Are Tourist Railways "welcoming" enough?

At one time I would look at Tripadvisor but now I don't. I can recall one posting where the individual did not read the timetable properly and arrived on a day when nothing was running and the place was closed. Miffed, this person proceeded to give one star out of five about something he/she had not experienced. This was easy to spot but someone sharper would not have let slip the circumstances. Poster x never awards more than 3 stars whereas poster y never gives less than 5. You really have to look at previous postings by individuals to get some idea of their approach and this is tiresome. This is what I meant by "amateur and sometimes capricious". The Visit England scheme is not amateur and some form of auditing of results will be in place.

Paul H

 

no doubt true in some cases but you can't sack or discipline volunteers that easily whereas you can lay down standards and job descriptions for employees

 

One issue is it seems "you" the attraction has to pay for a judge to visit your attraction. Whilst less than £300/yr or less than £300/2-yr, is the accolade valued strongly enough to be worth this cost, when as Jamessquared points out TripAdvisor gives a much stronger review that potential visitors can relate to better?

 

Perhaps you shouldn't have mentioned it at all then.

 

Always a bit wary about guides where the entrants have to pay to be in it. They can't possibly tell the full picture if not all attractions are reviewed.

 

I didn't. You did!

PH

 

Possibly so, but I'd still argue the one star TripAdvisor review tells the organisation something useful (for example: "how do we make our timetable clearer so people don't make that mistake in future?")

And, however much you may like a mystery shopper scheme, you can't get away from the fact that the vast number of people will do exactly what I describe: start at Google and go from there. TripAdvisor (or similar, like Google Reviews) will be amongst the first things they see. It's highly unlikely they will even see the Visit England rating.

As an example, and because the name has already been mentioned in the thread, here is what you get if you search online for "Isle of Wight Steam Railway Reviews"

There's a big panel on the right giving an overview of the attraction, along with a (very positive) rating on Google Reviews. Coming to the main results listing, the top results are, in order:

1. TripAdvisor for the whole railway
2. TripAdvisor for Havenstreet station
3. Another TripAdvisor review
4. The railway's own website homepage
5. A news article on the railway's own website noting that it had been given a TripAdvisor reward
6. A review on Yelp
7. A review on "Old Steamers"

Anything else is below the fold, and very unlikely to be seen. The VisitEngland accreditation is nowhere to be seen, so I'd argue is very unlikely to be influential in anyone's decision to visit. It may be useful to the railway to help identify strengths and weaknesses, though I'd still prefer to base such intelligence on what real live visitors write who have voluntarily chosen to visit spending their own money, rather than an anonymous mystery shopper who is being paid to visit an attraction.

If you think I have chosen my target carefully, try other similar attractions, and you'll see a very similar picture. (For example, doing the same thing for the Swanage Railway gives the same panel with a Google reviews rating; and the main results listing goes TripAdvisor - TripAdvisor - a deep page on the railway's own website - the railway's homepage - Yelp - NetMums and everything else is below the fold).



Tom

 

The comparison I would draw is more with a consultant's visit than that of a judge. Reasons are given for the markings in the comprehensive report submitted which can be quite forthright.

I have been looking at the accolade winners. These vary from the Tower of London (Very "Inbound") to Farmer Palmer's Farm Park (Not exactly "Inbound" at all) which was awarded in the Welcome category. It would be gratifying if some additional tourist railways could emulate Farmer Palmer.

PH

 

The standard of "mystery shoppers" varies dramatically and I have considerable doubts about their utility. In some cases they seem barely trained. Just a little better than Tripadvisor in fact. Visit England will inspect either on a date to be arranged or completely anonymously as wished. They advise managers not to inform staff to ensure they behave in a normal fashion, although this is completely up to the manager. Whatever the arrangements, the assessment will be done by a trained person

PH

 

No, to get on the list, you have to pay a fee. One of the railways I'm involved in was a member but we opted out because we didn't think it was worth bothering. We would even recognise the telephone call from the anonymous enquiry, which was the same every year. " What is there to do for a mother with a 9 year old boy?"

 

As much as I agree with you, it would be up to the individual railways to actually apply and pay for this scheme. I'm sure if they applied, especially the more well know railways would make the list depending on the criteria.

But as it was said before as much as I'm not a 'fan' of it, things like TripAdvisor are the way forward. People want instant information which that platform gives them. Digging through a couple of pages on VisitEngland (although very useful and gain lots of info) can be slow in comparison.

You also have to think it is really worth it?

It's easy with this topic to move into destination management, it could be that railways hold back on their own marketing but instead push the marketing of the destination, especially if it has its own brand such as the Lakes or the English Riviera. A much stronger destination brand is better than just an odd attraction having a top award but nothing else nearby has.

It's a very debatable subject and it's up to the respective railway to decide to partake in a scheme such as this.

 

I think you both misunderstand me. Obviously payment is involved and anything that is not supposedly "free" can cause problems for some. If the organisation concerned has a deficiency in a key area, it won't be listed either.

A number of tourist railways do belong, my concern is that more of them don't get to a higher level than mere "belong".

PH

 

Is that really an allowance visitors should be required to make?

Compare it to the work done on the Ops or the maintenance side of things: I hope all lines expect their volunteers to do a fully professional job there - I know mine does, and I suspect HMRI would take a dim view of any line which did not.

Why should hospitality skills, for those volunteers who interact with the public, be any different?

 

The number of postings he makes in which he 'refuses to name names' in what are clearly thinly disguised plugs for the IOWSR is tiresome.

 

Ignoring my repeated requests to keep the discussion free from naming names. As an administrator you should know better.

PH

 

This discussion would not have been started otherwise.

 

There are two separate issues here. The first is about tourist information. Like others, I use TripAdvisor because it gives me a subjective feel for the place. I look at the extreme comments, and the pattern of ratings, then make my judgement. I don't look at 'official' ratings because my experience of hotel schemes is that they give me no value as to what the place is like.

The second is the value of the inspection. There, I think a thorough inspection - audit might be a better word - against defined standards may help managements decide where to invest limited time, effort and money, using their judgement. My comments about hotel schemes apply though - this can't be a tick box exercise or the rating becomes meaningless.

Where I will agree with @paulhitch, however, is with the spirit that managements must look at themselves and their operations from a tourists point of view as well as the enthusiast's. It makes it easier to get my wife out, and if it works for her, it'll work for others.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

i think I explained why in post 22.

 

first of all well done to the IOWSR to have gotten those grades, but rather than degrading them, lets ask, what do they do so well to get those remarks, and what can other railways do to match that high standard, OK Haven street is on a island that is highly dependent on the tourist trade, but that means that they have competition in what is a tight market. Every railway i feel should regularly look at what they offer and seek to improve on it, and it need not be expensive , if you have barrows of rotting suit cases, change them, can you tidy things up, plant flower beds , to give colour, in some cases a fresh coat of paint , put yourself in the eye of the visitor, i would even invite a family unknown to anyone on the railway to make a visit in return for them giving you an unbiased report if i was an general manager, so you do get a clear idea of what works, what doesnt work, and yes use what ever local and regional advertising is availible to you.