Sydney startup AirService partners with Village Roadshow to help theme park guests skip the lines

A Sydney startup has partnered with Village Roadshow to roll out its mobile ordering and payment software in theme parks around Australia.

AirService’s new mobile ordering and virtual queuing app eServe will allow theme park guests to skip the lines and continue to enjoy the park while their food and drinks are being prepared.

AirService founder Dominic Bressan says eServe will offer a seamless ordering, payment and takeaway experience for Australian theme park guests, while also providing the venues with a faster and more convenient way to serve these guests.

eServe will first be used at Gotham City restaurant at Movie World before expanding to Wet’n’Wild in Sydney and the Gold Coast, where it will be used as a premium delivery service.

The startup will then be implemented outlet-by-outlet across the Village theme parks.

AirService founder Dominic Bressan says he first started working with Village Roadshow through its Coburg drive-in theatre in Melbourne.

“I was very, very surprised that there was no-one else doing this sort of queue busting stuff in theme parks,” Bressan tells StartupSmart.

“We’re very, very lucky to work with some really, really good and big names, and to be doing this with someone as innovative and forward-thinking as Village.”

Bressan says this is a “world-first”, with the closest other offering being a trial program in Disney World last year of an app enabling in-venue ordering and food delivery during a night-time show.

“Disney were implementing this kind of technology it was adding to everything else,” he says.

“We had the opportunity to look at it with fresh eyes and look at the opportunities that haven’t been done before. There are a lot of interesting technology things we can put in place with a fresh look at the problem.”

For Village Roadshow, it’s a chance to improve the overall experience for guests and the efficiency of the parks.

“In addition to taking the logical step of making the ordering process easier for our customers, we also want to make their visit to our parks as exciting and memorably an experience as possible,” Village Roadshow Theme Parks spokesperson Selena Magill says.

“The introduction of eServe has been a huge success so far at Movie World and we’re anticipating a similar response when it’s expanded to Wet’n’Wild Gold Coast and Sydney.

“It’s great to be able to work with AirService to implement the latest technology and really give our customers an A-grade dining experience.”

Bressan says this is just the beginning for AirService, which has application across a wide range of industries.

“We’ve had really, really fast growth in the stadium and theme park space, and good growth in the hotel space,” he says.

“But what we’ve realised is we’ve built a powerful mobile commerce platform that is fully scalable across other industries, and other companies and startups are building their own business on top of our technology.

“We’re starting to license that platform more and more.”

For other founders looking to partner with large corporates in their space, he says it takes a lot of time and money but is worth it in the end.

“If you’re reliant on cash-flow you have to factor in 12 to 18 months before you can rely on much coming in,” Bressan says.

“Corporates are hard to get but once you get them they’re fantastic.”

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