Three Major Problems That Keep Your Ice Skating Rink From Running Efficiently

Ah, ice skating, the perfect winter pastime. Put on a warm, fuzzy hat, a fleece coat, mittens, and a scarf, and get some hot cocoa on a frosty January day! Perfect weather to head out onto the ice with family—perhaps for a romantic date or to learn to skate for the first time. It sounds like a wonderful time, but this lovely outing could be thwarted by a few problems.

Crowded ice rinks, equipment shortages, and limited staff can ruin your guests’ winter fun. There’s a big difference between the silly fun of falling on the ice in the company of your friends and family and falling and creating a huge skater pileup on a jam-packed rink stuffed with frustrated people whose good times have been marred by simply trying to get a date for this outing! 

This year, avoid these issues!  Partner with SimpleTix, the event ticket system that will save you time and money and ensure your guests will be able to make the most of their time on the ice at your rink! With SimpleTix, event ticketing is simple, straightforward, and hassle-free! Read on to see how SimpleTix can help solve your ice skating rink woes! 

1. The Ice Is Too Crowded

In 2015, approximately 50,000 people sustained injuries from ice skating.  With that many people getting injured per year, it’s important to keep safety in mind when planning a trip.  While serious injuries can occur, the most common types of injuries are bruises or contusions on areas of the body that take the hardest landing during a fall. As a rink owner, you want to prevent as many of these incidents from occurring as possible. Many families come from a distance to your ice rink, only to find that when they get there, the ice is far too crowded for them to move around. Unhappy customers will demand refunds and take their business to another rink. 

No one wants to skate when the rink is too congested to move carefully and freely! Remember: a big part of the fun isn’t just being on the ice but taking in the environment and the feeling that you’re as graceful as a figure skater in a winter wonderland. Plus, skating rink safety should always be the number one priority, especially for families with small children who are learning how to skate or beginner skaters! 

With SimpleTix, using an event ticket system doesn’t have to be a huge pain! Pre-sale tickets let you limit the number of guests who can purchase tickets for a specific date and time. Setting up timed entry ticketing lets you put skaters into fifteen-minute time slots so you can stagger their arrival, which is also great for minimizing exposure to COVID-19. No more clogged lines and a backlog of grouchy skaters waiting for their turn out on the ice!  This not only keeps the waiting lines down but also helps with crowd control on the ice itself. 

Timed entry allows your rink to maintain better safety and decreases overcrowding. Everyone won’t be scrambling to skate all at once, which can be dangerous, chaotic, and the opposite of a good time. In the likelihood that one of your guests takes a fall with the timed entry option, there will be enough room for them to get back on their feet! 

With SimpleTix’s unique event ticket system, your guests can better enjoy their experience when there are shorter lines and the rink isn’t overly packed! Another great feature of the timed entry option is that you can also designate times that are kids only or kids with their parents, which is ideal for children who are learning to skate. With SimpleTix, you can even sell memberships and season passes to your rink to ensure that your guests keep coming back! 

2. You’re Running Out of Rentals

Imagine your guests arriving at your rink, excited about a nice afternoon or evening, spending quality time with their family and loved ones, only to get there and discover there aren’t enough skates for their party! 

Most of us don’t have our own skates sitting around at home. Not having enough skates for every skater means families will find another rink to frequent. You’re now losing customers to other rinks—don’t let this happen to you! 

Running out of skates can be a problem at many rinks, especially because you are required to clean and sanitize each pair of skates after use. A limited number of rentals can lead to discontented guests and long wait times just to get out onto the ice. 

The SimpleTix event ticket system can help you avoid this snag! Pre-sales ticketing can indicate how many rentals each group in each timeslot will need, which can help you better allocate your rentals for those time slots. 

Timed entry can help guarantee that you won’t run out of skates or other equipment. Timed-entry can also help ensure that many new skaters will be able to take lessons without the ice being too overrun with more experienced skaters. You can also limit the number of tickets for a specific time slot so that you’re less likely to run out of ice skates or skating aids.

3. You Can’t Keep Up With Cleaning Skates With a Limited Staff

With numerous people on the ice at any given time, your venue’s unsanitized skates are going to pile up very quickly. They will need to be efficiently and thoroughly cleaned so that the next set of guests can begin skating. 

However, rather than being able to spend the necessary time cleaning the skates so that you can keep guests on the ice and out of line, your staff are otherwise occupied spending time checking people in and scanning their tickets. 

With SimpleTix, the unique event ticket system that partners with Square, your staff only has to scan one QR code per group, which gets people onto the ice faster and reduces necessary staff at the gate. 

Timed entry can further limit lines and the need for staff at the gate. With fewer people checking in and on the ice at one time, you can use that same staff for other aspects of your experience, most importantly cleaning all those skates! 

You can also allocate staff for running the concession stand or merchandise store, which means customers will enjoy shorter and faster-moving concession lines. Focusing on the skating experience increases the likelihood that your guests will stop by the gift shop for skates, gear, and a souvenir. 

SimpleTix, the Event Ticket System to Use This Holiday Season! 

This holiday season, don’t fall victim to these common problems that can plague rink owners! With the SimpleTix event ticket system, you can ensure that your guests will have a safe, timely, and exciting experience on the ice.  

With SimpleTix, you can be sure that your attendees will be able to hit the ice, have an excellent time, and keep coming back to make more cherished memories! Trust SimpleTix to make this winter season convenient and successful for both you and your guests.

SimpleTix has offered an affordable, premium event ticketing platform that outperforms Eventbrite and similar apps for over 12 years. Compared to the competition, SimpleTix offers better options at a better price point. To learn more, call us at +1 (855) 550-3670 or email us here.