Carly Straughan

Carly Straughan began her career working in tourist attractions on a 3-month contract until she found a “real job” and almost 15 years later she is still here. She now works with museums, arts and heritage, and commercial tourist attractions to leverage technology to help them support their mission.

Ticketing, technology and tourism projects have taken Carly all over the world, from Dubai’s high-tech tourism culture, to China’s futuristic theme parks, via the UK’s World-leading museum fundraising.

Carly is a passionate supporter of the tourism industry.

Ticketing + tills supremo

Expertise

  • Customer Service

  • Ticketing Software Implementation

  • Customer Experience Development

  • Timed Ticketing

  • Dynamic Pricing

Affiliations

  • VE: Forum

  • Westminster University Guest Lecturer

Where Carly works

This office space contains much more than a PC and a white board. It contains souvenirs from tourist attractions, personal items gifted to me by teams on opening days, books with some of the best career advice on the market and lots and lots of memories and knowledge built through a tourism career.

When I was looking to move into a new home in late 2019 my one big ask was a separate office space away from the house. I have worked from home at least a few days per week for the past 5 years but wow, did I plan that well or what? 2020 has become the year of work from home and, as I think about that decision to move home and find an office space, I can’t help but think that serendipity had a part to play in making sure I had what I needed during the pandemic.

In a pre - Covid working world I would normally spend a couple of days away from home each week, whether that be at a customer site visit or working in offices with other consultants. As lockdown clamped down on travel and online conferencing has become the norm this little office space has become a place that has been shared with others through the wonders of the internet.

Leading online requirements gathering workshops might not quite be as physically engaging as being in the same room but we’ve managed to accommodate most of the work that needs to be done whilst keeping everyone safe. Projects have progressed, vendors have been chosen, frantic minds have been quelled with timely progress calls, all within these walls. This tiny office space that I thought would be for background work has become the star of the show in a way I never envisaged. It makes me proud that a small piece of space meant for me could have such a big impact on getting tourist attractions the right solutions for attracting, serving and retaining their customers.

It continues to amaze me as to how people are adapting their home environments to include their working lives. Technology has allowed us to work from almost anywhere, sharing our home lives and personal spaces in ways we would have thought bizarre a few years ago. Technology and personal spaces are colliding in a way that would seem alien in the past, it’s nice to have a space that reflects me both professionally and personally.

Combining tourism and technology has always been my passion, it looks like – in a post - COVID world - that might be more vital than ever.