Most city card projects succeed or fail on partner agreements and pricing, long before the technology matters. This plan follows the order in which we recommend tourism boards work.
1. Define who the card is for
A weekend visitor, a cruise passenger and a family on a week's holiday need different cards. Pick the main audience first. It decides which attractions matter and which durations you offer. Most cities start with 24, 48 and 72 hours.
2. Sign the key partners
A card needs a few strong attractions that visitors would pay for anyway. Start with those, then add smaller places. Agree on these points in writing:
- What the card holder gets: free entry, a discount or a benefit
- How visits are counted
- How and when the partner is paid
- What happens if an attraction closes
3. Set the price
Add up what a typical visitor would pay for the attractions they can realistically see in that period. The card should offer a clear saving on that amount. Check that the numbers still work after partner payments and sales costs.
4. Choose how cards are validated
Staff at a small museum need a phone app that works in seconds. A large attraction may need a connection to its existing entry gates. Plan for both. Test in the real place, at a busy hour, with poor mobile signal.
5. Decide the delivery formats
A mobile ticket suits most visitors. Add a printable PDF for those who prefer paper. Apple Wallet and Google Wallet make the card easy to find at the door.
6. Build the sales channels
- Your own online shop as the main channel
- Hotels and tourist information centers
- Tour operators and travel agencies
- Your destination's official website and social media
Sell in the languages your visitors speak. The purchase should take a couple of minutes on a phone.
7. Prepare the people on location
The front desk at a partner attraction decides how a visitor feels about the card. Give staff a short guide, a test ticket and one contact person. A failed scan on the first day is remembered for a long time.
8. Launch, measure, adjust
Track sales by duration and channel, visits per partner, and the share of visitors using several attractions. Review the offer each season.
Tourist Flow covers sales, delivery, partners and validation on a Shopify base, and can connect to SKIDATA and other entry systems. New to the topic? Start with what a digital city card is.
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