Merlin Entertainments, operator of Legoland theme parks, Sea Life
aquariums and other attractions, has partnered with Oracle to deploy its
point-of-sale and hospitality technology to improve the guest
experience throughout Merlin's 130 attractions in 25 countries.
To meet that goal, said Lee Cowie, chief technology officer at Merlin, "we look at each stage of the guest journey."
"Where do we deploy tech that removes friction for the guests? Does
it make it really easy for the guest, the customer, to engage with us,
to interact with us? And how do we then make it really simple for that
person to enjoy the experience using well-integrated, well-formed
technology?" Cowie said.
Cowie called Oracle's technology a "central part" of Merlin's digital
guest experience. While the company already employs an in-house
technology team and builds its own tech, Oracle's particular solutions,
which Cowie described as "turnkey," enable Merlin to focus on
bigger-picture projects.
Specifically, Merlin will employ Oracle's Micros Simphony Point of
Sale and Hospitality Opera Property Management technology. They will
enable guests to do things such as pre-order food at attractions, manage
hotel reservations via their mobile phones and seamlessly check in and
get a room key.
Cowie said the systems will be integrated in the next few years
across Merlin's entire portfolio of attractions, which includes Madame
Tussauds, Alton Towers in England and Gardaland Resort in Italy.
According to Cowie, the No. 1 thing its guests want is a "frictionless experience."
"The guests expect riding world-class roller coasters and having a
world-class experience in a really immersive environment," he said. "And
at a very basic level, technology needs to not get in the way of that
— that's kind of the bare minimum. But technology in our parks is so
much more than just getting out of the way."
For instance, Cowie said, guests can already register for an
attraction in advance. When they purchase a ticket, they can provide
their license plate number and on arrival, gates will automatically
open. Theme park purchases can be charged to a guest's hotel room.
One of Oracle's systems will help at food service locations
specifically. The technology helps prioritise orders and get them in
guests' hands faster. This addresses what has historically been theme
park-goers' chief complaint: waiting in long lines, which is not good
for the parks, either. Time spent in line is time that could be spent
buying merchandise or food.
Merlin has already been using technology to help solve that issue and
lessen wait times. In attraction lines, queue lengths are monitored via
sensors to understand load factors. Information is gathered on what
areas of the park are busier than others to match staffing patterns.
Bottleneck areas are adjusted to help guests navigate more
efficiently. Cowie said that Merlin has been looking to add
functionality to its mobile app that will guide guests away from crowded
areas by suggesting less busy parts of parks.
While Merlin hopes its Oracle partnership will make its user
experience even better, guest-facing and behind-the-scenes technology
making attractions more seamless is becoming the norm.
And Cowie said the entire attractions industry is looking to
technology to enhance the immersive physical environments they offer.
That future will likely further merge the physical and digital
environments.
Augmented reality and virtual reality — even the metaverse — are
coming into the forefront, Cowie said, and are "the next stage of the
digital evolution."
"As
they start to come more mainstream and more real," he said, "you see
how digital technology will really enhance the physical experience."