Operational debt in visitor attractions: The hidden cost of inaction

Every attraction has technical debt. The shortcuts in code or infrastructure that pile up and slow things down. But there's another, often overlooked form doing just as much damage — operational debt.

Operational debt creeps in when workflows break down, updates don't scale, and disconnected systems force teams into manual workarounds. While technical debt is often isolated to IT, operational debt affects every team and compounds with each passing season. 

Signs your attraction has operational debt

Over 15 years of working with attractions, we have observed the same patterns repeatedly. Here are just a few examples of how it appears:

• Manual ticket reconciliation that burns time
  When your systems aren't integrated, your staff is left holding the process together. One team pulls spreadsheets. Another cross-references membership IDs manually. It's slow, error-prone, frustrating and ties up your team on admin work instead of improving the guest experience.
  
  
• Custom app maintenance that drains development time
  If you're running a bespoke app, chances are your development team is spending dozens of days each year just keeping it functional—patching bugs, chasing down OS compatibility issues, and scrambling when iOS or Android push a major update.
  
  
• Signage and print costs that stack up fast
  From maps and timetables to event signage and wayfinding, printed materials are a drain. When event times change or exhibits shift, the fix is usually the bin (or getting the Sharpie out), followed by a costly reprint.

And it’s not just about the paper going in the trash. Every tweak requires lengthy coordination across teams, last-minute approvals, and on-site staff and external suppliers scrambling to replace outdated information, while other staff members rush around the site providing that information verbally.

ZooTampa printed over 700,000 tickets and maps annually before the introduction of mobile. Now, they make updates in minutes, not months—and save $50,000 annually in the process.  Read how they did it.

• Scheduling without insight
  Too many staff on a quiet day means wasted wages. Not enough during a peak means missed sales, longer queues, and unhappy guests. Either way, you're burning budget or leaving revenue on the table.

• When your maps are static, it hurts agility and guest experience
  It's slow, expensive, and stops you from delivering the kind of immersive experiences guests now expect. Seasonal events like Halloween trails or Christmas light walks should feel special, but if your map can't flex to match, the experience is at risk of falling flat.
  
  
• Staff training, every season
  Every year, new hires turn up with no site knowledge, and experienced staff lose days training them manually. That's time you don't get back. When critical info is passed verbally or scribbled down, mistakes happen, consistency slips, and guest experience takes the hit.

How to pay back operational debt

You already know these pains, and the good news is that there are ways to pay off your operational debt quickly and with as little interest as possible building up.

What if your ops team didn't have to guess how to staff for the week ahead? Butlin's shows what's possible — 98% of activities are now pre-booked, revenue locked in early, and resourcing matched to demand. 

What if your seasonal staff could hit the ground running, with everything they need in their pocket? At the Royal Highland Show, the app became their digital briefing pack, significantly reducing onboarding time for seasonal staff and minimising interruptions from day one.

Giving your teams and your organisation those kinds of abilities doesn't start with technology. It starts with knowing what to pay back first to provide the most impact. Where's your friction the most painful right now? Where are your guests having the most significant issues? Which teams are still stuck in workaround mode?

It's not about chasing digital transformation for the sake of it. It's about knowing what needs fixing, and focusing time and energy there.

The best operators aren't trying to change everything at once. They are taking clear, confident steps — replace one manual process, streamline one guest touchpoint, unlock one insight that gives them the most time back or the biggest improvement for their guests.

Knoebels Amusement Resort are a great example of how this works in practice. They launched their core app in eight weeks. Then added ticketing. Then mobile wallet. Then ride photos. And now, with a connected digital experience, Knoebels gives guests more control over their day and its staff a clearer view of what's happening in the park. Resulting in more engagement, higher spend, and a better experience for the guest overall.

If operational debt is slowing you down, you don't need to figure it out alone or do it all at once. We've worked with attractions at every stage of digital maturity and we're happy to share what we've learned. That’s also why we built GX Pulse. It brings together all your guest feedback—reviews, surveys, social posts—and helps you make sense of it. Even before you commit to a mobile app, it can highlight the operational quick wins hiding in plain sight. Join the waitlist here.