WORLD WATERPARK ASSOCIATION (WWA)
Ubiquitous waterparks The waterpark industry is growing fast and we’re seeing both
new projects and the expansion of existing facilities, says Aleatha Ezra of the World Waterpark Association
Aleatha Ezra, director of Park Member Development, World Waterpark Association (WWA) W
aterparks have permeated our culture in ways we couldn’t have imagined even a decade ago.
They’ve popped up in all the expected places where tourists like to travel − Dubai, Sydney, the Caribbean, Bangkok, Singapore, Barcelona, Las Vegas − and also in places where tourists happily uncover these hidden recreational gems − Egypt, South Africa, Kuwait, Scotland, Afghanistan and Turkey, among many others. And they’re not just places for tourists, these days waterparks provide the back- drop for movies, television commercials and even TV reality shows. The World Waterpark Association
(WWA) is aware of over 2,000 water parks located throughout the world, with hundreds more in the works and planned openings in 2014 and beyond.
SOLID GROWTH The waterpark industry as a whole is experiencing a solid growth period, both in the opening of new facilities and in the ad- dition of major new attractions to existing
90 Attractions Handbook 2014-2015
parks located throughout North America and Asia. Thanks to this growth, more and more people are visiting waterparks. Consider the following observation made within the recent Global Attractions Attendance Report published by the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) and AECOM: “Asian attendance totals have for the first time surpassed those of North America. The Asian waterparks market showed 7.4 per cent growth with total attendance at 16 million”. While this global attractions report fo- cuses only on the top 20 facilities in both North America and Asia, these numbers support the notion that the industry is making significant strides in entering more markets and attracting more visitors.
CURRENT TRENDS The waterpark development trend is being driven by several things, some relate to financial data and some to geography. Firstly, many economies have recovered to the point where investment companies and leisure entertainment corporations are pursuing investment in new venues.
Merlin Entertainments, Europe’s leading and the world’s second-largest visitor attraction operator with 99 attractions in 22 countries across four continents, stat- ed in its 2013 annual report that: “Glob- ally, leisure spending is expected to grow by approximately five per cent per annum from 2011-2016, driven by rising incomes and increasing leisure time”. Clearly, forecasters are optimistic about
what’s happening within global economies and where consumer sentiments lie in terms of how they make decisions for their discretionary monies. This has led compa- nies like Merlin Entertainments to branch out into areas and regions where there has been an increase in the middle class. Their annual report says: “A key focus for
Merlin has been on developing its footprint in emerging markets, where a growing middle class, enjoying improving wealth and living standards, expands the market opportunity. Not only can Merlin reap this benefit in these local economies, but increasing wealth is driving international tourism, particularly in key ‘gateway’ cities such as London, New York and Hong Kong.”
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