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Guest Article
Waterpark industry poised for growth in 2021
David Sangree explains why... T
David J. Sangree, MAI, CPA, ISHC, is president of Hotel & Leisure Advisors (H&LA), an international hospitality consulting firm specialising in appraisals, feasibility studies, impact analyses, economic impact studies, and litigation support for the lodging, waterpark, and leisure industries. Sangree is an internationally recognised expert on waterpark resorts and was named one of Aquatics International Magazine’s “2019 Power People” and received the Executive Board Award from the WWA in 2016.
his year promises to be one of looking forward for the waterpark industry. After the crippling effects from the COVID-19 crisis, which H&LA estimates resulted in $3.9 billion in lost revenue industry-wide, the waterpark industry is ready to turn the page and is poised for growth in 2021. However, the desire to move forward must also be tempered with ongoing concerns. Early indications for the vaccine rollout suggest that the leisure industry will not return to normal operating conditions until fall of 2021. Though the pandemic could continue to depress attendance and revenues, we forecast a markedly better year in 2021 than 2020 for operators who are ready to meet new challenges head on. Though more than half of the U.S. waterpark supply opened in some capacity in 2020, many did so to smaller crowds and capacity restrictions that resulted in lost revenue. However, among the closures, some operators were able to take advantage and complete needed renovations, while others scrapped 2020 altogether and will open again in summer 2021. That sentiment occurred with new openings as several indoor and outdoor facilities that were planned to open in 2020 postponed until 2021.
Current waterpark standings for the U.S. and Canada
As of March 2021, the U.S. and Canada had a total of 1,152 waterparks with twelve additions in 2020. Seven of these openings were in the indoor standalone segment, one new private and six municipal/non-profit.
SPRING PART 2 2021
One indoor waterpark resort and one outdoor waterpark resort opened in 2020. One municipal and two private openings occurred in the standalone outdoor waterpark segment.
The Midwest and South are home to the most waterparks, with 408 and 381, respectively. The South maintains its lead over the Midwest in total number of outdoor waterparks with 294 versus 289. The Midwest leads the U.S. and Canada in indoor waterpark resorts by a large margin with 85. The West leads in standalone indoor waterparks with 45, primarily due to the large number of municipal/ non-profit indoor aquatic facilities with waterparks in Colorado and Utah.
The South leads in resorts with outdoor waterparks with 48.
Indoor waterparks account for a greater proportion of the Canadian market with 39 indoor resort and standalone facilities.
Of all hotels with indoor and outdoor waterparks, 44% are affiliated with national hotel franchises while 56% are independent properties.
Of all standalone indoor and outdoor waterparks, 68% are municipal/non-profit while 32% are private/ for-profit.
The chart, (right), shows the breakdown of waterpark properties by type
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