Expian powers Historic Royal Palaces visitors experience

Booking technology experts to grow reach for six historic attractions

Experience-centric ticketing platform Expian has announced it will partner with the independent charity Historic Royal Palaces, to provide admission and membership solutions across all historic sites for the next five years. 

Expian will provide the systems needed to support a seamless customer experience for ticketing and membership, with all-in-one mobile POS solutions for attractions including Tower of London, the most visited paid entry attraction in the UK, as well as Hampton Court Palace, Kensington Palace and Kew Palace. 

This includes managing sales, lookup, ticket delivery, payment and scanning from their pocket. 

The organisation can also sell and manage memberships and the platform enables the team to assign discounts for members and patrons on specific products. 

The API-first system also integrates with the organisation’s digital infrastructure to streamline administration and support admissions management, CRM and business reporting. 

Visitors will be able to add extras including suggested events, merchandise, audio guides and more at the point of booking. 

Through the Customer Portal feature, visitors can also easily amend bookings, manage memberships and cancel bookings too, so they can update and place new bookings at their convenience. 

Trade partners will also be able to reserve and book directly via a portal or through a direct API integration. 

This is Expian’s first client win since it rebranded from Ticknovate. The appointment is said to signify how the ticketing specialist is enabling leisure operators to benefit from the growing experience economy. 

Yiannis Maglaras, managing director of Expian, said: “We are thrilled to support such a prestigious collection of historic landmarks. 

"Admission revenue is the most significant source of income for Historic Royal Palaces and our first-of-its-kind platform will not only facilitate ticket sales but also enable visitors to view and add a range of appealing products to their basket, as well as upselling events, membership, donations and gift aid. 

“These historic attractions remain popular with people from the UK and across the globe and we want to help Historic Royal Palaces make visits even more special, while generating the income that will conserve these iconic sights for future generations.” 

Aideen Flynn, head of ticketing and systems strategy of Historic Royal Palaces, said: “We are excited to be partnering with this innovative young company and are impressed with their ability to meet our complex and wide-ranging requirements. 

"As a charity for everyone, we were particularly keen to find a partner that focuses on customer experience across all channels and can provide solutions that enable us to serve the needs of our different audiences. 

“We will start a phased transition early in 2024, and just a few of the benefits we’re looking forward to are the introduction of mobile point of sale and providing a seamless journey for our audiences, both online and onsite. 

She added: "Enabling visitors to manage their bookings, reservations and memberships online will provide a fantastic user experience and we look forward to welcoming even more people to our sites as a result of these changes.”