Tag: amusement parks

 

A Gilbertsville company has been on the frontlines of helping entertainment venues and attractions around the globe as they look for ways to reopen safely post-COVID-19

“We’ve kind of been on a rollercoaster,” said Matthew Hoenstine, principal of destinations for Gateway Ticketing Systems Inc. “I don’t know if it’s gotten to the exciting part yet.”

One thing he does know, is that with working with other countries around the world, such as China, which is further along in its reopening efforts, the U.S. has the advantage of seeing what has worked – and what has not.

The first challenge Gateway faced when the virus hit was handling the massive amount of returns that were coming in as venues and events were cancelled.

“It isn’t something venues normally do on that scale,” he said.

Mechanisms weren’t in place to process large amounts of refunds needed all at once. Couple that with the fact that most employees at these venues, such as theaters, museums and amusement parks, were now working from home.

Having a functional way to do refunds, and by remotely working staff, meant developing new software and technology. Now, he said, Gateway is concentrating on ways venues can bring those patrons back in safely and while still being able to make enough money to justify reopening.

The ability to make enough money is one of the big concerns among amusement park operators in the U.S., most of which are seasonal. Many of them, including those in Pennsylvania, have yet to receive word on when they’ll be allowed to reopen to the public.

“There are some parks that have a certain date where the ramp up costs will be more than they can ever recoup,” Hoenstine said. “But were not there yet.”

There is hope to be gained from what they are seeing in China, where there has been ups and downs in their reopening of entertainment venues. As they began to reopen, capacity management was one of the largest concerns, and that too took planning and technology, he said.

“Let’s say you only want to let 100 people into your venue,” he said. “How are you letting that 100 people in?”

He said options, particularly for places like museums, were to let people in spaced 15 minutes apart, or to reserve the first hour for members or season pass holders, who he called a valuable asset that venues want to foster and keep.

Other controls need to be considered as well, so those 100 people aren’t all going into a venue and then congregating in the same place. Care needs to be placed on how people are moving through a venue. Signage, and perhaps barriers, need to be in place to maintain social distancing.

Hoenstine said they often found out what worked and what didn’t by watching what was happening in China, which began reopening some of its entertainment venues in March. Some reopened too quickly and saw an uptick in COVID-19 cases. They closed back up again, made some changes and reopened.

The same thing could happen here as venues reopen in the U.S., but we are at an advantage of having more time to learn, he said.

Another thing that might help these venues, which are often busiest in the summertime, is the possibility of extending the peak season. If schools don’t reopen, parks that normally just open on weekends in the fall may be able to pick up weekday business from families looking to get out of the house. Special promotions such as Dorney Park’s fall Halloween Haunt, may be more successful this year because of the pent up demand.

Meanwhile, museums and theaters could become places to supplement the education of children who have been remotely learning.

The key to coming back is to emphasize the efforts each venue is taking to be safe, clean and COVID-19 free, Hoenstine said.

He said before people return they will want to know that these venues are putting their health first, and that needs to be first and foremost in any advertising or other messaging they put out.