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10% more visitors to the Christmas market at the Gemeentegrot in Valkenburg thanks to smart access

The Gemeentegrot Christmas market in Valkenburg is the largest underground Christmas market in Europe. It is a unique location, but logistically challenging: the centuries-old passageways have narrow entrances that quickly become congested when large numbers of visitors arrive. To ensure safety and smooth flow, the organization sought a solution to process hundreds of thousands of guests more quickly.

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Crowds and congestion at the entrance

The challenge: congestion at the entrance

Before partnering with LeisureKing, tour buses caused a domino effect at the gate. Ankie Maessen, project coordinator, explains: “When a bus with fifty guests arrived, we had to scan tickets fifty times. With three buses in a row, there was immediately a huge line on the street in the cold.”

As a result, people arrived late for their time slot, which in turn affected the next time slot. That led to fewer extra tickets being sold at the door.

One scan for the entire group

The solution: one scan for the entire group

The switch to LeisureKing brought peace of mind, particularly thanks to the group ticket. Tour operators and large groups now receive a single QR code for the entire party. One scan, and fifty people are in.

To give the volunteers a flying start, LeisureKing provided plenty of mobile hand scanners, receipt printers, and linked ATMs. And through the live dashboard, the organization also keeps a close eye on visitor numbers: this allowed extra tickets to be sold at the box office as soon as space became available.

The result: growth and tranquility

The numbers speak for themselves: during the last event, 208,000 tickets were successfully scanned without any significant wait times. Everyone was able to enter within their designated time slot.

Thanks to this streamlined process, the organizers were able to expand capacity limits, resulting in a 10% increase in visitor capacity. The result is higher revenue and a relaxed experience for both visitors and staff.

Using a single QR code makes the process much faster for large groups. We’ve been able to increase our capacity by 10%, and the lines are shorter.

- Ankie Maessen (Municipal Cave in Valkenburg)

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