Front Gate
parkworld-online.com
BigQuestion
What's more important to your park's success – the weather or the economy?
Rod Rankin, Darien Lake, USA: The economy is an important driver to the success of any business. However, for a theme park like Darien Lake, weather is especially critical because the majority of our operations are outdoor. Weather has both a positive and negative effect on our business – sunny days are always best, but when the weather doesn’t co-operate we offer our guests passes to come back and visit us another day so they’re always guaranteed to enjoy time together at Darien Lake.
Bernd Beitz, Holiday Park, Germany: I would say the economy is very important, but the weather is essential. If the economy is good, people go out a lot, but they also travel abroad more. If the economy is bad, people go out less, but a lot of people who do not travel abroad for vacation visit the local parks, so the drop is not that deep. However if the weather is bad, especially for a longer period, like we had in March, April and May last year, the drop is very hard. This year we see the opposite. The great weather over the Easter holidays filled the parks everywhere. Let’s hope it stays that way throughout the summer.
Gerardo Arteaga Cerda, Fantasilandia, Chile: For us the economy is more important. Why? Because the economy can affect you year-round and across all park areas such as corporate, gate, sponsorship and so forth. Weather can affect us in a very short term because we have a very stable climate during the high season.
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Figures of Fun
6.5
per cent – increase in attendance last season at Europa-Park, Germany – now Europe’s second busiest theme/amusement park
8.9
per cent – decrease in attendance during 2013 at Walt Disney Studios, Paris – formerly Europe’s second busiest theme park
26.9
per cent – increase in attendance last year at Thermas Dos Laranjais, one of two Brazilian waterparks to feature in the global top 20
34.1
per cent – increase in attendance during 2013 at Chimelong Water Park, China – now the world’s busiest waterpark
300
per cent – increase in Russian visitors last season at Gardaland, Italy
*All figures except Gardaland taken from the Theme Index 2013 courtesy of TEA/AECOM – see pages 28/29.
JUNE 2014
5
24 26 28 50
32 20 3841
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