Royal Ascot customer-focused changes

Article posted by Coliseum, January 27^th, 2022

Image: Edward Whitaker

The Ascot Racecourse (UK) moved to reduce density at the Royal Meeting to improve customer experience.

The ‘Royal Ascot Racecourse’ stated that the Ascot Racecourse recently announced plans for Royal Ascot (June 14^th to 18^th) to reduce density and improve the customer experience.

The 70,000-capacity Ascot Racecourse is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England (UK), which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It hosts 13 of Britain’s 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races and three Grade 1 Jumps races.

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As part of a long-term ambition and following feedback from racegoers attending the smaller scale Royal Ascot in 2021, capacity numbers will be reduced across the Royal Enclosure, Queen Anne Enclosure and Windsor Enclosure for all five days of the Royal Meeting.

The ‘Royal Ascot Racecourse’ further stated that in the Royal Enclosure, capacity on each day will be reduced by 1,000 people while the Royal Enclosure Gardens will be extended, creating a new area for circulation next to the track.

Capacities for the Queen Anne and Windsor Enclosures will be reduced by 4,150 and 2,000, respectively, and new facilities will be introduced.

The Village Enclosure, located on the Heath in the middle of the course, will be in operation for the first time since 2019 where there is the space and scope to expand on the previous capacity of 6,500.

Commented Felicity Barnard, Commercial Director at Ascot, “We are really pleased to be making these customer-focused changes to Royal Ascot this summer. They will provide an improved experience for all our racegoers across the three main enclosures, ensuring a more enjoyable atmosphere and better access to facilities throughout the site. A key message in the feedback from the 2021 Royal Meeting, when attendance was limited to 12,000 per day as part of the Government’s Events Research Programme, was that people really appreciated the benefit of additional space.”

Added Barnard, “This set us on a journey to look at how we could reduce density to improve comfort across the site going forward in a ‘normal’ scenario. Incorporating feedback from previous years and other race days, it became clear to us that we needed to make a fundamental change in terms of the capacities across the site. This was especially the case in our premier public area – the Queen Anne Enclosure – and reducing the number of people there significantly and investing in improved facilities will deliver a much better environment for people to enjoy the world-class racing on show.”

Barnard concluded, “It is crucial that we protect the unique and very special sense of occasion that people feel when they come to Royal Ascot and we hope that these changes will provide an enhanced experience for all our racegoers. Ticket sales have been strong since launch last Summer and they will clearly be in higher demand as a result of these changes at what will be a special Royal Meeting in the Platinum Jubilee year.”

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