Farms have led the way in the post-pandemic return to events and online ticket sales

When the pandemic changed from something that was happening ‘far away’ in early 2020, to something that was firmly on UK shores by March, some of the hardest-hit industries were events and online ticket sales. In fact, Ticket Tailor, a leading online ticket selling platform based in the UK, saw a 90% drop in ticket sales almost overnight.

After an initial few months of exclusively selling tickets for online events like quizzes and workshops, the summer brought a welcome respite as restrictions were partially lifted and ticket sales started to grow again.

But it wasn’t your typical headline music events, nightclubs or conferences driving growth – instead there was a surge of outdoor tours and attractions which found themselves as the “must visit” events of the year. In fact, one recent farm to join the platform sold over 90,000 tickets in their first summer on the platform - that’s more than many well-known festivals.

Jonny White, Ticket Tailor’s founder and CEO, explains more: “Our summers usually see us busy supporting festivals, sporting events and music shows. However, the last eighteen months have been totally different, and we’ve been selling 100s of thousands of tickets for petting farms, maize mazes, tulip tours and outdoor play areas that may have previously relied on walk-up sales, but now turned to online ticketing to safely re-open their gates and manage demand. It was a welcome and unexpected surprise which has heavily informed how we’ve developed the platform.”

Though Ticket Tailor is based here in the UK, it appears this farm-going trend wasn’t just being seen at home as they reported a similar surge in ticket sales across the US and around the world.

And that’s down to farms across the UK and abroad racing to overcome the challenges of social distancing, COVID-security and local lockdown restrictions, rising to the challenge, and opening up their doors to families in their local community, all craving the opportunity to have some positive experiences together.

But although restrictions may now be almost entirely lifted, the growth of tours and attractions seems set to continue unabated. Ticket Tailor tell us they have seen 40% growth in ticket sales compared to 2019, and 110% growth since 2020 - meaning that in 2021 they estimate they will be selling over 10m tickets, much of which has been driven by tours and attractions. It all indicates that the public’s enduring enthusiasm for the outdoors is by no means a passing phase.

Jonny tells us how this market is changing the Ticket Tailor platform, “Tours and attractions have very specific needs such as time-slot management, wanting to manage peak and off-peak pricing, and checking in customers quickly, all in a way that makes admin and order management as pain-free and cost-effective as possible. We’ve spent the last year making our platform perfect for these types of events, and we’re getting some great feedback and amazing new clients as a result.”

Whilst many farms and attractions remain as cash-only or walk-up, there are several advantages to switching to online ticket sales:

• Manage capacity by reducing queues or having to turn people away on the day
• Receive payment in advance and reduce admin at the venue
• Easily allow schools, churches and community groups to make group purchases
• Contact ticket buyers in an automated and simple way
• Collect ticket buyer data to contact them about future events

You may already have an event or attraction at your farm, but if not, and you are in need of some inspiration, here is a breakdown of the top-sellers that Ticket Tailor has seen created by farms over the last 18 months:

• Petting farms
• Maize Mazes
• Sculpture, Christmas, Halloween and other seasonal walking trails
• Tulip or lavender field tours
• Pumpkin and strawberry picking
• Food events/festivals

Ticket Tailor is a self-serve platform that scales with events of any size, so they see the full spectrum of different event sizes: from one-off farm events that sell 100 tickets, to recurring events running year-round that may sell well over 100,000. Here are some insights they’ve picked up from the most successful events:

• Get the operations right - people don’t want to be standing in queues or confused about where to go before they’ve even started their experience, so make sure that everything leading up to the event is well thought out.
• Provide the photo op - it’s a sign of our times that most people are going to want to share their family day out on social media or with other family members. So think about how your experience will provide an opportunity to get that perfect family photo.
• Know your audience - the most successful events are great at marketing to their local communities and reaching out to organisations that have close ties to families and children.

So whether your farm has been running events for decades or you are in the midst of starting something up we wish you the best of luck and hope the trend for outdoor, farm-focussed events continues to benefit you and your land.

About Ticket Tailor

Ticket Tailor is a UK-based independent ticketing platform, founded in 2010. It is purpose built for independent event organisers who are looking for an easy-to-use, low cost solution to sell tickets online. It’s equally suited for people who are new to online ticketing, as it is for those who have been doing it for years and now have a long list of features they expect to have access to.

Ticket Tailor is unique in the ticketing industry in that they only charge a small flat fee per ticket (50p for Pay as you go, and as low as 20p for Pre-pay) instead of taking a percentage of the ticket price. What’s more, there are no contracts, no setup fees, exclusivity or hidden costs; just simple, straightforward and fair pricing.

Ticket Tailor has a long list of features to support with the operations of selling tickets online, but here’s a short list that are most suited to tours and attractions:

• Free check-in app: to scan tickets using a smartphone
• Customisable event pages: for a beautiful ticket buyer experience
• Recurring events: to manage time-slots and day passes and apply peak/off-peak pricing
• Calendar view: display all available dates and time slots in a calendar
• Mobile or printable tickets: for easy entry when customers arrive
• Discount codes: to help get those ticket sales going
• Broadcasts: send automated emails to your ticket buyers for no extra cost

If you are interested in trying out Ticket Tailor then you can sign-up for free and create your first event, alternatively see how you can demo the product.

If you have any questions please email hi@tickettailor.com.