Photogenic Inc., a souvenir photography company providing ground-breaking capture technologies, and parent company Cherry Hill Programs take a look at some lessons from 2020, according to theme-park industry news site, Blooloop. Photogenic and Cherry Hill Programs joined forces in 2018, under the leadership of CEO Steve Craig.

According to the report, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the Cherry Hill Programs to launch a new virtual holiday experience in October 2020, called “Create Holiday Magic”.

“This B2C brand gave people a chance to experience a live Zoom call with Santa himself, as well as a pre-recorded Story Time. It also featured the innovative photography platforms My Photo with Santa and My Pet Photo with Santa.

“Much of what happened in 2020 was unprecedented, meaning it was not easy to anticipate consumer behavior. Ahead of the Christmas period, a shift in demand from onsite Santa visits to virtual experiences was expected, but this happened at a slower rate. Search engine and web traffic data showed that consumers still preferred onsite Santa photography to virtual experiences by a ratio of over 2:1.”