How City Tours Belfast improved conversions and sales after switching from Checkfront

Explore Belfast with City Tours Belfast—known for knowledgeable guides and tours that are easy to tailor. Since 2017, they’ve offered routes from the Giant’s Causeway to Game of Thrones locations, helping visitors see the city without a rigid, one-size-fits-all itinerary.

Chris, who looks after the web side of the business, is clear about what wasn’t working with their previous booking system, Checkfront.

“We were seeing concerningly low conversion rates,” Chris explains. “Our customers were abandoning bookings, and we suspected the clunky interface was to blame.”

Day-to-day work had become harder than it needed to be. Straightforward jobs—like getting someone booked onto a tour—took too long and frustrated both guests and staff. Integrations were another pain point: connecting Checkfront with other platforms, including tools partner hotels relied on, rarely felt smooth.

“We needed a better booking experience,” Chris says—“not just for our customers online, but for my team managing bookings internally.”

That’s when City Tours Belfast went looking for a simpler setup and found TicketingHub.

“TicketingHub delivers the booking experience we craved for our online customers,” Chris says.

Moving over was easier than they expected. “It was very easy to get started with TicketingHub,” he notes—a sharp contrast with the friction they’d struggled with before.

The impact showed up where it mattered: on the website and in day-to-day sales. “It improved our website’s conversion rates, and my staff has noticed more sales,” Chris says. By smoothing out the booking path, TicketingHub reduced drop-off and made completed bookings the norm rather than the exception.

When asked what sets TicketingHub apart, his answer is direct: “It is easier to use.” That simplicity matters for staff and for customers, so the whole journey stays quick and clear.

For Chris, the standout theme is the booking experience itself—the flow from first click to confirmation. That lines up with City Tours Belfast’s aim: make planning a tour feel straightforward, not like admin.

He sums up why he’s comfortable recommending TicketingHub: “First-class customer service, ease of use, and reliable software—which is massively important. You will need to take my word for it.”

On broader growth, Chris is upbeat. “We have grown massively this year,” he says. “An aggressive SEO strategy combined with a top booking system like TicketingHub has all come together to push us to new heights of growth. We are now in new waters.” They currently see over 70% inbound visitors compared to pre-COVID levels—a major shift in where demand comes from.

For City Tours Belfast, the takeaway is practical: when the booking path is clear, marketing and operations can pull in the same direction—more completed bookings, less friction for the team, and a better first impression for every traveller who decides to explore Belfast with them.