The Crazy Idea That Became Ytri Island Retreat
How do you build a world-class hotel on a remote Norwegian island 65km out to sea? Mikael Forselius of Ytri Island Retreat joined VISIT's Malin Larsson-Salo live in Gothenburg to share the story, from community dream to international media sensation.
Liseberg is undergoing an exciting transformation process which will make the amusement park a destination. The amusement park has, until now, been the big attraction, but Liseberg will complete the experience with the Liseberg Grand Curiosa Hotel (2023) and the water world attraction, Oceana (2024).
In line with the large additions in the area, Liseberg has concurrently procured a comprehensive digital solution that includes, among other things, online sales, checkout and channel management, season ticket management and other prerequisites for running a successful amusement park. After many months, Visit Group and the iTicket platform emerged as winners.
Visit Group and iTicket were the only tenders with a developed destination perspective. Being able to package and distribute our entire offering in a single system with all the advantages and opportunities provided by gathering points. We will also be able to amalgamate with our partners, which makes iTicket so much more than a ticket system.
One of Liseberg's roles is to be a driver of Gothenburg's hospitality industry. During the course of the procurement, it was important that the new system solution was also able to promote this role. iTicket makes it easy for Liseberg to create synergies, and for partners to sell each other's offerings in a simple and hospitable manner.
"Gaining Liseberg's trust in delivering the comprehensive system for sales, packaging, distribution and operational efficiency in the destination investment is an important prerequisite for myself and my colleagues at Visit Group. There is a lot of hard work and commitment behind our level of ambition with regard to iTicket, and it is enormously gratifying that Liseberg, which has long been on our dream customer list, gives us this recognition," says Carl-Johan Holmén, Vice President of Visit Group.
The implementation of iTicket has already begun in collaboration with Liseberg. It will be a very busy year for Gothenburg's largest venue, with the approaching 100th anniversary, the opening of the Grand Curiosa Hotel, a new system solution, and the ongoing construction of the water world attraction.
Visit Group is looking forward to a fast-paced 2023 and iTicket going live in the park in the autumn. "Growing alongside with our customers is both inspiring and instructional. We are a dedicated team that looks forward to helping Liseberg deliver a fantastic guest experience, both on-site and digitally," says Carl-Johan.