Venue Solutions and YourDay in world first at Alton Towers
Personalised DVD deal secured with The Tussauds Group
Venue Solutions Holdings Plc (Venue Solutions) – the venue technology specialist who has strategic alliances with Sony and Pivotal – and YourDay Video Technologies, Inc. (YourDay) have secured a world first deal with The Tussauds Group to deliver the revolutionary YourDay in the Park system to the UK's leading theme park – Alton Towers in Staffordshire. It is planned to go live in April 2007, with DVD's available at a sub-£20 price point.
Dominic Berger CEO, Venue Solutions Holdings Plc commented: "Since our cooperation agreement in 2005 we have been working closely with YourDay and The Tussauds Group to achieve this industry first. We are proud to deliver this truly unique product in the Theme Park market and are looking forward to implementing the system at Alton Towers with our alliance partner Sony. It is our intention to drive this exclusive technology worldwide, significantly increasing the value of Venue Solutions for our shareholders."
When visitors enter Alton Towers, they will be given an RFID-enabled (Radio Frequency Identity) wrist-band. By wearing the band throughout their visit, they will be identified and videoed by cameras on every ride as they experience the attractions. These personalised video clips will be digitally stored, retrieved and later that day visitors will be able to pick up a personalised DVD. This will contain 30 minutes of professional footage of the overall Alton Towers park in action, including actual, full-motion video footage of the visitor's own experience during the day.
Andy Davies, Commercial Services Director at The Tussauds Group commented: "The Tussauds Group vision is to create 'Magic Moments' for our guests and this partnership with YourDay and Venue Solutions will allow them to take away the memories of their 'Magic Moments' at the end of their stay with us. Our business is built on innovation and we are delighted to be the first attraction in the world to implement such an exciting proposition."
He added: "Research amongst our guests shows that our visitors have a positive propensity to purchase these products, providing themselves with a personalised reminder of the day they, and their friends and family, had at Alton Towers. The system proposed and created by Venue Solutions and YourDay, will allow guests to re-live their unique day time and time again through personalised digital video footage."
The findings of the YourDay market research undertaken at Alton Towers revealed that:
- 84% of visitors had a very positive impression of the YourDay in the Park offering.
- 83% stated that they would show the DVD to friends and family
- In terms of the purchaser characteristics, 54% of family groups and 48% of non-family groups would buy the DVD
These results are consistent with those from an earlier YourDay survey of park visitors at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida.
Al Page, CEO of YourDay Video Technologies Inc commented: "We are delighted to have secured this landmark contract with The Tussauds Group, one of the world's leading leisure and entertainment companies. Venue Solutions is our technology partner in this project working with Europe's number one visitor attraction business, and we acknowledge their outstanding contribution to the deal."