Are we about to kill the golden goose?

Anyone that knows me or that has followed my earlier posts will know that I'm a long term advocate of Dynamic Pricing for attraction tickets, but are we now getting to a tipping point where this is no longer a sensible option for attractions?

This weekend I was introduced to a new term in this space "Surveillance Pricing" in a New York Magazine article entitled Surveillance Pricing Is Ripping You Off. Here’s How to Fight It. The example of a stressed parent with an ill child being charged more for medicine at 5am as they are likely to pay more rang all sorts of alarm bells.

There have been stories of this kind of behaviour by business for a while now, for example ride hailing apps using the battery level on the hailer's phone to direct price changes link. More than 10 years ago there were reports of Orbitz offering higher prices to mac users over PC users on the assumption that users of Apple devices are likely to be more wealthy link. Other than the fairly regular furore over gig tickets these don't seem to have cut through to the consumer. The term surveillance pricing is, I think, going to change that, not least through the ongoing study by the FTC in the USA into the practise.

Attractions work best when their customers or guests have a passion for the attraction and the experiences it offers. That may not be massively valuable works of art or state of the art rides, when my kids were much younger our family loved Kew Gardens as the kids were able to run wild on roads with no cars or cycles. Dynamic pricing works for attractions when the customer is presented with a choice, not when the information they have freely shared is used to their disadvantage. The best relationships are those where both sides gain mutual benefit, in the attractions world we're exceptionally lucky to have an audience that actively wants to engage and feel good about the relationship they have with us. The risk of alienating these people is huge, not just in terms of lost business but more importantly in terms of lost reputation.

I wrote back in April last year about the negative publicity Merlin received for it's step into dynamic pricing link. As an industry we need to be very cautious about not taking this too far and losing our audience. Dynamic pricing can still be a force for good on both the attraction and the guest's side BUT we need to be very cautious - as a minimum (IMHO) we should

• Be very clear that prices may change
• And what price the customer will pay before they get to the checkout
• Make prices o down as well as up
• Be entirely open and honest about what factors will be taken into account
• Be cautious, if it's too clever, don't do it!
• Above all else listen to your guest

As we get ready for the 2025 season with all of the challenges that may bring, it's going to be tempting to look at changes to pricing strategy, we should be very careful to avoid being seen in any way as exploitative.