A family at a locked gate
A family drive forty minutes to your farm park on a Monday in November. Google says open. Your website says closed on Mondays from November to February. The local tourism site still shows summer hours. The family stand at a locked gate and post a one-star review from the car park.
The office changed the website in October. Google was on the list but got forgotten. Nobody knew the tourism site existed until the review mentioned it.
Why opening hours drift
Attractions change hours more often than most businesses: seasonal patterns, school holidays, events, early closing for private hire and weather closures. Each change needs to be made in several places.
Those places are managed by different people: the website by marketing, Google by whoever set it up, ticketing by the office, and tourism and directory listings by whoever last logged in.
Google also shows its own suggestions and visitor edits, which can override what you set if nobody checks.
Visitors trust Google most. Many never open your website at all before setting off.
Sat navs, map apps and 'things to do nearby' sites copy hours from each other, so an old figure in one place can spread to several more. Once a wrong time is out there, it tends to stay until someone goes looking for it.
What conflicting hours cost
| Mismatch | Effect |
|---|---|
| Google differs from the website | Visitors arriving to a closed gate |
| Ticketing open on closed days | Tickets sold that must be refunded |
| Tourism listings out of date | Old hours shown for months |
| Special closures not published | Complaints on event or hire days |
| Nobody owns the list | Changes made in some places only |
One family at a locked gate becomes a review that every future visitor reads.
One calendar, published everywhere
We build a single opening hours calendar and connect it to the places visitors look.
- Your regular seasonal hours, closures, late openings and special days are entered once in a simple calendar.
- Your website's opening times and 'open today' notice read from it automatically.
- Google Business Profile hours and special hours are updated through its API from the same calendar.
- Ticketing availability is checked against the calendar, so tickets cannot be sold for closed days.
- A checklist of other listings, such as tourism boards and directories that cannot be updated automatically, is generated whenever hours change, with links and who is responsible.
- A weekly check compares what Google shows with your calendar and alerts you to any difference, including visitor-suggested edits.
Cases we plan for
- Weather closures on the day, which update the website and Google as soon as the calendar is changed.
- Areas with different hours, such as a café or shop that stays open later.
- Last admission times, shown separately from closing time.
- Multiple sites or entrances with their own hours.
After the calendar goes in
The calendar also becomes the single answer for your own team. Gate staff, the café and the phone line all see the same hours, so a visitor who rings to check hears the same thing that Google shows.
When winter hours start, the office changes the calendar once. The website and Google update, ticketing closes Mondays, and a checklist goes to marketing for the tourism listings. The weekly check confirms Google matches.
- One place to change opening hours
- Website and Google always matching
- No tickets sold for closed days
- A checklist for the listings that remain manual
Is this happening at your attraction?
- Google and your website show different hours.
- Visitors have arrived when you were closed.
- Tickets have been sold for closed days.
- You do not know every site that lists your hours.
- Special closures are not published everywhere.