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A Broader Audience
City pass programs help museums generate incremental revenue and stretch marketing dollars
by Lisa Anderson Mann
VISITORS LOVE PASS PROGRAMS that allow them to visit six or eight of a city’s top attractions at a pretty hefty discount. But these programs are popular with museums, attractions, and visitors bureaus as well—in spite of the deep discounting on admission.
Additional Revenue Streams
“The CityPass has been all upside for us. We’ve increased our tourist visitors without muddying up our local visitor accounting. And the revenue is phenomenal,” says Roger Bornstein, director of marketing at the Space Center Houston in Texas. “Although it is a steeply discounted admission ticket, the location that sells the pass gets full face value plus some. We sell the most CityPasses of any attraction in Houston, so the revenue has been terrific.”
While the opportunity to create an additional revenue stream is a plus, the sales of the actual city passes are minimal for many museums, particularly those with low admission costs or facilities less well-known outside their communities. “Our ticket price is very low ($7 per person for the entire museum),” says Alexandra Vásquez, director of business development of the Children’s Museum of Houston. “As a result we don’t benefit as much from it because many of the guests purchase their booklets at better-known Space Center Houston.”
“Because the Harvard Museum of Natural History’s admission fees are relatively low, there is slightly less of an incentive to purchase the CityPass,” agrees Elisabeth Werby, executive director for the Cambridge, Massachusetts, facility. But the Harvard Museum—and many other museums involved in city pass programs—reap other benefits from these programs.
Advertising and Publicity Benefits
Most pass programs offer the participating organization only a percentage of their admission face value, and there is some administration required, but most participating museums feel the advertising and PR benefits outweigh these negatives.
“Although CityPass visitors account for less than 4 percent of total visitation (6,000 of 175,000), we’re sure that CityPass advertising and publicity contribute to many more visitors learning about all this museum offers,” says Werby.
“It is a win-win” adds Ulla Strømberg, director of Copenhagen’s Teater Museet. “Even though the Copenhagen Pass accounts for less than 10 percent of our visitors—you get a lot of free PR, and the institution is visible in the program.”
Bergljot Øyrehagen Geist, academic consultant for the Ibsen Museum in Oslo, Norway, says, “I’m absolutely sure it helps to increase visitors. I have the impression the visitors using an OsloPass are not so interested in Ibsen when they come to the museum as the ones that are buying a ticket— it’s more because it’s free and in the center of Oslo. But when they leave they are very pleased with the museum. The museum doesn’t get all the ticket income through the program, as it would have if they bought ordinary tickets, but maybe we wouldn’t have as many visitors, either, if we hadn’t participated. Maybe they will want to return to Oslo and the Ibsen Museum, or tell their friends about it.”
International Reach
The international marketing reach of these programs can be a real plus for attractions with limited marketing budgets. “It provides extensive travel trade, marketing, and media relations support in places we don’t have the staff or budget to reach,” says Laura Miller, director of marketing at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. “City- Pass is a great way to reach the incremental visitor who might not have taken the time for a full-price visit. CityPass visitors are more likely to be tourists to New York City. They are often traveling from abroad.”
Ellen Flowers, media relations officer for the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto, says, “CityPass offers the Science Centre a wider distribution of our product to global markets that we would not be able to tap into, such as Europe. We are getting more exposure with CityPass.”
“Most of the London Pass visitors would probably not have heard of us otherwise,” agrees Martin Sach, chair of the London Canal Museum. “We get about 300 or so visitors per year from the scheme, and almost all London Pass visitors are from overseas, whereas only some of our cash-paying visitors are from abroad.”
General Interest, In-Town Museums Benefit
If a museum is specialized, or out of the center of town, it may see less benefit to a pass program than attractions with more widespread appeal in tourist areas. “It seems to be the case that it attracts more visitors to attractions that are grouped together, and we don’t have any neighbors in the scheme,” says Sach.
In choosing the attractions to include, most city pass programs look for universal appeal and high foot traffic (vs. high membership numbers). CityPass limits the number of attractions in any given city to about eight. Any more than eight or so, Mike Gallagher, co-CEO and cofounder of CityPass (www.citypass.com) says visitors seem to be intimidated by the number of choices.
Alternative Selections
To accommodate attractions that may not have universal appeal, CityPass usually offers a few split options. In Houston pass holders can choose between the Children’s Museum of Houston or the Museum of Fine Arts. They can also choose to see the George Ranch Historical Park, which is out of the town center, or stay in the city and see the Health Museum.
“The Harvard Museum of Natural History has just recently become an ‘alternate’ selection, but attendance is still growing, so being an alternate does not seem to hurt at all,” Werby says. “As a museum focusing on science and the natural world, we appeal to those who would want to go to the Museum of Science or the New England Aquarium, so sharing a ticket with the Kennedy Library, a history museum, has not hurt.”
The biggest drawback to a city pass program is that it is not available to every attraction—or even every city. “We’re not after world domination,” says Gallagher. “We are looking for the cities and attractions that people most want to visit. A good relationship with the local convention and visitors bureau is essential; they are our eyes and ears on the ground.”
Bornstein says the Houston visitors bureau courted City- Pass for nearly two years, “but it was worth it. I only wish we had been able to start with CityPass earlier.”
Lisa Anderson Mann is a freelance writer specializing in travel/hospitality, marketing, technology, and food and wine. She is based in Northern California and can be reached at lisa_mann@comcast.net.
How to make the most of a city pass program
Promote sales of the pass whenever possible. “We’re redoing our brochure, and we’re giving City- Pass a whole panel to encourage sales from our web site before people even come to town,” says Roger Bornstein of Space Center Houston. Mike Gallagher, co-CEO and cofounder of CityPass, suggests museums promote the attraction as the first stop and point of sale of a bundled ticket program. “Signage is key to the sale,” he says.
Upsell special exhibits or shows to pass holders. CityPass usually offers only general admission, which Gallagher says appeals to attraction managers because they have the opportunity to upsell special exhibit or show tickets. However, CityPass and other similar programs are willing to visit an attraction and review selling benefits and procedures. A top-of-mind awareness of the program often results in immediate sales increases.
Consider offering special entrances or line bypassing to pass holders, particularly if your admission lines are sometimes long. Not waiting in line is popular with CityPass visitors, but Gallagher points out the organizations benefit as well with reduced wait times for all visitors. The downside to line bypassing is a missed chance to upsell. |
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