waterparks
waterpark toys, canada Craig White, president
What new technology are you using? Our focus is on enhancing the user- experience of our rides while keeping the cost to operators the same. It’s important in these challenging times to give operators the chance to recover their capital investments much faster.
The current trend is for family experiences
Where are your future markets? We see a lot of excitement in India and China. We’re also starting to see demand for our slides in the Middle East and African countries. We’re working on several projects in Iran, Congo, Ghana and Nigeria.
What’s the biggest challenge for operators? Waterpark operators in different countries are facing different challenges. In India,
waterparks are growing increasingly larger and the operators are facing serious capacity problems. In Europe, waterparks are struggling due to the economic situation. In the US, several parks are still struggling to get financing for their expansion plans.
What’s next for waterparks? There’s more focus on family rides where more than one person can enjoy them.
Lo-Q, Uk and Usa Ryan Dixon,
marketing manager
What new technology are you using? We’ve invested in making a virtual queuing technology, called Q-band, for waterparks. Customers rent a waterproof RFID wristband and reserve the slide that they want to go on next at a touchscreen kiosk located in the park. The small digital display on the wristband counts down to their reserved slide time. The Q-band adds revenue to an operator’s bottom line from customers renting the Q-bands because it unlocks the guest’s ability to spend in the park. We’re currently finalising a new version of the Q-band that allows guests to load cash onto their waterproof RFID wristbands, so they don’t need to carry cash around the park.
“Children’s water playgrounds are an important component of a waterpark. Teens get dropped off at the park with a few dollars, but the little ones pull the whole family to the facility”
empex water toys, canada Wyeth Tracy, president
What new technology are you using? Empex continues to develop the use of composite plastics for use in chlorinated water. This material offers properties preventing corrosion and offers low heat and electrical conductivity for safe children’s play. Being a lighter, yet very durable material, no elaborate foundations are needed, therefore construction costs are reduced.
What’s the biggest challenge for operators? The world economies continue to splutter in many parts of the world. This will be a challenge for parks and suppliers.
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How should operators market a new ride? Children’s water playgrounds are an important component of a waterpark. Teens get dropped off at the park with a few dollars, but the little ones pull the whole family to the facility.
Where are your future markets? Future markets will be active in the Middle East, China, India and Brazil. The US market is a huge economy and should be considered a future market once the economy turns the corner.
What’s next for waterparks? Waterparks will continue to evolve with larger and more elaborate water attractions. Water playgrounds, once not an important focus in the waterpark, will continue to evolve and play an increasingly important role in making these venues a continued success.
Read Attractions Management online
attractionsmanagement.com/digital
Gateway ticketinG, Usa
Michael Furman, director of sales and marketing
What new technology are you using? We’ve invested in developing a customer loyalty program, which is designed to increase per cap revenue from a park’s repeat customers. We’ve also developed a seamless mobile phone ticketing module that enables a waterpark to sell and deliver tickets generated from their ticketing system, instantly, to smartphone users.
What’s new and exciting? RFID-stored value offering. When combined with our loyalty offering, waterpark operators now have access to an incredible amount of consumer purchase behaviour detail, which can be used to make strategic and tactical decisions that impact revenue. l
AM 3 2012 ©cybertrek 2012
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