Day Out With The Kids

What Day Out With The Kids does

Day Out With The Kids (DOWTK) is a UK-based online marketplace that helps families discover, compare, and book tickets to family-friendly attractions across the United Kingdom. Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Solihull (West Midlands), the company lists more than 8,500 attractions spanning zoos, theme parks, farms, aquariums, museums, sports stadium tours, and seasonal events. The site attracts roughly 30 million visitors per year, is trusted by over 10 million UK families, and carries a 4.5-star rating on Reviews.io. Leadership comprises James Morgan (CEO) and Claire Skerrett (Founder); the company is privately held as Day Out With The Kids Ltd. (Companies House number 05813603) with 11-50 employees and no disclosed institutional capital.

The platform is built as an SEO-led content and ticketing site with a regional/category discovery layer (Things To Do), a blog hub, and seasonal event pages (e.g., Summer Events Hub). Core technology is an online booking and ticket-issuance system delivering mobile e-tickets with instant confirmation, secured through payment integrations with Stripe, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and major card networks. The product line is organized around four surfaces: the main DOWTK website, a subscription VIP Pass membership at membership.dayoutwiththekids.co.uk offering exclusive discounts, kids-go-free and 2-for-1 offers; Merlin Short Breaks packaged holidays at Merlin attractions; and Day Out Diaries, a Family Creator Network sub-brand for user-generated reviews.

Revenue is generated across four streams: transaction commissions on attraction tickets, recurring VIP Pass subscription fees, affiliate referral commissions (TUI holidays, Merlin Short Breaks), and advertising/featured listings from attractions. Distribution partnerships with Merlin Entertainments, Chester Zoo, Port Lympne Safari Park, Twycross Zoo, and West Midlands Safari Park anchor the inventory. Go-to-market is direct-to-consumer online, with traffic driven primarily by organic SEO, location-based search, and content marketing, supported by co-marketing with travel and attraction partners.

Name

Day Out With The Kids

Legal name

Day Out With The Kids Ltd.

Website

https://dayoutwiththekids.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Day Out With The Kids is a UK online marketplace founded in 2006 that helps families discover, compare, and book tickets to 8,500+ UK family attractions. It earns revenue from ticket commissions, a VIP Pass membership, and travel affiliate referrals, serving 10 million+ UK families annually.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Family Attraction Ticketing

NAICS

Amusement Parks and Arcades (7131), Amusement and Theme Parks (713110)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Destination Theme Parks (Large-Scale, Multi-Attraction Parks) (THAJAEAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Amusement Parks (Regional/Local Ride Parks & Funfairs) (THAJAEAD), Family Entertainment Centers & Indoor Amusement (Arcades, Trampoline Parks, Indoor Play) (THAAAAAD)

Keywords

• Family attraction tickets
• Day out booking
• Theme park discounts
• Uk family travel
• Attraction ticket comparison

Headquarters

HQ city

Birmingham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Attraction Ticket Sales Commission: The company earns commissions on tickets sold to attractions through their platform. Customers purchase tickets at negotiated rates and the company retains a margin.
2. VIP Membership Subscriptions: Annual membership program offering exclusive discounts, kids go free deals, and priority access to events. Provides recurring subscription revenue with £1 trial offers.
3. Affiliate and Partner Referrals: Referral commissions from travel partners including TUI holidays and Merlin Short Breaks partnerships
4. Advertising and Featured Listings: Promotional placement and featured listing fees from attractions seeking increased visibility on the platform

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Day Out With The Kids is an online discovery and ticketing platform for UK family attractions, listing over 8,500 venues including zoos, theme parks, aquariums, museums, and farms. Families use the platform to search by location and category, purchase attraction tickets with a best-price guarantee and mobile e-ticket delivery, and access exclusive discounts via the VIP Pass subscription membership, with additional holiday packages through Merlin Short Breaks and TUI partnerships.

Product overview

Day Out With The Kids is a single unified online platform for UK family days out. The core offering consists of an attraction discovery and ticket booking website (dayoutwiththekids.co.uk) featuring over 8,500 UK attractions. This is supported by a VIP Pass membership add-on that provides exclusive discounts and kids-go-free deals, a Merlin Short Breaks holiday package service, the Day Out Diaries family creator review network, and a Blog/Content Hub for editorial content. The platform enables families to search by location, category, or attraction type; book tickets with best-price guarantees; and save money through the VIP membership program.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Day Out Diaries: A platform within the Day Out With The Kids ecosystem where real families share unfiltered reviews and experiences of UK days out, part of the Family Creator Network.
• VIP Pass

