Although many of us work at museums and heritage sites that have been around a lot longer than we have, sometimes we will come across the opportunity to create a visitor experience from scratch. This might be in the form of a new exhibition or offer within an existing site, or when opening a brand-new attraction for the first time.

Creating a visitor experience from the beginning is an amazing opportunity. It allows you to set the tone of your offer and the culture of your workforce. It allows you to get all the processes and procedures in place exactly as you like them, without having to battle with pre-existing ways of doing things.

However, setting up everything from the beginning is also a lot of work. And, because many Visitor Experience professionals have been in this position as well, there's no need to reinvent the wheel in every area. This first part of the book allows you to learn from best practice when it comes to creating your visitor experience, using case studies from organisations such as the Postal Museum and the Ashmolean to help inform your work.

But this part isn't just for those starting from scratch. Going back to basics is a great way to audit a visitor experience you are already managing. So, whether you are an experienced Visitor Experience Manager or brand-new to the sector, there will be something you will find useful in this section.

Visitor Experience is all about people. Therefore, the first three chapters of this book explore the most important factor in delivering amazing visitor experiences: getting your Visitor Experience team in place. Using case studies from Margate Caves and Verdant Works: Scotland's Jute Museum, we’ll explore how to recruit and induct staff and volunteers, using processes that build diverse and enthusiastic teams.

Then, we’ll start to look at the experiences, beginning with a detailed look at visitor journey mapping. This tool can help us ensure we are considering our new experience (or our current ones) from the visitor point of view.

Finally, we’ll take a look at setting up those nuts and bolts of the visitor experience: ticketing, capacities and queues, using a case study from the Stained-Glass Museum to show that great technological solutions don't have to break the bank.