Administrator of the Towers of Notre-Dame de Paris.
“Waiting becomes enjoyable as visitors can go for a coffee, etc. and come back at the appointed time.”
President of the National Monuments Center
With 13 million visitors a year, Notre-Dame de Paris is one of the most visited and emblematic monuments in the world. Climb the 422 steps of the towers and contemplate one of the most beautiful views of Paris, and a must see for more than 450,000 French or foreign tourists each year.
But before that, each visitor must first face an average of 3 hours of waiting to get there. Something that discourages many of them. But that was before the arrival of DuckTheLine!!
As Delphine SAMSOEN, administrator of the towers of Notre-Dame at the National Monuments Center, reminds us, “the question of welcoming visitors is strategic for historic monuments welcoming a large public.”
For museums and monuments as for their visitors, the wait must no longer be experienced as inevitable.
“Today, visitor reception methods are deeply tested by the innovations implemented at the Towers of Notre Dame. What is at stake is to reinvent monuments without expectations and so to gain, every year more than 400,000 hours of free time to our visitors.”
But also an asset for local visitors. “This new device will delight tourists but also the local public who will be able to reclaim the monument and can make an appointment in the morning and no longer face the line of tourists,” explains Delphine SAMSOEN.
Facing annoyed or tired visitors, mastering several languages, supervising a crowd that accumulates at the public space. Working conditions in a place like this can be difficult for the staff. As Delphian SAMSOEN notes, “It is also progress for the staff who will no longer be confronted with the exasperated and tired visitors who are waiting. Before DuckTheLine, our teams had to tell visitors at 4pm that there was no need to line up because of the waiting time. Which was pretty frustrating. Today, we propose they register from home, it is much more comfortable.”
DuckTheLine has therefore managed 100% of this important flow and ensured the safety and comfort of visitors by freeing the public space near the monument.
A word from the team
We are delighted to have gained trust and to work, always in good spirits, with the National Monuments Center. They understood very quickly, that there was huge stakes for them behind the flow management, especially in terms of security. The operation is a real success from all levels! It released 2 hours of waiting per visitor or 40 years transformed into useful time in the space of 9 months. It has even increased traffic throughout the year and not only in high season.