Why We Reinvented the Attraction Website Model

Neil Lewin More 

Published by:
Neil
Owner

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There’s something special about a classic car - beautifully built, full of character, turns heads when it’s all shiny and running smoothly.

Your attraction’s website probably felt like that when it launched.

Brand new, custom-designed, exciting and the pride of your marketing team.

But classic cars have a downside - they need constant upkeep, regular tinkering, and specialist knowledge just to keep them roadworthy. Leave them too long, and you’re looking at a costly rebuild.

Sound familiar?

The Old Model: Build, Decay, Rebuild

For years, attractions have followed the same pattern:

  • Spend big on a shiny new website every 5 - 7 years
  • Watch it slowly age as tech moves on
  • Struggle to update it without breaking something
  • Eventually, bite the bullet and rebuild from scratch

It’s a cycle that’s expensive, disruptive, and leaves you spending more time fixing your website than using it to grow your business.

Of course, as web developers, we love a chunky rebuild project, but we're conscious that most marketers struggle to find the time, budget or buy-in from the team.

The Problem With “Classic” Websites

This is where the analogy falls down somewhat - whereas a classic car can be seen as an investment, the same doesn't really hold up for websites. The pace of change online is relentless, with ever increasing guest expectations, and tools and technique that are constantly evolving.

Every year you wait to upgrade, the gap between what your site can do and what your guests expect gets wider. That’s technical debt - and in attractions, it’s costing you revenue, time and reputation every day.

Reinventing the Model

We built LOOP to break that cycle. It's a website platform tailor-made for attractions, leisure, health, heritage and tourism brands.

Instead of a one-off “classic car” you polish up every few years, it’s more like having a fresh new car that's always updated, tuned, and improving.

What's more, with the clever tech and proven rollout process, typically go-live times are 4 - 8 weeks (rather than 4 - 8 months in the bespoke world).

You can get up and running quickly, and save the big setup fees:

  • Built for attractions - 50+ sector-specific modules for events, calendars, maps and more...
  • Fast to launch - go live in weeks not months.
  • Affordable - low upfront cost, pay monthly or yearly.
  • Easy to update - your team controls content, structure and pages without developers.
  • Always evolving - updates, features and best practices built in.

Why It Matters

Your website is your most important brand asset. It’s the constant touchpoint across your entire guest journey - before, during, and after a visit. When it’s always current, always optimised, and always easy to use, it works harder for every part of your business.

That’s why we reinvented the model.

For us, we can be proud to develop and build something that's always evolving, always adding more value, and helps attractions keep up with the ever increasing pace of technology.

We're speeding towards the end of the summer already, so it's a good time to take stock and explore new approaches. Drop us a line if you need anything and we'll be happy to help.

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You can see more information at https://loop.semantic.co.uk/ with recent success stories, resources, news, insights and more.