Weather or not, did they come?

June and July 2025 gave us one of the hottest stretches in the year so far. Thirty degrees, on a Wednesday, glorious, oppressive, and perfect if your idea of a summer is sitting under a tree with an ice cream from Lidl. But less ideal if you’re running a zoo or museum and hoping for visitors to actually leave their gardens. Some stayed near home. Some shunned queues. Some huddled in the shade. And even when the weather changed, most didn’t commit.

The start of the summer felt like an exodus. Heathrow recorded its busiest day ever, EasyJet predicted record profits, and it seemed as though the nation had collectively agreed: after last year’s soaked disappointment, the treat this year was going to be… somewhere else. Attractions were left in a curious limbo: open, staffed, prepared, but waiting for the wave of visitors that didn’t quite arrive on schedule.

It was, in essence, the perfect storm for anyone interested in understanding modern family behaviour. Comfort, convenience, timing, and weather all influence decisions more than ever. Luckily as the summer went on, visitation picked up, leading to some attractions we work with having a bumper one.

ALVA & Baker Richards’ research (view) into the family market confirmed what many of us had been seeing anecdotally: the paradox of the modern family visit. 46% of families research a day out more than two weeks ahead. But 44% don’t book until the last 48 hours. In practice, this means an attraction can have a booking dashboard that appears to be dying a slow death one day, only to find itself overwhelmed by surging sales in the final 48 hours.

One attraction, for example, reached just 25% of its target 36 hours before a major event, only to finish at 103% on the day itself. Across the sector, this pattern was universal: a quiet preamble was followed by a sudden surge in bookings. Families browse. Families compare. Families hesitate. And then, when the moment feels right, often influenced by the weather, peer conversation, or sheer bravery, they click “book now” (and your website and booking platform better be ready).

For us marketers, this is both frustrating and liberating. Frustrating, because you can’t fully rely on early sales as a predictor. Liberating, because it reveals a truth we’ve long suspected: influence, framing, and timing still matter. You can’t force a family to commit two months in advance, but you can make the choice compelling when it counts.

Discounts remain a reliable way of building numbers. One attraction went into the holidays with nearly 50,000 summer bookings already secured through a strong discounted offer. Yes, it works. But it’s vital not to think of it as a magic wand. Discounts ring tills and give confidence when the weather threatens. But there is a subtle danger: we risk training visitors to expect them. I like to think of it as the “DFS summer sale effect”. No one ever buys a sofa for full price, you’ll always wait for the sale. And so, just the same, families wait for the next offer, rather than commit at full value.

The answer isn’t to avoid discounts entirely, but to reframe them. Multi-visit passes, family bundles, and thoughtful communication of online vs on-the-door pricing all work, but the true differentiator is value storytelling. Flexi-booking, annual passes, and “kids go half price” messaging communicated certainty, reassurance, and above all, respect for the visitor’s decision-making process. When value is clearly articulated, pre-sales grow, confidence follows, and families return for more. This isn’t about value in the financial sense, but value of experience. E.g. is a visit to you worth my time, or worth the risk? A cheaper ticket might alleviate that, but so will showcasing the experience with the frame of memories made.

While discounts can fill seats, it is investment and programming that separates the good from the exceptional. Attractions that introduced new exhibitions, refreshed galleries, or opened play developments saw immediate uplifts in attendance. One site relaunched its brand alongside a major outdoor play development, finishing July 30% ahead of budget. Indoor sites that refreshed exhibitions or added compelling family programming reported retail uplifts of 11% and catering growth of 16%, even during a slow start to July. Over 1,000,000 people visited the new Natural History Museum exhibition.

But the secret was never just what was offered, but how it was presented. Experiences framed as newsworthy spectacles, rather than routine posts, drew families in. Thematic days, character appearances, and family-oriented programming created “stickiness,” encouraging repeat visits. Marketing became the amplifier of investment, rather than the substitute. This is a key takeaway: reactive marketing can steady the ship, but long-term success flows from thoughtful programming, strategic framing, and investment in experiences that resonate. 

The real story of summer 2025

If you were looking at the headlines, 2025 belonged to Heathrow and EasyJet. But for attractions, the real story was subtler and far more encouraging. Confidence, adaptability, and distinctiveness determined outcomes. Attractions that catered to late-booking families, invested in meaningful experiences, and clearly framed value were ahead of the curve. Reels, influencer partnerships, and event-led campaigns gave reach far beyond traditional media. Paid campaigns worked best when paired with timely, compelling offers, but the difference-makers were the attractions willing to act decisively, experiment boldly, and invest in experiences that mattered. Even those who saw a dip in visits compared to last year, saw an increase in pre-bookers, showcasing the need to invest in marketing even when times are tough.

And, it seems those who struggled did so predictably: sticking rigidly to last year’s playbook, locking into plans created in January, or failing to read the cues of modern visitors. There is no shame in this; it is a structural truth. The game has changed. The new normal is late commitment. The new normal is volatility. “As one operator put it: ‘We’ve lost the bottom 30% of the market who can no longer afford it, except when we target offer days.’ That sense of fragility at the base of the market explains why even attractions who kept prices steady saw spend and margins down.”The new normal demands that we ask not “how do we copy last year?” but “how do we build resilience, value, and distinctiveness into every offer, every day, every season?”

Lessons for the future

Summer 2025 wasn’t a warning, it was a masterclass. Families are browsing longer, booking later, and expecting more. Success requires three things. First, pricing strategies that nudge early commitment without compromising perceived value. Second, investment in programming and experiences that deliver meaningful, memorable days, not just tickets sold. Third, the courage to treat autumn, winter, and Christmas campaigns with the same ambition and intelligence as summer.

For those who can embrace these lessons, the future is bright. Summer 2025 proved that late booking is not failure; it is an opportunity to communicate value, to engage meaningfully, and to frame experiences in ways that inspire families to act decisively. The summer may no longer be enough to carry an attraction, but for those who act with clarity, courage, and empathy, it has never been more full of possibility.

And perhaps, in that subtle irony that the sector knows so well, the trick isn’t to predict the weather or force commitment, but to design experiences that are so compelling, so well-framed, and so valuable that families choose to come — rain or shine, early or late, every time.

Because in the end, that’s what resilience really looks like.