Every Great Wolf Resort boasts a Fort Mackenzie interactive treehouse with tipping bucket
INDOOR WATERPARK RESORTS: THE FACTS BEHIND THE FIGURES
“I
t’s fascinating to see the way the scale and growth of the ‘indoor waterpark resort’ (IWR)
market is often reported. Sources claim the US waterpark resort market comprises about 360 properties in 2015. At fi rst glance, that would lead one to believe the market is saturated and potentially overbuilt. While this may to some extent be true in selected micro-markets in the US, this ‘total industry’ fi gure can include all sorts of offers, such as properties with outdoor waterplay features or adjacent outdoor waterparks, and even cruise ships. When one dives deeper into the numbers, it’s clear that of the 130 or so US properties that can accurately be categorised as indoor waterpark resorts, only a fraction – roughly 50 – are of suffi cient scale and quality to be characterised as destination IWRs. Even on the basis of a generous defi nition
©CYBERTREK 2015 AM 3 2015
Vacarro. Together they lined up potential non-executive board members – myself included – from the hospitality, leisure and property industries.
THE NEXT STAGE By late 2004, GWR was trading on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol WOLF. Buoyed by the fervent property and tourism markets of the time, the IPO valued the company’s shares aggressively. Proceeds were used to consolidate the property portfolio, complete projects in development and fund improvements and new projects. Fuelled by its successful IPO and a
The indoor waterpark resort market is not as crowded as some fi gures imply
of the destination IWR sector, Great Wolf Resorts – with its portfolio of 13 properties (including the upcoming Garden Grove resort in California) – is far and away the market leader.”
fertile development environment and project pipeline, GWR continued to expand its footprint and foster its internal systems, competencies and management team. This included a development and construction management team; in-house business development and legal resources. On the operating side, CEO Kimberly Schaefer – who steps down from the position in September this year to transition to the board in 2016 – became the primary caretaker of the brand. Tim Black, formerly of Six Flags and now GWR’s COO, was also appointed at the property management level.
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PHOTOS: GREAT WOLF RESORTS
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