Every summer and school holidays, the South West fills up — and the businesses that cope best are the ones whose technology was ready before the rush, not patched together during it. Whether you run a café, shop, tour, winery or holiday rental, here’s a checklist to get your systems set before the crowds arrive.
Make sure the basics can take the load
- Internet and WiFi that can handle more customers, staff and devices at once — plus a backup connection so a dropout doesn’t stop you trading.
- Payments with a fallback (a backup terminal or phone-based option) for when the internet or power wobbles, which it does in storm season.
- Point of sale checked and updated, with staff who know how to use it before the first busy Saturday.
Get seasonal staff set up cleanly
Peak season means casual staff coming and going fast.
- Have a quick process to give a new casual the right logins and access on day one.
- Just as importantly, remove access cleanly when they finish — so you’re not left with forgotten accounts.
- Keep access limited to what each role needs.
Protect yourself when you’re flat out
Busy, distracted teams are exactly when scams and mistakes slip through.
- Confirm multi-factor authentication is on across email and key systems.
- Remind staff about scam emails and any “urgent” requests to change payment details.
- Check your backups are running and tested — the worst time for a failure is mid-season.
Handle the customer-facing tech
- Make sure your website, booking system and Google Business Profile show correct hours, availability and contact details for the season.
- Test online bookings and your guest WiFi the way a customer actually would.
Do a dry run
A week before it gets busy, run through a normal transaction, a payment fallback, and a WiFi check. Finding a problem on a quiet Tuesday beats finding it with a queue out the door.
Want your tourism business set up to sail through the next rush? Book a pre-season check. We’ll make sure your internet, payments, WiFi and systems are ready before the crowds arrive.