Adrian Mahon BALPPA chair
“I
’ve been chair of BALPPA since January 2011 and have been with the Tussauds Group, which is now Merlin Entertainments, for 17 years.
During this time, there’s been a big
improvement in the overall quality of offer and an increased use of technol- ogy for access to the product, such as booking systems, the internet and delivery of the experience. There’s also more focus on safety, especially in the rides business, through schemes such as ADIPS for rides and PIPA for infl atables. Customers have changed too. People
have become time poor, more demand- ing and set their expectations and standards at a higher level. They want more varied leisure experiences and their attitudes and actions are increas- ingly infl uenced by social media. They expect great value for money, but are prepared to pay for great experiences and compelling propositions. Operators responded by increasing
their focus on customer experience and differentiation of brands, including use of intellectual property. Poor qual- ity and poor value offers don’t survive – they’re quickly found out. There have
Gambling Act has also brought sig- nifi cant changes, which have caused many small operators and suppliers of games machines to go out of busi- ness. As a result of BALPPA’s lobbying, prize games are exempt from the new Machine Gaming Duty, but it will still impact many operators, particularly those with mixed-use locations. BALPPA’s biggest challenges over
Mahon became BALPPA chair in January 2011
also been structural changes in the routes to market, consolidation within the market and more focus on destina- tions and resort development. BALPPA members have, on the
whole, embraced these changes. I see many examples of the application of technology around the members’ attractions, such as 3D/4D, digital pho- tography and queuing systems. Changes that are defi nitely not wel-
comed are free entry to museums and increased taxation and business rates. The UK attraction industry’s competi- tive position versus most of Europe has been eroded with VAT now at 20 per cent, compared with as low as fi ve per cent on the Continent. The
the past 15 years have been to main- tain its relevance and value for its members at times when members have many competing cost drivers. The organisation has to keep up to date with changes and understand how they impact the members’ interests. We then support members by lobbying on their behalf to try and effect change in regulations or proposed regulations. Lobbying has always been a prior- ity objective of BALPPA and this has steadily increased. Over the next 15 years there will
continue to be improvements in the customer experience, both from new technology applications and in per- sonal service delivery. After all, people are at the heart of our delivery. There has to be continu- ing improvement if we’re to prosper against all the other forms of leisure, which are competing for the leisure spend and leisure time.”
David Willrich Founder, DJ Willrich
“T
he continued improve- ments and understanding of audio technology and DLP video projectors are very positive changes. The
majority of attractions and displays in museums use both and have a very high dependency on these technolo- gies. Unfortunately, not all have the budgets to use them to the best effect. However, I get frustrated when a new
technology comes out almost too early in the development cycle. People then believe the hype and embrace it before it has made it through the technology equivalent of puberty. The replacement of CRT video projectors with LCD pro- jectors was a disaster for the best part of fi ve years – it’s only in the last two or three years that we’ve got back to
AM 3 2012 ©º 2012
reasonably priced projectors that can provide a high quality image reliably, and with the same features in terms of geometric correction that CRT projec- tors had from day one back in the 80s. Flat screen display had a similar
issue – it was a few years into their use before the image quality exceeded that of a good CRT display. The most recent is the use of LED in lighting. It’s defi nitely the way ahead, but it isn’t the answer to all lighting requirements yet. On a positive note, technology is now
so reliable, and so much can be done to support systems over the internet, that there’s a very low dependence on maintenance and, therefore, a reduc- tion in the cost of ownership. This makes it easier to do projects on the other side of the world. Smaller attrac- tions benefi t too, as they can install a technology-dependant attraction without having to employ an army of technicians and engineers for support.
Willrich established his company in 1986 Dependency on technology will con-
tinue to grow and will still need creativity. I’d like designers to trust and respect technology companies more, as they’re an important part of the equation.”
Read Attractions Management online
attractionsmanagement.com/digital 47
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