosen you, so whatever that experience is, make sure that you are delivering it in an engaging way which entertains, educates and stimulates interest.

Children in science centre

Dundee Science Centre

Offering an inclusive experience

Being inclusive means placing a high degree of effort into welcoming visitors of all types. You want to ensure that people with different needs can get the most out of the experience you offer.

This can involve:

  • being clear about what you offer
  • how you deliver the experience (eg making use of audio and visual technology)
  • the accessible facilities and spaces you provide
  • training staff to confidently answer questions about your inclusive practices

Take a look at further guidance on providing an inclusive experience for your customers.

Exhibits and displays

Many visitor experiences feature displays of some kind. They could simply be the exhibits in a museum or gallery, but they could also be the plants and wildlife of a nature reserve or garden.

If accompanying information is available, it helps customers interpret and appreciate the sights, sounds and smells they encounter.

This interpretation should aim to be accessible to all customer types and a variety of different mediums could be used to tell your stories, offering a wow factor your customers will want to share with others.

Ways to improve interpretation

  • Technology makes a great impression and can help with increasing the accessibility of your experience.
    • artificial intelligence
    • immersive rooms
    • audio guides
    • virtual reality
    • sound effects
    • interactive displays

Remember to keep your technology up-to-date as it develops.

  • Offer a range of approaches – in-person guides, hands on activities, character actors, room sets, films to watch, interpretation boards, etc.
  • All areas of an attraction should offer a story. Don’t leave any areas without interpretation or something to engage with.
  • Change up exhibitions and events regularly to encourage return visits.
  • Consider lighting that complements and adds to the experience.
Inside the archives of the Shetland museum

Shetland Museum and Archives

© Promote Shetland / Euan Myles

Customer orientation and signage

So that customers get the most out of the experience, give them regular and clear information on how best to engage with every aspect they encounter throughout. This is especially important if their experience is self-led.

Ways to improve orientation

  • high-quality, multilingual, branded signage and maps
  • universal symbols can make signage more inclusive
  • multi-lingual audio guides
  • clear, unobstructed routes and exits
  • manage peak times with timed entries and one-way systems 

Remember that staff should still be on-hand to proactively assist and engage where required, eg delivering scene-setting information, helping with equipment, and answering questions. Customers will expect these staff to be highly knowledgeable both in subject matter and its delivery, so make sure they are trained to best showcase what’s on offer.

Tour guide leading group

Mercat Tours

Guides and performers

These members of your team can really make all the difference, especially when it comes to tours, performances or activity-based experiences, where they can be the focal point for customers.

Guides or performers will need the ability to deliver for differing knowledge/skill levels or capabilities of individuals, without diminishing the experience for the wider group.

Some areas to focus on

  • Consider thoughtful group management (eg allowing all group members to reach each point on the tour before the guide begins talking).
  • Begin your tour or performance with scene setting information. Don't forget to ensure visitors know the length of the tour, as well as start and finish times.
  • Demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of the subject / activity, tailoring the content to be suitable for the makeup and needs of the participants where appropriate.
  • Ensure all safety information has been relayed clearly and any equipment fully checked.

Customer toilets

Clean, well maintained and accessible toilets are a basic must.

  • Situate toilets, including accessible toilets and baby changing facilities, in an area that is easy to locate and access.
  • Customers will not want to go back to the beginning of the attraction, or to the catering area, if they're in the middle of the core experience, so consider multiple toilet locations in larger premises.
  • Install items that can enhance the visitor experience such as sensor-operated taps and toilet flush. These will reduce touch points and save water.
Woman browsing items in a retail area.

North Uist Distillery

Retail

Whether you're a tourist shop, or simply sell items as part of the wider experience, a well-considered retail space with interesting displays and great merchandise will have customers staying longer and spending more.

Optimise your retail space

  • Tight aisles limit accessibility and cause overcrowding and bottlenecks – consider the browsing experience from the customer’s perspective.
  • Put in place clear queue directions that avoid obstructing customer views.
  • Arrange and display stock in a manner that allows it to be browsed without assistance.

Product range and presentation

  • Stock high quality products that complement the wider experience and your geographical location.
  • Your range of products should be suitable and affordable to your customer demographic eg families, outdoor enthusiasts, whisky connoisseurs, etc.
  • Spread recognition of your business with branded items.
  • Display products in a manner that draws the eye - colour, design, lighting and props can all help to bring your presentation to life.
  • Make some displays interactive or offer tastings of food and drink products.
  • Shout about the products which are unique, or of local / Scottish provenance as these will really add to your customer's experience – especially those from overseas.
  • By stocking high-quality locally sourced products, you're also demonstrating the sustainable and responsible side of your business.

Retail staff

As in any other area of your business your retail staff should be trained to deliver great customer service.

Areas of additional focus might include:

  • Striking a balance between proactively engaging with a customer and giving them space to browse – being visible and on-hand is key.
  • Staff being knowledgeable about any wider experience (eg visitor attraction) in addition to their excellent product knowledge.
  • Engaging positively at till points and proactively offering additional services, such as onward mailing of larger items.
Visitors in RRS Discovery

RRS Discovery

Food and drink

Your food and drink offering might be comparable with a restaurant, maybe you’ve a café area with a more limited menu, or even perhaps a snack van.

No matter what you offer, incorporating an appropriate food element into the overall experience can add to your customer’s enjoyment. It can also become a reason to attract other customers (perhaps locals) who might not otherwise visit.

If you lease the catering area’s operation to an external company, be sure to set clear guidance on the standards you require and monitor customer feedback closely, as any failings are likely to be reflected onto your business in the eyes of the customer.

As with the rest of your business, the expectation will be of a clean, well laid out and accessible environment staffed by a well-trained, friendly and efficient team.

Menus

  • Present menus online, at your main entrance and at the entry to the catering area.
  • If screens are used elsewhere, consider using them in your catering area too for menu options and specials. This will deliver consistency and make it easy to update.
  • Make sure to promote the provenance of locally sourced food.
  • Ensure that ingredients which may cause allergic reactions are clearly highlighted (on menus and displays) along with the suitability of each dish for vegans and vegetarians.

Range, presentation and service

Your approach here can depend on the type of catering you are offering, whether that be fine dining, cakes and teas or takeaway snacks. Complimenting your business’s main activity and recognising it in the theme/style of your catering area will allow you to best meet customer expectations.

Consider the following:

  • If you attract a lot of family groups, then offer a dedicated children’s menu.
  • Cater for as many different dietary requirements as you can accommodate, with the focus being on fresh, seasonal and local produce.
  • Concentrating on breakfasts, light bites and lunches is advisable for some operators (eg a garden centre), but if your business is open into the evenings (eg a theatre) then more substantial meals or fine dining could be appropriate.
  • Be clear to customers whether you operate table service or self-service.
  • Aim for the best quality crockery and cutlery appropriate to your offer.
  • Have enough tables to comfortably seat expected numbers at peak times and ample space for customers and any serving staff to navigate easily.

Staff

In keeping with the rest of your business, staff should be trained to deliver great customer service.

Areas of particular focus might include:

  • Train staff to knowledgeably answer customer queries or requests for menu recommendations, as well as respond to general queries regarding the wider attraction, venue, activity, etc.
  • Manage the dining area efficiently, eg clearing used dishes and wiping down tables quickly as possible between customers to open up seating.
  • Monitor cutlery and condiment areas for replenishment and cleanliness.

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