9 ticket types to consider for your summer events & attractions

If you’ve never given your ticketing strategy much thought – we say there’s no time like the present! Not only can running different ticket types help you make more sales, it gives your attendees the option to pay for your events in a way that suits them. All the better for a thriving, sell-out season. 

Let’s get stuck straight in – below we cover a range of ticket types that could help you nail your best summer season yet. We’ve also covered which types of events lend themselves best to each ticket type. 

Tip: Ticket Tailor is one of the cheapest ticketing sites out there, and easily lets you create a multitude of different ticket types in just a few clicks 😌. Find out more >

What are the different types of tickets?

First – a quick recap of some of the standard ticket types commonly used across a range of events and attractions:

• General Admission – your bog standard entry ticket; no frills, no fuss.
• Multi-day tickets – a ticket that provides multi-day access to an event (where there’s also the option to buy a single day ticket).
• Reserved seating – tickets that provide a reserved seat at a seated event.
• Early bird tickets – an early release of a limited number of tickets at a discounted rate.
• Door tickets – tickets that can be bought ‘on the door’ of an event, without needing to book in advance.
• VIP tickets – tickets that come with special extras, like access to a VIP area.
• Family pass – a ticket for a set amount of family members (at a cheaper rate than if tickets were bought separately).
• Memberships & season passes – where attendees pay a one-off payment then get to access your attraction or events for a set amount of time (say, the summer season).
• Kids go free – where adults buy tickets, but there’s no charge for kids.

What types of tickets are best for my event/s or attraction?

With so many different ticket types to choose from, it can be hard to know where to start when it comes to choosing the right combination for your events or attraction. That’s why we’ve broken down all you need to know about the above ticket types, complete with which summer events and attractions they’d be suited to.

Tip: Find out how to create and sell different ticket types with Ticket Tailor >

General admission

Great for: pretty much any event or attraction that doesn’t require reserved seating 

Most events and attractions will have general admission tickets – even if they also have other ticket types available. Consider this your ticketing baseline; the cost covers the standard stuff on offer at your event, with no additional extras or discounts. 

Multi-day tickets

Great for: music festivals, food & drink festivals, retreats, theme parks, safaris, water parks, kids play centres, historic sites and attractions

If you run an event or attraction that draws visitors on a full weekend or multi-day basis, multi-day tickets are a must. These allow visitors to purchase entry to your event or attraction for a set amount of days, at a slightly cheaper rate than if they were to buy separate tickets for each day. It’s worth bearing in mind that multi-day tickets are only really necessary if visitors also have the option to attend for a single day or multiple days (otherwise you’d just need normal general admission tickets).

Reserved seating

Great for: outdoor theatres, outdoor music, outdoor comedy, outdoor cinema

Seated events can be made to run a whole lot smoother when you give attendees the chance to reserve seats at the point of ticket sale. Even with small seated events, ticket buyers might feel that bit more relaxed knowing they’ve got a guaranteed spot with their friends and family. (Most of us will have learned from experience that worrying about scrambling for seats can take the edge off looking forward to an event!)

Tip: With Ticket Tailor, it’s super easy to create your own seating charts (we have a step-by-step guide to walk you through) – so ticket buyers can choose their seats in a couple of clicks at the point of ticket sale.

Early bird tickets

Great for: music festivals, food & drink festivals, retreats, music nights, garden parties

Early bird tickets are a great option for highly anticipated events, as they give people who are eager to attend the chance to secure their place sooner than usual – and at a discounted rate to boot. As well as this, they’re a great way to encourage those on-the-fencers who tend to leave decisions ‘til the last minute. Finally, early bird tickets help to build hype around your event; as numbers dwindle (because you’ve only released a set amount), potential attendees start to feel that FOMO kicking in!

Door tickets

Great for: outdoor events and attractions that depend on the weather, recurring events 

If your event or attraction draws in a more spontaneous crowd, it’s definitely a wise move to reserve some tickets to be sold on the door, rather than only offering advance online ticketing. Doing so can work really well for slightly lower-stakes events and attractions – for example, museum grounds and gardens where warmer days are naturally way busier than days when it’s raining. You might not want to reserve any door tickets for a larger scale, one-off event, as this opens you up to the risk of not knowing how many tickets you’ve sold until the day. 

VIP tickets

Great for: Music festivals, music nights, food & drink festivals, garden parties, theme parks  

Adding a little luxe to your event or attraction can be a great way to boost your profits and give things a more exciting, dynamic feel. A VIP ticket could include anything from access to a VIP area, free fizz on arrival, gift bags, queue jumping – or basically anything else that goes above and beyond ‘general admission’. 

Family pass 

Great for: family funday events, kids attractions, theme parks, safaris, water parks, circuses, historic sites and attractions, grounds & gardens

If families make up a significant portion of your attendees, it’s well worth considering offering discounted rates for groups. For example, you could offer admission for four people at a lower rate than four individual tickets. This can be an integral part of making your event or attraction more appealing to families, as costs can soon rack up when you’ve got multiple kids in tow!

Memberships & season passes

Great for: theme parks, safaris, water parks, kids attractions, historic sites & attractions, grounds and gardens

If your venue or attraction is open frequently across the summer, it can be a great idea to offer memberships to regular visitors. This gives you the opportunity to reward your best customers, encourages visitors to return more frequently and helps to foster brand loyalty (which can help you grow more revenue! 💪). 

Tip: With Ticket Tailor, you can now email all of your members using our handy Membership Broadcasts feature – so you can update them with important event announcements, and generally nurture your relationship with your loyal customers. Nice. 

Kids go free

Great for: outdoor theatre, music festivals, food & drinks festivals, garden parties

Offering free entry for kids can be a fantastic way to broaden your appeal to those families who may not be able to fork out for several tickets. If parents can grab their tickets to a great event without worrying about paying for kids’ tickets or childcare – they could be much more likely to attend your events. This tactic can be most suited to events that are geared towards adults but which are also totally kid-friendly (as opposed to full-on kids’ events, where you might consider charging for kids’ tickets and letting adults go free!). 

For a couple of examples in action – check out this outdoor theatre that lets kids go free, and this kids play centre that lets adults go free.

And that’s a wrap! We hope these tips have been useful. Now to hone that ticketing strategy, and what the sales come rolling in. Good luck!