Managing time slots, controlling access without an on-site team and handling peaks in Christmas orders… These are some of the challenges Salive faces, as it organises 8 street food tours across Paris every week. Its answer is simple and was developed during lockdown: no guide, a paper kit handed out at the first restaurant, and participants making their own way between each stop.
Salive works with around forty partner restaurants in total, each committed to fixed time slots every week. Its role is to provide them with a predictable flow of customers without disrupting their day-to-day operations. For participants, the tasting experience needs to be high-quality while remaining as simple as possible to follow independently.
In this interview, Lola Zerbib, co-founder of Salive, talks about her food tours and what she believes makes the difference when it comes to managing these food experiences day-to-day.
Summary
1. How do you manage multiple start times for the same event?
At Salive, each food tour follows a route through a Paris neighbourhood, stopping at 5 independent restaurants. At each stop, participants collect a takeaway portion to enjoy as they walk to the next address. Depending on the season, these tours run 5 to 8 times a week.
Before opening ticket sales, Lola and her team make sure that all the restaurants are available for the upcoming sessions, route by route. Once partners agree to the schedule, often 4 to 6 months in advance, Salive gradually puts each time slot on sale using the Sessions mode in WeezTicket.
Each departure has its own capacity, adjusted according to the number of participants each restaurant can handle without disrupting its own operations. For Salive, this means between 20 and 40 participants per time slot.
Once configured, each ticketing module can be embedded on the relevant website page in just a few clicks using a code automatically provided by WeezTicket.
“We organise tours every week, and our partners know that each time they’ll be welcoming around twenty customers during time slots agreed in advance.”
By centralising everything in one tool, the Salive team can share participant numbers with the restaurants on each route, helping to reduce waste and avoid mistakes.
2. How do you control access without an on-site team?
Salive’s tours are completely self-guided. Access checks would therefore have to be handled by partner restaurants, whose teams change regularly. In this context, checking every ticket individually would be too restrictive, particularly during busy periods.
This is why Salive uses an internally developed mini-app connected to the WeezTicket API. When participants arrive at the first restaurant on the route, they scan an on-site QR code and enter their email address on a dedicated page. Their phone then displays the number of kits they are entitled to, along with the language of the tour they booked. This information is collected when they place their order through Weezevent and retrieved via the API.
The flexibility of WeezTicket solves 2 problems at once:
- Making things easier for restaurants: there is no need for printed lists of names to tick off. Participants simply show their screen, ask for their kit and the experience can begin.
- Keeping track of arrivals without sharing personal data: Salive knows who has arrived and at what time, without ever sharing email addresses, first names or surnames with its partners. This record can also be used afterwards if a participant makes a complaint.
3. How can you stop managing gift vouchers and promo codes manually?
With Salive’s previous ticketing provider, every gift voucher had to be created manually: generating the code, creating the PDF and sending it out. The problem was that at Christmas, orders could exceed 50 a day, and the team once had to remain on call until 9 pm on Christmas Eve to handle the last-minute orders.
Since adopting WeezTicket, codes are now generated and sent automatically, with no manual intervention required, even during peak sales periods. All orders are centralised within the platform, while a dashboard provides an overview of the days when sales are highest. This change saves time and allows Salive to handle periods of high demand without adding to the team’s workload.
4. How can ticketing data be used to create marketing campaigns?
Salive collects participants’ email addresses and phone numbers through WeezTicket, choosing to keep form fields to a minimum to reduce checkout abandonment.
This data is then imported into its email marketing platform to run 2 campaigns:
- An email 24 hours before each session, containing practical information about the meeting point and an introduction to the route.
- An email after the tour, to collect feedback from participants.
From WeezTicket, Salive can quickly export their attendee lists and import them into their CRM. The next step is to connect the 2 tools via the WeezTicket API to automate these transfers, or to go through Gigz, built to centralise and make use of attendee data without having to manage these exports by hand.
At the same time, Salive also uses promo codes to track its acquisition campaigns on social media. These codes, often linked to a 5% discount or a few euros off, encourage newsletter sign-ups and help segment participants according to their responses to different offers.
Organising food tours every week, with several restaurants involved and no on-site team, comes down to the same requirement: automating everything that can be automated so the team can focus on the experience and its partnerships.
WeezTicket supports this approach by centralising time slots, capacities, access and gift vouchers within a single platform. This allows Salive to give restaurants reliable forecasts, let participants manage their own access and handle sales peaks without needing a dedicated team.
Do you organise recurring events with several partners? Our ticketing and access control solutions let you manage time slots and capacities from a single platform.
FAQ
Q: What is a food tour?
A food tour is a culinary walk through the streets of a city, designed to introduce participants to the food and local specialities of a neighbourhood through several different stops. This type of food experience appeals both to visitors and to locals looking to discover new flavours in their own city.
Q: How does a food tour work?
A food tour takes participants to several restaurants or local venues, with a tasting at each stop along the route. Some are led by a guide, while others are self-guided using printed or digital materials. The experience combines exploring the streets of a neighbourhood, discovering its history and enjoying a full meal from the beginning to the end of the tour.
Q: How long does a food tour last?
The length of a food tour varies depending on the format. A typical food tour lasts between 2 and 3 hours, giving participants enough time to walk between each restaurant and enjoy every tasting.
Q: Does the price of a food tour include the food?
In most cases, the ticket price includes all the tastings provided during the tour. Some operators also offer a wine pairing to complement the food experience.
Q: How do you book a food tour?
A food tour can be booked online through the organiser’s website. Participants simply choose a date and time slot before purchasing their ticket. With a ticketing solution such as WeezTicket, organisers can manage bookings, capacities and time slots from a customisable mini-site.
Q: Are food tours suitable for groups?
A food tour can be enjoyed alone, in a small group, as a couple or with friends. Each time slot is designed to accommodate several groups while keeping the experience running smoothly, even in busy restaurants and at peak times.
Q: Can you give a food tour as a gift?
Yes. Gift vouchers valid for one or more food tours are a common option. With WeezTicket, the code is automatically generated and sent by email as soon as the purchase is made.
Q: How do you choose the best food tour in a city?
The right choice depends on the neighbourhood, the format, whether or not there is an expert guide, and the local venues featured by the provider. A clear overview of the itinerary and recent reviews can help you choose the experience that best suits your tastes.
Q: How can organisers make their food tours easier to manage?
Managing multiple time slots, controlling access and automating the delivery of gift vouchers are some of the main challenges faced by food tour operators. A solution such as WeezTicket centralises these tasks within a single platform, allowing organisers to focus on the quality of the event rather than administration. The solution also offers a range of other features, including customisable order emails, multilingual management and a multi-event module.
Q: Where can you find reviews of food tours?
Reviews are generally available on the food tour’s website or social media channels. For any questions about prices, dates or an existing booking, visitors can contact the team directly through its contact page.
