Analytics and Crowd Management at Christmas Markets
Opinions differ on whether Colmar, Strasbourg, Montreux or Dresden has the best yuletide atmosphere, but one thing is certain: crowd management at such events is a challenge for organizers. That’s why a growing number of event organizers are using analytics solutions to make real-time adjustments to layout, optimize staff positioning, and streamline reporting among stakeholders.
Improving Crowd Manage Security at Winter Season Events
Some of Europe’s Christmas markets date back hundreds of years, and many take place in the same old city centers that hosted the original events. These stagings may be ideal for creating a fairy tale mood, but they can also create significant people flow issues—especially when daily visitor numbers climb into the tens of thousands.
It’s safe to say that gut feeling guided planning for the Christmas market events of yesteryear, and that likely was sufficient for the crowds that visited. But the modern Christmas market is a tourist destination for people from outside the country and sometimes from outside the continent. How can organizers ensure that crowd management is neither a nuisance nor a security risk?
The first step in ensuring that market layout does not interfere with people flow is understanding how visitors move about in a designated space. That could be a certain segment of the market, a pavilion or indoor space, for example, or the entire market. Understanding the congestion points can help organizers position different merchants and food and drink vendors in a way that eliminates or minimizes unnecessary clustering that could potentially disrupt flow at other points of the market.
Adapting Infrastructure Based on Visitor Usage
As soon as organizers have a clear view of how visitors use market installations, they can adjust—either in real-time or in future editions. But to obtain the data necessary to make informed decisions about adjustments requires a robust data capture system capable of delivering accurate real-time and historical data.
As Christmas market events are generally free and open to the public, relying on ticketing data or reservations is not possible (never mind if either method is effective). Considering the complexity of the events, manual counting is also a non-starter.
Real-time views of where and at what rate visitors are arriving at Christmas markets are essential for repositioning support and security staff. Real-time, objective data also allows organizers to immediately respond to unforeseen events disrupting flows.
Better Stakeholder Alignment
Christmas markets are usually a public-private organization structure, with stakeholders sharing rights and obligations. As a revenue-generation event for many cities, ensuring markets are secure and designed in a way that bolsters public coffers is a balancing act.
To confirm they are using public funds wisely, more and more government and non-governmental entities want performance reports based on objective data. Some want to know how many people visited the markets, a tally that can only be accurately achieved with robust people counting tools. Others want more complex occupancy data from different parts of the festival, queue length reporting and other KPIs that can help in funding decisions or in work to improve future events.
A sophisticated data capture system doesn’t only capture this data automatically, it can also deliver easy-to-use KPI reports that internal and external stakeholders can reference. Getting raw data into a form that supports fact-based decision-making doesn’t have to be as complicated as finding a parking spot at the Christmas market!
A Solution for Now and in the Future
Unlike their counterparts in retail or building management, event management specialists often handle hardware on a more intermittent basis, sometimes for just a few days or even less. Recognizing the need for ongoing investment protection, event integrators value robust, high-quality sensors that can endure the rigors of multiple events. This practice not only saves money in the long run but also ensures the sensors can adapt to a wide range of use cases.
Sensor data plays a crucial role in event planning, opening opportunities for targeted marketing, and optimization. To ensure maximum flexibility, integrators are increasingly investing in durable sensors that can function both indoors and outdoors in various configurations.
Additionally, data privacy concerns are gaining prominence, as integrators seek sensors that comply with evolving regulations. A data capture solution that violates data privacy protocols could jeopardize an event's success or even lead to public relations issues.
Xovis and Smart Outdoor Events
Xovis works with partners across many different industries, including event management. By working closely with integrators on a wide range of cultural and sporting events, across all four seasons, on almost as many continents, we have a better sense of the challenges professionals in this fast-growing segment face.
Tags: | retail | people counting | crowd management | events | event solutions |
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