The mulled wine has dried up, the mince pies are gone and the cold dark nights of January are starting to bite.

January is often the time of year where attraction owners and marketers might be licking their wounds from the previous year, reviewing what worked (and what didn’t), and quietly reshaping plans for the year ahead.

It’s also a month where it’s very easy to start worrying and getting pessimistic, so I wanted to start 2026 differently - with a more optimistic lens.

Will 2026 be just as tough, or are there glimmers of hope?

What is there to be optimistic about?

Most attraction teams are only too familiar with the never-ending list of pressures: costs, staffing, weather dependency, shifting visitor behaviour and the constant budget challenges.

But when you zoom out a little, there are some encouraging signs worth leaning into:

Sector growth and investment

We could see in 2025, that the attractions that really struggled were ones which didn't invest or let their experience stagnate, leading to some high profile attractions closing.

Going into 2026 there are a number of big projects around the country and I take this as an encouraging sign that brands are investing in the sector.

New concepts are coming, like Kynren - The Storied Lands or how about Puy De Foy's new development planned for Oxford. New brands are entering the UK market too, like Libéma (a significant European Zoo Brand) buying Wild Planet Trust, and of course the new Universal park in Bedford.

I believe that these new brands will help grow the whole sector. The public will be more aware of the amazing experiences throughout the country and this could help all attractions. Of course, the flipside of this is that guests will expect higher and higher levels of quality, so the need to invest, renew and refresh will get more important, along with showcasing your experience online.

Guests craving new experiences

As we can see from 2025, it is clear that the guests are constantly looking for new experiences. The common themes here are:

• Guests aren't afraid to spend money on unique experiences
• Events and programming help brands stay fresh and lock-in prebooked revenue
• There's still an underlying desire to get out, and build memories with friends and family

Visitors are more selective. They think harder about value and they want reassurance that their time and money will be well spent. Attractions that communicate clearly, set expectations well, and showcase what makes them genuinely special are still drawing people in.

Of course, smaller brands need to be creative here - what are all the ways you can showcase your brand, showcase the 'upsides' of visiting, and mitigate the risks or downsides?

More opportunities to drive revenue

When you have more experiences you also have more opportunities to drive revenue. As 2025 went on, I was more and more convinced that 'day visits' and day tickets in general are becoming too difficult to build reliable predictable income. The model doesn't stack up.

As mentioned, families and grandparents are still keen to spend big on unique valuable experiences, so your packages need to reflect different budget levels.

Where possible headline pricing needs to be affordable, flexible and with minimal risk (e.g. using weather guarantees, flexible arrival times, friendly cancellation policies etc).

But wouldn't it be a massive mistake to not offer higher value VIP packages, upsells and enhanced experiences for those that can afford it?

Attractions need to diversify revenue away from just tickets...

• Memberships with levels to cater for basic membership up to die-hard fans (why not create dedicated membership packages for different demographics)
• VIP packages and upgrades
• Merchandise and Gift Vouchers
• Adoptions, donations, legacies
• Birthday parties
• Special packages for key demographics (e.g. Cream Teas, Educational Talks)

Apple are masters of this (they even sold £220 iPhone socks). If you haven't reviewed your overall pricing for a while, then take a look at The Pricing Ladder concept. This is a strategy where you offer multiple price points, to capture different customer segments based on their needs and willingness to pay. Apple leverage this exceptionally well, always nudging customers to step up a few levels.

If you are struggling with where to start, then learning more about the Pricing Ladder and brainstorming ideas / gaps with your team will be time well spent.

Looking ahead

No doubt 2026 will be another roller coaster year, but it feels like the brands that stay positive, jump onto any opportunities, and showcase their value effectively will have the best chance of success.

As ever, at Semantic we’re laser-focused on helping attractions showcase their value online, and I believe this will be more important than ever in the year ahead.

Happy New Year, I'll look forward to seeing you at one of the conferences in the months ahead.