Are Tourist Railways "welcoming" enough?

Not sure I agree with RG. Once you sign on you have the same status inn law as an employee in regard to conduct. If you do something which is classed as misconduct or worse there are ways to discipline. A period relieved of duties is allways a possibility.

 

I think this is a very emotive subject which has complex inter-play of what both sides are seeking to achieve.

The railway is seeking to attract visitors but the question - one of marketing methinks - is what the railway is seeking to achieve. Is it like the IoWSR seeking to establish its place within a restricted number of Visitor Attractions in a small area; is it like Swanage seeking to provide a Park-and-Ride facility as part of its operation; is it like the SVR seeking to provide a means of access to Severn-side locations; is it like the NYMR seeking to capitalise on the interest of a television programme (Heartbeat); is it like the ELR being used as a catalyst to re-generate the Irwell Valley ?

Each of these are important to the railway concerned and its commercial activities will be geared to its operating rationale hence the views of its visitors, as evidenced by the comments on Trip Advisor, will be important. Equally important is to accept that visitors have individual expectations from their visit and this will be reflected in their comments and ratings.

Visit England also have expectations - including the payment of a fee to be included in its list of visitor attractions - which may skew the value of its contributions to the marketing objectives of railway operations. In essence Visit England is simply another "visitor" with expectations that the heritage line may not provide or feel is less important than other facilities that its customer base appreciates more. In that context the reporters to Visit England are simply other visitors judging a heritage line against Visit England's list of expectations and judged on that list rather than judging the railway against its stated objectives.

In essence it comes down to each heritage line having a known objective and being judged by visitors against that measure. When the SVR operations were suspended due to the flooding, the railway noted that its involvement with the local chamber of Trade had provided much understanding and support from within the local area - including pointing out sources of funds that proved invaluable in meeting the heavy cost of repairing the line. In that case the railway's marketing strategy of being seen as part of the area's commercial base would not be seen by the visitor yet it is an important part of the SVR's commercial activity. If not seen, however, how can an element of a heritage line's rationale be evaluated by a visitor.

And this is the nub of being a "visitor attraction" as seen from the heritage railway's viewpoint. Many started off as a serious project for the running of trains over a length of track and many have generated so much income that they have to reconsider themselves from a "hobby" perspective to a commercial perspective in which commercial rules and legal relationships become increasingly necessary and important. These are not the considerations of the casual visitor and - I have to say - may not be evaluated in the same context as that of the heritage line. It is my experience that most lines which I have visited have proved welcoming to varying degrees. The lines I find most welcoming are those where access to the railway is welcomed and facilitated; where catering allows for a reasonable meal at a reasonable price; where information is available regarding (permitted) lineside access for lineside photography and there is a reasonable shopping facility to buy either guide books (to the line) or a good selection of railway books to buy.

Given that I spend a 4-figure sum each year on heritage railways I consider myself to be a normal visitor but reflect my welcome not through Trip Advisor or Visit England but by re-visiting those lines where I feel most welcome; other visitors may feel / do the same hence the importance of being made to feel welcome. It will be the number of returning visitors which will measure the warmth of that welcome albeit supported by such as Trip Advisor and Visit England - not directed by them.

 

Still, why pay a couple of £100 when TripAdvisor is utilised more by potential customers and has zero cost to yourselves?

 

I suspect that, once again, the OP has opened a thread with the sole purpose of creating an argument. Some people would call it trolling.

 

I am not sure but I suspect that members of the VisitEngland Scheme will get a more detailed feedback report than simply 'you've qualified' or 'you've won a distinction', which should be well worth the fee paid. I am certainly aware of such schemes and can't recall if the one where I have seen such a report was for VisitEngland or a different organisation.

Such detailed feedback provides a very different input to how a line manages its 'visitor experience' than Trip Adviser. It may be the sort of thing you don't really need each year.

My experience also suggests that whether a particular attraction tries for such a scheme or not can depend very much on the marketing approach of those setting marketing policy - some see such things as important, others will stick to Trip Adviser and some will value both (or neither!)

One danger in our sector can be that as soon as 'marketing jargon' (like 'visitor experience') is used - and such reports will be full of it - it can be a real turn-off for the more traditionally minded, which can be both both 'coal face' or management or indeed both, and there can be a danger that good stuff (and indeed the good people proposing it) can be lost through indifference or at worst a welcome that you hope visitors would never get!

