Abbeycroft and South Downs Leisure Drive Engagement and Booking Intent with an AI Recommendation Engine
Summary
Abbeycroft and South Downs Leisure are using LeisureWise to turn complex activity catalogues into personalised booking journeys.
Early results show 85%+ booking intent and up to 30% progression into booking journeys, demonstrating strong engagement when members are guided to relevant activities.
The platform delivers this within existing systems — introducing AI-driven personalisation directly into the discovery stage of the member journey.
1,000+
Member onboarding journeys completed
85%+
Clicked “Book Now” after exploring recommendations
30%
Progressed into booking journeys
Challenge
Leisure operators run complex activity catalogues across multiple sites, often comprising hundreds of classes and programmes.
More than half of new joiners report not knowing what to do when they first join a leisure centre.
The challenge isn’t the breadth of the offer — it’s ensuring members engage with it and convert that engagement into bookings.
Most digital journeys still rely on timetables, categories or search. While functional, these experiences place the responsibility on the member to navigate a large and often complex catalogue.
In practice, this leads to:
- Uneven engagement across the programme
- Under-utilised activities
- Members defaulting to familiar choices
At the same time, operators already hold rich behavioural and booking data.
The challenge is turning that data into something that actively influences behaviour, not just reports on it.
Solution
LeisureWise is an AI-powered recommendation engine built specifically for leisure operators.
It uses behavioural and booking data to understand member goals, preferences and habits — then connects them to relevant activities at the right time.
The platform:
- matches members to relevant classes and programmes
- surfaces personalised recommendations
- guides members towards their next activity
- directs them into the booking journey via deep links
Rather than relying on search, LeisureWise introduces a series of personalised moments that keep members engaged and help operators influence behaviour at the point where decisions are made.
Impact
AI-driven personalisation is delivering measurable improvements across engagement and booking behaviour.
By guiding members towards relevant activities, operators are:
- Increasing engagement across the programme
- Improving utilisation of existing sessions
- Strengthening progression into booking
Delivery
LeisureWise was introduced into both operators’ existing digital environments without replacing core systems.
Implementation included:
- Integration with CRM and booking platforms
- Preparation of historic booking data
- Configuration of recommendation models aligned to live catalogues
The platform operates upstream of the booking journey, allowing operators to introduce AI-driven personalisation without disrupting existing infrastructure.
What’s Next
With LeisureWise now live across both operators, the focus shifts to scaling impact and reducing operational effort.
Key areas of development include:
- improving automation of data and catalogue setup to reduce manual effort
- introducing a self-serve admin portal to give operators greater control and visibility
- enhancing tracking and insights to better understand the journey from recommendation to booking
- expanding integrations across leisure management systems, while deepening in-app experiences with partners such as myFitApp
- advancing personalisation to support ongoing member engagement beyond initial discovery
As more members interact with the platform, LeisureWise continues to learn — strengthening its ability to drive engagement and convert interest into bookings.
Want to see how AI-driven recommendations could increase engagement and bookings in your environment?
Get in touch to explore how it could work for your organisation.