Castle Howard’s love story with China - as told by Abbigail Ollive

Castle Howard is a stunning stately home in rural North Yorkshire, designed by Sir John Vanbrugh back in 1699 for the third Earl of Carlisle. Since the 50s, Castle Howard has been a visitor attraction, welcoming around 300,000 visitors a year.In todays podcast, we’ll hear from Abbigail Ollive, Head of Marketing as she shares with us a beautiful story, of how China fell in love with the Castle, and how one wedding started a chain reaction of incredible events leading them to increase overseas visitors to around 60%.Castle Howard was one of the first attractions in the UK to install the WeChat pay solutions across shops, restaurants, ticket office and we’ll hear all about the challenges, success and specialist they worked with to make that happen.It’s a wonderful example of how implementing small things can make huge differences to a visitors experience, and we know you’ll learn a lot from their unique story.A few things we discussed:The importance of understanding our audience and catering specifically for their needsIf it’s difficult to integrate WeChat and Alipay for Chinese visitorsHow to create a digital guest experience that’s second to noneWhy you need to be proactive in changing and adapting your marketing strategyWhy you need to work with sector specialistsHow empowering your front of house team to be super helpful creates the ultimate experience for your guestsWe hope you enjoy! Show references:https://www.castlehoward.co.uk/https://www.digipanda.co.uk/https://www.wechat.com/en/https://intl.alipay.com/https://www.capelatraining.com/china/https://www.globepay.co/https://www.ukinbound.org/https://www.visitbritain.com/gb/enhttps://www.etoa.org/ Download The Visitor Attractions Website Survey Report - https://www.merac.co.uk/download-the-visitor-attractions-survey We have launched our brand-new playbook: ‘The Retail Ready Guide to Going Beyond the Gift Shop’ — your go-to resource for building a successful e-commerce strategy that connects with your audience and drives sustainable growth. Download your FREE copy here