Congratulations indeed to the IoWSR (and it might have been safest to reveal who was the only railway to get an accolade and get it over with, @paulhitch! ).

What would be interesting would be whether no other railways have consider joining the scheme worthwhile, or whether any have failed to meet the necessary standards to get on the list!

VisitEngland do (or did) provide 'Welcome Host' training, which some lines have taken advantage of.

Steven

 

Delighted to point out that one of the railways you support belongs to the scheme.

PH

 

The question in my mind is does it drive up visitor numbers? There are a large number of such schemes out there, and I seriously doubt that most visitors think 'oh yes, must go there, they've won an award from Visit England'. But if the lessons learnt from the visits can be translated into a better visitor experience then I would agree that there is value.

 

Totally agree, but do all lines want to drive up visitor number...........?

Steven

 

Thinking about it, and with experiences in other 'Heritage' areas.

Attractions/museums/Heritage railways etc are basically set up by people with an interest in the subject. They can often be dominated - and this is meant simply as a statement of the obvious rather than a criticism by older men, sometimes single/never had children to boot.

So, and with the best will in the world the attraction becomes unattractive to anyone whose not a 50something single bloke or who doesn't want to be reminded how awful toilets/catering/whatever was circa 1970.Trip Advisor/Various Award Schemes etc can be used to try and address some of these issues and improve the standards of whats on offer. What is there not to like?

 

Whether or not to join the particular Visit England scheme is obviously a choice for particular railways. And without going into details, it is hard to say whether some of the member railways have missed out on higher categories by relatively minor non-conformities, some of which are due to the historical nature of the buildings used, constrained sites, etc.
It would be interesting to read a bit more about the sorts of things the categories are looking for.
However the answer to the main question must be that every railway can be more welcoming - some have much more potential for improvement than others...

 

Welcoming is made up of facilities and attitude, in my opinion.
Facilities means things like easy to park (or get there by public transport), somewhere warm to wait on cold days, decent cup of tea and coffee, maybe meal or sandwiches/cake, toilets clean, carriage seats clean, carriage interiors and windows clean, etc.
Attitude means the person who sells tickets is friendly and helpful, platform and on train staff smile and happy to answer questions (even silly ones), footplate staff smile and happy for people to take an interest in the engine, cafe staff smile, people generally act like they are happy to have visitors...

 

whereas what you say is true of Heritage Railways and the equivalent elsewhere in the volunteer sector, it certainly is not the case with Museums which are run by qualified professionals on the whole.

The difference is obvious to the visitor and the tripadvisor type comments you can find are the result. Heritage Railway staff (at the Public end) are a mixed bunch and some of them would not be there if they were employees.

Fine for dealing with fellow enthusiasts, sometimes not so much for the General Public. (actually sometimes not so great for us either, as sometimes they don't know the answer to the simplest question and give out factually incorrect info)

 

And if this a problem, the challenge for the railways is to channel their enthusiasm in suitable directions where it won't be a problem.


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well yes, I think Training is the answer but I'm not so sure that all Volunteers are trainable in the way an Employee would be.

I get the impression there are some who turn up to drink tea and have a bit of a natter.

 

And a well run organisation will find a way to move them out of public sight.

 

And? My local pub serves a beer I don't enjoy, doesn't mean I agree with the landlord it's a good pint.

My original point still stands, and you've not answered the question asked - why pay to be surveyed, when more potential customers use TripAdvisor which offers reviews that they can relate to better?

 

I've found it thought provoking and learnt a lot, and a lot less argumentative than some.

Patrick

 

Personally I've never heard of this scheme so its rating means nothing to me no matter how good or bad. Neither do I look for a railway with umpteen gold stars before I visit them.

There should be minimum standards which have already been detailed that as a public attraction, all railways should adhere to.

As to the suggestion that you can't sack or discipline volunteers, that's rubbish. Of course you can. However any railway worth its salt will have a decent training programme & a line management in place to ensure that all staff act in an appropriate manner what ever their role on the railway.

To answer the question posed in the first posting.........

Are tourist railways going backwards in this respect?

No in my opinion.

 

Because the survey will give a type of neutral feedback that TripAdvisor doesn't. One is about how customers see you, the other is about how you can improve in the eyes of customers. The two approaches should be complementary.


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I actually anticipated your point in the original posting when I referred to Tripadvisor as "amateur and sometimes capricious". Post 59 is, arguably, about right.

PH