News

Posted 14/03/2022 by Attractions.io

Chester Zoo guests go wild for new guest app designed by Attractons.io

Attractions.io is excited to announce its partnership with the UK’s flagship animal park.

The cutting-edge visitor technology specialist has launched a new, fully branded mobile app for Chester Zoo. The app is powered by the app platform to help guests explore the grounds of the 128-acre wildlife conservation charity.

The new, all-in-one solution from Attractions.io replaces the zoo’s previous, custom-made app. It offers functional improvements for guests and the in-house marketing team, such as increased reliability, responsiveness, and stability at the leading zoo, which attracts more than two million visitors annually. 

Interactive wayfinding takes centre stage

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 a cross 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. 

Chester Zoo guests can view a park map and see which areas of the park are open through Attraction.io’s app

Using data to enhance the guest experience

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. 

Commenting on partnering with Attractions.io, 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.”

An Asian elephant with a visitor Mark Locker, CEO of Attractions.io added:

“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.”

Words and imagery kindly supplied by Attractions.io

Elsewhere, Attractions.io partners with Butlin’s to create holiday app for guests.