Products and services

• Day Out With The Kids Website Platform UK-based online platform enabling families to discover, compare, and book tickets to over 8,500 family-friendly attractions across the United Kingdom, with location and category search, best-price guarantee, and mobile e-ticket delivery.
• Ticket Booking Service Online ticket booking service providing best-price attraction tickets for UK family days out, with mobile e-tickets and instant confirmation, for families seeking attractions such as zoos, theme parks, aquariums, museums, farms, and indoor/outdoor activity venues.
• VIP Pass Membership Annual subscription membership program offering UK families exclusive discounts on attraction tickets, kids-go-free deals, and 2-for-1 offers at participating venues.
• Merlin Short Breaks Holiday package booking service offering themed hotel accommodations combined with park tickets and breakfast at Merlin attractions including Alton Towers, LEGOLAND Windsor, Chessington World of Adventures, Thorpe Park, and Warwick Castle, for UK families.

Quantifiable outcome

• Trusted by over 10 million UK families for ticket bookings annually
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Merlin EntertainmentscoreGTM or Marketing PartnerStrategic co-marketing partnership featuring Merlin Short Breaks packages at Alton Towers Resort, LEGOLAND Windsor, Chessington World of Adventures, Thorpe Park, and Warwick Castle. Offers themed hotel + park tickets + breakfast packages from £39-55 per person. DOWTK promotes these packages on their travel section.
• TUIminorGTM or Marketing PartnerTravel partnership where DOWTK features TUI holiday deals and savings campaigns. Includes promotional banner mentioning 'BIG savings on 2026 holidays with TUI' with up to £300 off per booking plus £200 extra off selected holidays. DOWTK receives referral commissions for holiday bookings.
• Chester ZoocoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOfficial ticket distribution partner selling Chester Zoo tickets from £34.21 with mobile e-ticket delivery and instant confirmation
• Port Lympne Safari ParkcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorTicket distribution partner with exclusive pricing from £28 including FREE Safari Truck Ride and free cancellation
• Twycross ZoocoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorVIP partner offering exclusive discounts with tickets from £28.75. Featured in VIP membership discount offers.
• West Midlands Safari ParkcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorTicket distribution partner with prices from £17.40 and VIP membership discount offers

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Tiqets: Online ticketing platform for museums, attractions and experiences across Europe and globally. Comparable as a digital intermediary connecting consumers to leisure attractions via commission-based ticket sales, though broader in scope and more international than Day Out With The Kids.
• Klook: Asia-headquartered global booking platform for attractions, tours and experiences. Comparable marketplace model with commission-based ticket sales; expanding into European family attractions and competing for the same UK family leisure customer.
• Headout: Mobile-first marketplace for last-minute tours, attractions and experiences. Comparable business model connecting consumers to leisure attractions through commission-based bookings; targets overlapping urban family leisure demand in the UK and Europe.
• AttractionTickets.com: UK-focused online ticket retailer for theme parks, attractions and family days out, selling tickets to Merlin properties and other major attractions. Directly comparable business model (commission-based ticket sales with discount-led positioning) and customer base to Day Out With The Kids.
• Viator (Tripadvisor): Global marketplace for tours, attractions and experiences owned by Tripadvisor. Operates the same commission-based booking model connecting consumers to leisure attractions and is a direct competitor for online family attraction bookings, particularly in London and other UK cities.
• GetYourGuide: Berlin-based global booking platform for tours, attractions and experiences. Directly comparable as a digital marketplace for paid leisure experiences with a commission model; competes for the same UK family attraction demand, though at significantly larger scale.

Broad incumbents

• Groupon: Global deals and experiences marketplace offering discounted local activities, days out and attractions. Broader incumbent that overlaps with Day Out With The Kids on family leisure deals but covers a much wider range of categories (dining, beauty, goods) beyond attractions.
• Booking.com: Largest global online travel agency with an expanding attractions and experiences vertical alongside its core accommodation offering. Increasingly competes for UK attraction ticket demand as a broad incumbent with significant marketing and SEO scale advantages over Day Out With The Kids.

Others

• TUI: Europe's largest integrated tourism group offering package holidays, flights and experiences. Functions as an affiliate referral partner for holiday bookings on Day Out With The Kids, while also competing for the same UK family travel wallet through its own direct holiday offerings.
• Merlin Entertainments: Operator of major UK and global attractions including Alton Towers, LEGOLAND Windsor, Chessington, Thorpe Park, Warwick Castle and SEA LIFE centres. Functions simultaneously as a strategic distribution partner (Merlin Short Breaks co-marketing) and a potential competitor driving direct bookings away from third-party platforms.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/dowtkids

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Day Out With The Kids