With inbound visitor numbers to the UK predicted to increase to 30.6 million visits in 2006, and a corresponding increase in spend by these visitors to £14.5bn*, there is growing pressure on the operators of visitor attractions to ensure that their systems are ready to cope.

"The steady growth in visitor numbers to attractions across the UK makes it imperative for managers to ensure that all their systems can not only cope with the increased volume but can also maximise the opportunity to increase revenues in areas such as secondary spending", comments David Smith, director at Kamarin Computers Ltd.

"Having the right systems in place can help managers to run their businesses in real-time, enabling rapid decision making based on access to up to date information collated from all parts of the business".

Kamarin are showcasing the latest version of their KCPOS integrated point of sale technology at January's Visitor Experience Show. KCPOS can be deployed at all points of sale, from ticketing through catering to retail outlets and integrates fully to back-office accounting and management systems.

"We've designed KCPOS to work on the latest touchscreen technology and to be as easy as possible for both permanent and temporary staff to use", adds David Smith. "The system can prompt the operator right through the transaction, helping them to serve the customer better and to cross-sell and up-sell".

With streamlined payment processing for cash and card transactions, including Chip and Pin support, the latest KCPOS version is fully expandable from a single till system to multiple tills across multiple sites, all linked using cost effective broadband connections.

"The new version of KCPOS provides features that are extremely important to visitor attractions, such as automatically prompting for Gift Aid charity information from visitors at the point of sale. With links to the major accounting systems, such as Iris Exchequer Enterprise, Pegasus and Access, KCPOS delivers major benefits in other areas such as efficiency, cost saving, improved purchasing and better customer service", concludes David Smith.