ATTRACTIONS


Amazon offering tours in UK distribution centre


Amazon is turning one of its distribution centres in the UK into a tourist attraction by giving visitors behind-the-scenes access to its major facility in the Midlands. The online retail giant, has signed


up its Rugeley fulfilment site near Birmingham – one of eight centres in the UK – as a place to show visitors the inner workings of the e-commerce firm. Tours of the 700,000sq ſt (65,000sq m) depot are available to anyone aged six years and over, lasting approximately one hour. Amazon is also planning to launch its ful-


filment centre tour in Germany, with more tours across Europe opening later this year. Details: http://lei.sr?a=z5Q9w


WWI tributes boost visitor numbers


First World War centenary commemorations helped boost visits to the UK to record numbers in 2014, according to figures from the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA). The sea of ceramic


poppies at the Tower of London, along with the Imperial War Museum’s new First World War Galleries among other centenary-related events, have been credited for Britain’s highest numbers ever – a rise of 6.5 per cent on the previous year’s figures. A new Matisse exhibition helped to bring


Blood-Swept Lands and Seas of Red featured 888,246 hand-made poppies


5.7 million visitors to the Tate Modern, but the British Museum retained its spot as the UK’s most popular visitor attraction for the eighth year running, drawing 6.7 million people. The highly successful Commonwealth


Games, which took place in Glasgow last year, have been attributed to a swell in num- bers for Scotland, with Scottish attractions seeing the greatest overall increase at 10 per cent compared to 2013. Te new Birmingham


Alton Towers is a flagship Merlin attraction


GIC doubles its stake in Merlin Entertainments


Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC Private has nearly doubled its stake in Merlin Entertainments to 5.2 per cent. According to Merlin representatives,


GIC has raised its holding to about 52.6 million shares, from about 27.6 million. Private equity firms CVC and Blackstone


launched the sale of their remaining 156.5 million shares in Merlin Entertainments in March. Following the purchase, GIC’s stake in Merlin – the second largest visitor attractions operator behind Walt Disney – is worth in total around £220m. In the wake of the purchase, shares of


Merlin closed up 2.8 per cent at 426.5 pence on the London Stock Exchange. Tat value subsequently fell to 420 pence a share. According to market price, Merlin as a whole is valued at around £4.28bn. Merlin posted strong end of year results


in March, recording a compounded annual growth rate from 2010 to 2014 of 12.6 per cent and welcoming 62 million visitors across its portfolio of 105 attractions – attributed to positive growth from existing attractions. Details: http://lei.sr?a=e9Y3u


10 Twycross Zoo eyes £55m masterplan


Twycross Zoo, which sits on the border of Leicestershire and Warwickshire, has announced a £55m invest- ment programme aimed at boosting visitor num- b ers and improv ing animal welfare at the zoo. Ma s t er p l anne d


b y


Weedon Architects based in Birmingham, the attraction is the only zoo in the UK to house all four kinds of great apes, and is planning to bring in bonobos, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans all together in its new great ape centre, which will come up over the course of the next decade. As part of the plans, giraffes are set to return to the zoo this April, with a new enclosure and a high viewing platform. According to Twycross Zoo’s chief executive,


Library was the most visited attraction outside of London, while the British Library saw numbers rise by 52 per cent. Another major attraction – Stonehenge – saw its numbers boosted by a new visitor centre, with the her- itage attraction welcoming 1.34 million visitors – an increase of 8.4 per cent on 2014. “I am delighted that our members figures


are going from strength to strength - reflecting the significant role they play in the economy,” said ALVA director, Bernard Donoghue. Details: http://lei.sr?a=s7m2a


Te ambitious plans are centred around a great ape habitat Te planned chimpanzee facility, sched-


Dr Sharon Redrobe, £10m will be spent over the course of the next three years, with plans including a moated island complex to house Gibbon Forest opening in Q3 of 2015, along with a new water play area and café.


Read Leisure Opportunities online: www.leisureopportunities.co.uk/digital


uled for 2016, will be the first phase of the Cognition Centre for great apes. In the centre, visitors will be able to watch the apes as the simians try to solve cognitive puzzles. The developments have been designed


with animal welfare in mind, creating a more natural environment, while also providing entertaining and educational facilities for visitors. Details: http://lei.sr?a=Q4y8A


Twitter: @leisureopps © CYBERTREK 2015


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