ATTRACTIONS MANAGEMENT
BALPPA NEWS
Colin Dawson UK parks have opened a number of high-profi le rides in the last year
UK parks ‘benefi ting from recession’
A report by Mintel Oxygen – Theme Parks – UK - February 2010 - reveals that the theme park industry not only enjoyed two years of solid growth in 2008 and 2009, but is actually benefi ting from the recession. A key factor is said to have been the
more straitened fi nancial circumstances of many consumers. A lot of visitors who might otherwise have travelled abroad decided to have a ‘staycation’ at home and take more day trips and short breaks.
Work starts on Drayton’s hotel
Construction work has begun on the new hotel at the Drayton Manor Theme Park in Staffordshire. The new 150-room hotel is designed
primarily to meet demand from visi- tors to the theme park, having seen an upsurge in visitor numbers following the arrival of Thomas Land in 2008. Scheduled to open in the summer
of 2011, the hotel will feature themed bedrooms, including ones from the
Thomas & Friends series.
Also on offer will be extensive con-
ferencing and hospitality facilities, complementing those already at the theme park, plus two restaurants, a coffee shop and a crèche. Colin Bryan, MD of Drayton Manor, said: “I’m pleased that after many hur- dles and a lengthy planning process, building work has fi nally begun.”
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Merlin will operate the iconic attraction
Blackpool calls in Merlin to sort out tower
Blackpool council in Lancashire, UK has signed up Merlin Entertainments to man- age the redevelopment and operations of the Blackpool Tower complex and Louis Tussauds Waxworks when it formally takes over the businesses later this year. A £10m (11.2m, US$15m) council-funded
investment programme is scheduled to start this autumn, which will see a new Dungeon attraction added to the Tower complex, plus the development of the current observation platform into an ‘Eye’ branded experience.
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The weakness of the pound has also helped, encouraging inbound tourism which has benefi ted the parks around London where most of such tourists tend to spend their time. According to the report, park operators
have also made sustained and consistent investment in new rides, attractions and areas, often breaking the usual two to three year investment cycle by adding something new every year.
A light at the end of the tunnel
Daylight Saving we have made enor- mous progress in the last few weeks. This week alone I have attended four tourism events in which there has been a political element and in every case Daylight Saving has been the major talking point. Just a few weeks ago, Prime
S
Minister Gordon Brown, in response to a question from a BALPPA mem- ber at a tourism event in Exeter stated his interest in the idea of a three year experiment and that he found the argument both interesting and worthy of consideration. Since then, with a General Election set for 6 May, all the main parties have stated their sup- port for the move. But, as a realist, I know we still have
a way to go if Daylight Saving is to become a reality. There will be a lot of various internal pressures before the Party Manifestos see the light of day (forgive the pun) and we need all tour- ism businesses and organisations to ensure their positive views are heard in the corridors of Westminster. This is my last contribution to
Attractions Management as I shall retire in July. To those of you who I may not see before then, it’s been great to have been a part of such an exciting and rewarding industry. I shall miss it, but “all good things” and all that. Best wishes to you all.
Colin Dawson chief executive, BALPPA
AM 2 2010 ©cybertrek 2010
omewhat of a dramatic head- line but after more than six years in pursuit of a switch to
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