Anima Garden is a two-hectare botanical staging, created by André Heller in Marrakech, Morocco. It is a magical place of sensuality, of wonder, of contemplation, of joy, of healing, and of inspiration for people of all ages who want to experience the unforgettable. Visitors stroll along shady paths, between sumptuous trees and shrubs, blossom and fragrant wonders, pavilions and sculptures, with breathtaking views of the often snow-capped Atlas Mountains featuring the 4167 metre high Mount Toubkal.

CHALLENGES

Visitors to Anima Garden comprises of tourists, largely from Italy, Germany, France, Spain and the UK, among others. To visit the garden, tourists were required to buy entry tickets at the venue during the hours of operation, on the day of the visit. This usually meant that the personnel managing the garden wouldn’t have an estimate of the number of visitors that were going to arrive on a particular day. To make the process smoother, the team at Anima Garden came to the conclusion that selling entry tickets online would make it convenient for both potential visitors and the management. The team found it difficult to sell entry tickets due to the nature of it – it was a sightseeing spot open 7 days a week. Travel companies providing ticketing services charged exorbitant fees, which didn’t make ‘financial sense’ for a business like theirs, that charged €12 a ticket.

RESULTS

In 2016, Emanuel Rudas, General Manager of Anima Garden came across Yapsody while looking up for better alternatives to sell entry tickets to the garden. Soon enough, Emanuel realized the ticket selling process was better managed for the following reasons: 

1. Online Ticket Store

After signing up with Yapsody, Anima Garden got access to an online ticket store of their own – a space where they could sell entry tickets for all their days of operation. The online ticket store is fully customizable, allowing the team to add brand elements to the store, making it look like a part of their website. 

2. Easy to Setup & Create Events

The garden tour wasn’t an event by definition, but that didn’t stop Anima Garden from setting up the store. With the ‘Repeated Performance’ feature, Anima Garden was able to sell tickets to every single day of the tour by simply creating multiple performances of the tour. Unlike a typical event, Anima Garden did not have a ‘start’ or ‘end time.’ Through Yapsody’s settings, they were able to hide the said timings, to avoid any confusion.  

3. Accessibility

Because of moving ticket sales online, tourists from all around the world were able to purchase tickets to the garden tour, at any time of the day, not only during the hours of operation. This ensured that the business did not lose a single sale.

4. Low ticketing fees

Yapsody’s fees were lower than any ticketing service they had come across. Selling tickets online to garden tours became financially feasible for the garden. In 2017, Anima Garden was also upgraded to Elite Tier, resulting in them receiving an additional 60% off on ticketing fees. 

5.Reporting

As most of the sales moved online, the team at Anima Garden received an estimate each day about the number of visitors they were expecting. Yapsody’s virtual box office gave them quick statistics and real time updates on the number of tickets sold. Using Yapsody’s mobile app – YapStats, the statistics were right at their fingertips.