Overview

A concession is an agreement which allows an external organisation to promote and sell goods and services on your site. Almost anything can be a concession, such as:

• Vending machines
• Cafes/restaurants
• Gift shops
• Ice cream vans
• Mobile caterers (e.g. burger vans)
• Cycle hire
• Boat hire
• Land train
• Deckchair hire
• Sports equipment hire
• Corporate facilities (conference, banqueting and meeting rooms)
• Education centres
• Permanent/seasonal fair grounds
• Mini golf
• Tennis courts
• Bowling greens
• Pony rides

Ideas for concessions can come from the site itself or from proposals by external organisations.  Concessions should enhance visitors’ experience of the site and not detract from it.

Concessions frequently boost the appeal of a site and encourage new and repeat visitors.  A variety of concessions can also increase the dwell time of visitors as they participate in multiple activities.  

There are many ways a concession can generate income.  The concession holder can be charged a fixed ground rent for using space on your site; they can pay you a proportion of total sales or a combination of the two.  

To achieve value for money it is often beneficial to invite organisations to run a concession on your site through an open tender process.  This is a useful way of identifying the organisations who want to deliver the concession along with the quality and price they are proposing.  This helps to ensure you are getting the best deal for your concession.

It can be beneficial to produce guidelines on the dos and don’ts for concessions on your site.  This will give clarity to potential concession holders of the type of activity that is acceptable on site.

It is worth considering the length of leases to run the concession.  Short term leases (i.e. 1 year) allow you to change lease holders if the concession is not being run as you would like.  However short-term leases often limit investment.  If an organisation is given a long-term lease (i.e. 5-10 years) then they are more likely to invest in capital elements of the concession because they will see a return on their upfront investment.  For example an organisation is more likely to replace the dinghies on a boating lake if they have a secure lease for ten years rather than a 1 year lease.