Is it perfectly priced when they were only hitting 250,000 riders per year after targeting 750,000? I don't know a single person who's been on it and they all cite the cost
I explained the issues behind the pricing model in the second paragraph of my post, which you've cut out in your response. It's priced well if it was a continuous loading mechanism. It's also priced comparatively to the other attractions in the same area.
Brighton Zip (the longest zip wire on the south coast) is £18.65 and lasts just over a minute. I'm sure you haven't ridden this, and possibly aren't aware of anyone who has, yet the attraction remains.
Wristbands for Brighton's Palace Pier are £22 for the winter. I don't personally know anyone who's ever paid for one of these, nor have I bothered, yet the attraction remains and people pay it.
Personal experience and tastes will only get you so far when trying to explain the failing economics of an attraction. The price of a ticket, or flight, was competitive and comparative to the other attractions in the area and of similar attractions in other places.
The London Eye is £42 walk-up, £29 ahead of time. The Blackpool Tower Eye (in the most deprived council in the country) is £18.50 walk-up, £16.50 ahead of time.
The biggest issue the i360 faced was the faff of actually going and getting on the attraction. You had to book a "flight", a specific timeslot. You weren't given any leeway for being late, you were on it when it took off or you weren't. You couldn't buy tickets from the entrance on the beach, where the cafe, shop and entrance to the attraction were, you had to go to the ticket office on Kings Road. You weren't allowed to book a ticket for the nearest slot, you had to book one for the next nearest. Say you turned up at 12:01, you couldn't get the flight at 12:30, the first you could book was 13:00.
The i360 had many, many issues. Pricing wasn't one of them. Even at £10 a head, it was unlikely to ever attract the visitor numbers predicted.
