Singapore Airlines cabin crew are trained to own the customer experience (image from Singapore Airlines)
Does your organisation hold a common view of the customer experience? Does everyone know what it looks like when it is done well? What are you willing to give up to get it?
These questions frame the development of a customer experience vision for any tourism business.
Courtesy of HotelManagement.Net
The world has changed. Customers now have all the information they need to decide where they wish to visit, what they want to buy, and what services they require.
With an attention span of 90 seconds or less (at 140 characters each time), business as usual isn’t going to cut it for the Facebook and Twitter generation. The game has changed from word of mouth to world of mouse.
Sentosa’s WAVE ensures that guest centric values are instilled in all employees (courtesy of Sentosa)
What distinguishes service stars from other establishments? Is there a magic formula?
Well, the answer is less to do with rocket science than with investing in people.
Bob Rogers (source of image)
What is the magic behind creating truly memorable and delightful guest experiences at visitor attractions?
According to renowned experience designer Bob Rogers, the secret lies in finding the right story, shaping it for the right audience, and ensuring that it is an original tale.
Bob Rogers with ASA Chairman Kevin Cheong
The founder of BRC Imagination Arts, Bob Rogers, has cut his teeth in designing and building numerous theme parks, museums, brand attractions and other thematic experience destinations.
Rogers’ 33 year old firm, BRC Imagination Arts, received over 250 international awards, including two Academy Award nominations and 17 Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) “THEA” Awards for “outstanding achievement in themed entertainment”.
On a recent study trip to Universal Studios Singapore (USS) at Resorts World Sentosa (RWS), I had the privilege of learning how the theme park – arguably the most popular in Southeast Asia – creates, develops and manages memorable and delightful guest encounters. While these strategies do not cover all aspects of a world class theme park’s operation, they do form an important component of their visitor experiences. These help to trigger positive word of mouth and generate repeat visits.
Extensive and Immersive Theming
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read this 2009 article in Museum Audience Insight on how technology is actually preferred by older museum visitors to younger ones. Have a look at the chart below:
Courtesy of Museum Audience Insight
According to their findings of visitors to Outdoor History Museums,
Museum visits needn’t be a yawn if you design them well (Courtesy of BelieveJay)
While doing some desktop research recently, I came across an interesting article by Gareth Davey titled “What is Museum Fatigue?” in InformalScience. The academic piece explained why visitors get tired when visiting museums, and proposed how we can better manage visitor behaviours when designing exhibitions.
Apparently, from research conducted thus far, the following findings are derived:
The V&A (formerly Victoria and Albert Museum) in the UK is one of the leading museum groups on the British isles and an international cultural brand. It comprises the V&A Museum at South Kensington, the V&A Museum of Childhood at Bethnal Green, and its archives and stores at Blythe House, Kensington Olympia. Like many British museums, all V&A museums provide free entry to visitors.
First opened in 1852 and named after Prince Albert and Queen Victoria, the V&A has a massive permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects. Its flagship museum at South Kensington has since grown to now cover 12.5 acres (51,000 m2) and 145 galleries, and is touted as the “world’s greatest museum of art and design, with collections unrivalled in their scope and diversity”. Visitors to V&A at South Kensington can uncover 3000 years of cultural treasures gleaned from many of the world’s richest cultures. They include ceramics, furniture, fashion, glass, jewellery, metalwork, photographs, sculpture, textiles and paintings.