How a Guest App Can Save Your Holiday Park Money

When every pound counts, an app can look like one more cost. Used well, it does the opposite: it saves your team time and gives you new ways to earn. A guest app can make running a park easier, and here is where to look.

Let guests help themselves

Guests like to manage their own holiday. That might mean a self-service stay with very little contact, or finding what they need in the app and then booking in person.

Your app puts activities, maps, offers, events and FAQs in one place, with search across all of them. Guests who can help themselves mean less workload for your staff. When guests can find the answers themselves, your team does not need to be in reception all the time, and spends less time repeating the same details. That leaves them free to talk to guests, improve their stay and build relationships.

Print less, answer fewer repeat questions

Parks often produce welcome packs, maps, activity schedules and promotional flyers. When your key information and messages live in your own branded app for iOS and Android, there is less to print, update and hand out. That saves on printing costs, cuts your park’s paper use and means your team answers fewer of the same questions.

Holidaymaker apps bring activities, maps, offers, feedback and information into one hub, and a change you make in the CMS is published everywhere.

Keep guests updated with notifications

Notifications are for helpful, informational messages: a welcome on arrival, useful information during the stay and a warm goodbye afterwards.

Promotional messages are on hold for now. Apple and Google require guests to have clearly agreed to receive marketing messages and to have an easy way to turn them off. The app does not yet capture that separate agreement, so offers and discounts go in the app’s offers section instead of in a push notification. The Help Centre guide to sending notifications has the detail.

Make the stay more personal

With guest logins, the app can show personalised offers and information for each stay. A guest who sees what is relevant to them is more likely to enjoy the stay, leave a good review and come back.

Earn more with offers and add-ons

List discounted activities, dining offers and seasonal promotions in the app, where guests are already looking for something to do. Promote your events and services, such as the restaurant, activities and other on-site extras, and show upsells and add-ons alongside the booking process. Every extra booking or sale is revenue you did not have to chase.

A guest app puts park information in every guest’s pocket. Photo by Jonas Leupe on Unsplash.