CUSTOMER RELATIONS
CANCELLATION POLICIES With COVID-19 complicating the picture, operators seek
BY PETER OLIVER
to accommodate guests’ requests to cancel—without breaking the bank. The word itself, “cancellation,” resonates with finality. But when it comes to cancellation policies at adventure parks across the country, flexibility is really the name of the game. That’s the consensus of a number of park operators interviewed by Adventure Park Insider, and flexibility has carried extra weight as park operators have revised cancellation policies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The biggest COVID-19 step is to allow— no, strongly urge—anyone who’s feeling COVID-19 symptoms to stay home. In that case, there’s typically no penalty for cancellation, even at the last minute, and many operators offer a credit. Some are offering a full refund.
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In general, say those interviewed by API, cancellations are relatively uncommon, and disgruntled customers demanding refunds are rare. Still, with the COVID-19 crisis throwing a wrench into the cancellation works, as it has in other industries, park operators have become more accommodating of these requests. They are prioritizing long-term customer relations over strict enforcement of stated cancellation policies. That takes commitment. Many states are mandating limits on customer numbers in the early phases of reopening. “A last-minute cancellation would be even more detrimental with such limited capacity,” says Marissa Doyle of Tree to Tree Adventure Park in Oregon. Still, anything is better than being fully shut down.
THE PRICE OF PR What airlines, major hotel chains, and other hospitality businesses have determined is that a key to surviving the pandemic is maintaining good customer relations and loyalty that will fortify business when the crisis is over. Relaxing strict cancellation policies has been a good place to start. That’s not entirely new to the aerial adventure world. “Softness,” as Sara Bell, co-owner of The Gorge zip line and Green River Adventures in North Carolina puts it, in applying cancellation policies has long been a common practice in the adventure park industry. That’s largely due to the fact that most parks are independent entities, unlike an airline or hotel chain with global reach. With no corporate hegemony to dictate unyielding cancellation rules, modifying or relaxing policies on the fly is relatively easy. But any softness in relaxing cancellation terms doesn’t mean that a well-defined and generally adhered-to policy shouldn’t be in place. The operative concept: establish and clearly state a cancellation policy, but under certain circumstances be willing to make concessions.
within that two- to three-day window, all bets are off—customers forfeit their reservation fees. GIVING CREDIT Outdoor Ventures, which operates seven parks in eastern locations, takes a slightly different approach. Payment in full is required upon making a reservation, with credit given for unused reservations right up to the scheduled time of arrival. VP of operations Micah Salazar explains that Outdoor Ventures parks rely heavily on local business, much of it repeat business, with bookings often made close to the arrival date. Being liberal with a near-to-arrival-date credit policy, he says, is an important part of maintaining a good standing within local communities that produce frequent repeat customers. A park that leans more heavily toward destination-travel business, where typically one-time visitors book well ahead of arrival, might not be so willing to abide last-minute changes. FLEXING THE POLICY
VARIATIONS ON A THEME
But back to the business of flexibility. “We allow managers complete discretion on a case by case basis” to bend policy terms, says Salazar.
If there is a typical policy applied throughout the adventure park industry, interviews conducted by API suggest something like this: full payment upon making a reservation, with full refunds, either in cash or in the form of future credit, available for cancellation up to 48 or 72 hours prior to arrival. Once
Variations on that general approach are applied by other park operators. A big reason for being flexible is simply to keep as many customers as possible happy. Given the weight that online reviews carry in consumer decision-making, avoiding a bad review is “financially more valuable than sticking to a policy,” says Bell.
