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We're excited to announce our newest partnership with Chester Zoo, which has launched a new, fully branded mobile app to help guests explore the grounds of the 128-acre wildlife conservation charity.
With more than 20,000 animals and 128 acres of zoological gardens to explore and a commitment to preventing the extinction of threatened species, Chester Zoo is the UK’s most popular wildlife charity. Attracting over 2 million guests a year, the zoo is renowned for providing world-class animal and guest welfare, having previously been ranked as the world’s third-best zoo by TripAdvisor.
Chester Zoo’s previous app struggled to cope with high demand during the peak summer season and school holidays. By switching to the Attractions.io platform, which also powers the mobile apps of San Diego Zoo, Merlin Entertainments, Butlin’s and Zoo Tampa, the team at Chester Zoo know they’re in safe hands.
The new app has a proven uptime of 99.9% and is optimised for use across large sites, where WIFI and mobile signal can’t always be guaranteed. Guests at Chester Zoo can access the app both on and offline to view the park map, search for the animal or attraction they want to visit and receive personal directions to the best viewing spots.
The app also accounts for guests’ access requirements by highlighting wheelchair and stroller friendly routes that avoid uneven terrain.
Alongside the app’s improved navigation, the team at Chester Zoo is excited to leverage behavioural insights from the app in their marketing campaigns and improve their understanding of how guests behave during their visit.
Using data visualisations like Attraction.io’s integrated heat maps, the operations team can track guests’ movements around the site, pinpoint hotspots and take steps to ease congestion at peak times.
Dominic Strange, Commercial Director at Chester Zoo, said:
“Having a platform that enables us to adopt a data-driven approach is an invaluable resource for our ops team. We aspire to deliver a standout guest experience for every individual, and now we have the power to deliver on that goal, using behavioural insights to tailor the experience for each guest. Attractions.io has been a great partner, enabling us to launch a robust and feature-rich solution that our guests love in just eight weeks. We see this opportunity as the first step towards future-proofing our capabilities for the digital age and are excited to see the partnership progress in the future.”
Mark Locker, CEO of Attractions.io, said:
“We’ve long admired Chester Zoo for their commitment to delivering incredible guest experiences, and we’re thrilled to support their digital guest journey. The new mobile app will enhance the guest experience, making it even easier to explore the zoo and access guest services with just a tap. For the zoo’s operations team, it will be transformative. They now have a way to actively influence NPS, drive spending, increase fundraising and educate guests about the vital conservation work taking place on-site.”
Chester Zoo is a major wildlife conservation and education charity that is making a vital contribution to tackling the global extinction crisis. As one of the world’s leading conservation zoos, it is home to more than 20,000 animals and 500 species, many of which are highly threatened in the wild. A powerhouse for conservation, the zoo is committed to the recovery of threatened species and tackling the challenges faced by wildlife globally, and is playing a vital role in inspiring and educating people about the natural world.
