Industry: Indoor Waterpark | Location: Rapid City, South Dakota
Located in Rapid City, South Dakota in the heart of the Black Hills, WaTiki Indoor Waterpark Resort is the largest indoor waterpark in the region, with over 30,000 square feet of slides, pools, a lazy river, multiple restaurants and a large arcade. WaTiki is part of a complex that includes 5 hotels and operated by Liv Hospitality, a ground-breaking hotel management group with an innovative and service-focused mindset. With a location convenient to the area’s most popular attractions like Mount Rushmore, WaTiki welcomes over 120,000 guests from throughout the country each year.
WaTiki uses Connect&GO’s all-in-one attractions management platform to give guests an upgraded and frictionless experience, with a completely integrated solution for eCommerce ticketing, point-of-sale, F&B, access control, waivers, RFID wristbands, and cashless functionality. For WaTiki, finding a way to manage access control for guests and team members was the utmost importance! With Connect&GO and their integration with Alvarado entry doors, WaTiki can keep their indoor waterpark safer – and more enjoyable – for their patrons.
How WaTiki Uses Konnect:
“Since implementing the Connect&GO platform this past May, our top line revenue has increased dramatically. Plus, our experience for guests is so much better with our new access control gates!”
– Lauren Ebert, General Manager, WaTiki Indoor Waterpark
Challenges
With access control for the waterpark being a major concern, WaTiki needed a solution that allowed them to rethink the strategies for their points of entry. Previously access control had to be handled by the waterpark’s staff, who had to visually validate wristbands, remember different colors for different days, and have uncomfortable discussions with people who were able to sneak into one of the 4 doors. Oftentimes, this led to a crowded facility where chairs were hard to find and guests needed to have to carry around cash, credit cards and IDs despite swimsuits having no pockets. WaTiki also wanted a flexible solution that was easy to configure and train new staff on—and a partner who could help them bring their vision of an elevated guest experience to life.
“We came into this relationship with Connect&GO looking to upgrade the experience at our waterpark to make it a must-visit destination in the Black Hills. That included wanting to create a completely cashless experience where a guest can actually go to between the waterpark, arcade, restaurants, etc. without needing to carry their wallet! Connect&GO has allowed us to create that experience and so much more.”
– Kayti Ratigan, Chief Operating Officer, Liv Hospitality
Key Features
eCommerce Ticketing
F&B
Locker Integration
Intercard integration
Real-Time Reporting
Point-of-Sale
Access Control
Digital Waivers
RFID Wristbands
Cashless
“Connect&GO has offered our guests a huge opportunity to enjoy the park and not have to worry about a lot of different things. For instance, being able to let the kids go upstairs and play in the arcade and have that cash loaded on the wristband without having to worry. As long as that cash is loaded on their wristband, they can go, have fun and enjoy their time!”
– Lauren Ebert, General Manager, WaTiki Indoor Waterpark
A Passion for Innovation that Pushes WaTiki Forward
Having only finished their most recent renovation earlier this year, Liv Hospitality is already looking for new ways to incorporate innovation into daily operations at WaTiki. After 6 months of using Connect&GO’s all-in-one management platform, WaTiki is adding custom, self-service Olea kiosks throughout their resort complex. Guests will be able to purchase single day, multi-day, season passes and many other packages from the kiosks when they check into their hotels. They can even choose to complete their waivers to receive their wristbands from hotel staff for a more streamlined entry process when they arrive at the waterpark entrance. “Creating efficiencies in our operations and increasing our guest engagement has become an integral part of our company culture,” said Kayti. “It’s nice to work with a technology partner that’s just as passionate about innovation as we are!”
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