Attendance only tells part of the story, while revenue tells another. Post-event surveys provide valuable insight, but only from a fraction of attendees and often days after the experience has ended.

Meanwhile, thousands of guests voluntarily describe exactly what delighted or disappointed them through online reviews, ratings and public comments. Individually, those reviews are anecdotes. Collectively, they represent one of the richest sources of operational intelligence available to venues today.

The challenge isn't collecting more feedback. It's learning how to listen on a scale.

accesso's 2026 Voice of the Visitor report set out to do exactly that. It analyzed more than 2.5 million online reviews from over 500 attractions across 37 countries, using AI to break each review into individual remarks that reveal the patterns behind guest sentiment. The findings paint a compelling picture of how guest expectations are evolving and where organizations have the greatest opportunity to improve.

While the research spans multiple sectors, including performing arts, sports, museums, fairs, festivals and attractions, it reveals a remarkably consistent truth: the guest experience begins long before the event itself. Every interaction leading up to a visit can influence how guests ultimately remember it, making the path to loyalty just as important as the experience itself.

The Experience Begins Long Before Guests Arrive

For years, organizations have focused heavily on the in-venue experience. Yet the report suggests that some of the strongest drivers of guest satisfaction now occur before a visitor ever steps onto the property.

Searching for an event, navigating a ticket purchase, receiving confirmation emails, understanding parking instructions, accessing mobile tickets or finding answers to last-minute questions all shape a guest's expectations. When those interactions are intuitive, they build confidence and anticipation; when they're frustrating, they create friction that can linger well into the visit.

The data reflects that shift. Negative conversations around ticketing, admissions and booking experiences have increased since the pandemic, suggesting that pre-arrival interactions are becoming a larger part of how guests evaluate the overall experience. For ticketing professionals, that's a reminder that every digital touchpoint is also a guest experience touchpoint.

Operational Details Have Become Part of the Memory

One of the report's clearest trends is the growing prominence of operational conversations. Queueing, in particular, has emerged as one of the fastest-growing topics in guest feedback, with discussion doubling over the past two years. Whether guests are joining a virtual queue during a high-demand on-sale, entering a sports venue, waiting at a festival gate or checking into an attraction, the waiting experience has become inseparable from the event itself.

What's particularly interesting is that the research doesn't suggest people dislike waiting. Thousands of reviews described positive queue experiences. The difference was less about wait times and more about how they were managed. Guests consistently responded well when expectations were clear, progress was visible, and communication remained transparent throughout the process.

The same pattern appears elsewhere in the report. Visitors frequently described experiences as both expensive and worth every penny. Rather than contradicting each other, those comments reinforce an important principle: people evaluate value more than price. When operations run smoothly and expectations are met, guests are more willing to view premium pricing as justified. Conversely, even moderately priced experiences can feel disappointing when unnecessary challenges overshadow the event itself.

Listening Is Becoming a Competitive Advantage

Perhaps the most surprising finding isn't about ticketing or queueing at all. It's about how organizations respond to guest feedback.

According to the report, roughly nine out of ten public reviews receive no response from the organization. That represents a substantial missed opportunity not only to resolve individual concerns, but to demonstrate accountability and build trust with future guests who increasingly read reviews before making purchasing decisions.

More importantly, organizations that actively monitor guest sentiment gain access to something surveys alone rarely provide: emerging patterns. One complaint may be an isolated incident. Hundreds of similar comments often signal a systemic issue that deserves attention. The ability to identify those themes early allows organizations to make operational improvements before dissatisfaction becomes widespread.

That's where guest feedback shifts from being a customer service exercise to becoming a strategic planning tool.

Great Experiences Are Remarkably Consistent

Although the report compares a wide range of venue types, its strongest message is that memorable guest experiences share many of the same characteristics. Performing arts organizations, for example, ranked among the highest-rated sectors globally, averaging 4.72 stars and generating more than 83% five-star reviews. Yet the underlying drivers of satisfaction, including welcoming staff, clear communication, professionalism, and a sense that the experience was worth the investment, appear consistently across categories.

Whether someone attends a Broadway performance, a baseball game, a county fair, or a museum exhibition, they rarely separate the event from the journey surrounding it. The memory is shaped by every interaction, from purchasing a ticket to leaving the parking lot.

The Next Evolution of Guest Experience

The industry has never had more access to guest feedback than it does today. The challenge is no longer collecting comments but transforming thousands of individual voices into meaningful operational insight. The organizations that do this well won't simply react to guest feedback; they'll use it to anticipate expectations, improve experiences, and build stronger guest loyalty over time.

Want to explore the data for yourself? The findings highlighted here are just a snapshot of the insights uncovered in accesso's 2026 Voice of the Visitor report. Download the full report to explore guest sentiment trends across 64 experience themes, benchmark your organization against broader industry trends, and uncover practical opportunities to improve every stage of the guest journey.

Download the 2026 Voice of the Visitor Report

This article was sponsored by accesso.