Competition in the Market: Amusement Parks and Theme Parks

Fairy Tale Themed Roller Coaster: The creators behind this roller coaster ride want to ensure that they attract children and make them believe that they have had a surreal experience. The theme attracts children of an age gap that enjoys traveling to the world of fairy tales. The bright colors, pictures, and overall look of the ride brings them towards these fun and enthralling rides. These rides are generating a satisfactory amount as kids can never ignore their childhood attachments with fairy tales, and that’s what attracts them the most to these.

Roller Coaster Ending With A Pool: for all the water lovers, this ride is the perfect fit. The mastermind behind this ride has formulated a trip that gives thrill through speed, and in the end, the splash of water excites a person more than the ride itself. The queues are long for this ride. It is always included in the list of rides of the park goers. The income generated from this is a hefty amount usually because the producers successfully engage and attract people towards this fantastic ride. The charm of this ride is that the fun never ends. It leaves people craving for it.

Train Roller Coaster: this one is one of the most widely used themes in roller coasters. This roller coaster idea gives a sense of unity and togetherness since trains are designed and carry people together. Mostly, families are attracted to this ride. It is a memorable experience to be with your family for an electrifying ride, which you can cherish forever. Since families are mostly the ones opting for this type of roller coaster, the money collection is on the positive side of the scale. The investors and owners enjoy the bounties gained from these rides.

Twister Coaster: This roller coaster is not the usual free-fall type. This comes in the category of a circular ride. People who do not enjoy free fall roller coasters happily opt for this one. This gives them the thrill and joy that they would have otherwise lacked from experiencing due to any reason. On the other hand, it is also chosen by those who want to try both types of roller coasters. Twister Coaster is adding a substantial amount of money in the banks of its investors. It is their idea of taking into consideration those who would have been left out otherwise.

These are a few iterations of roller coasters that have been successful in attracting varying crowds to theme parks due to a host of reasons as mentioned above. In order to introduce such an attraction successfully, the management has to understand their brand image, their primary audience, and if they are looking to branch out. Considering all those factors will allow the amusement park management to understand what marketing strategy should be implemented, what kind of attraction is a fit for their park, and whether or not trying to move away from their core audience.

Chances of Failure

Theme parks are either owned privately or as part of a large franchise, if they are under private ownership the park does not have to disclose their financial reports to the public. On the other hand, if the parks are part of a large franchise, then they do have to report their finances but only at a consolidated level. As such, it means that making out the results for each individual part is not possible.

Furthermore, studies indicated that internal factors are much more impactful when it comes to influencing the success of a firm. For instance; “Three constructs are included as internal: leadership/employee capabilities, strategic/operational policies, and the acknowledgment of the company's characteristics. Beginning with the company's characteristics, this refers to attributes of the firm: its age, its size, and even its industry”.

However, the issue only seems to impact smaller or regional parks, while massive entities such as Universal, SeaWorld, and Disney parks are do not seem to be affected by the issue.

Challenges to Success

A huge challenge here is the nature of the business, as people have to be free from their daily lives and work to take part in the fun. No matter how attractive the amusement park is, people are not going to sacrifice the education of their children as such, most amusement parts only see profits in the holidays. Therefore, it can be an issue to keep the business up and running throughout the year. This means that the competition is tough as all theme parks have to share the holidays. The competition is very severe due to this, as in recent years more and more theme parks have emerged with the latest technology and new attractions taking the market by storm. As such, while the market promises to offer a handsome revenue it is going to be quite difficult for newcomers to take a piece unless they have a solid direction they are taking the amusement park.

Furthermore as noted by Kaak, it is crucial that the park is able to offer customer satisfaction. The study noted that a large portion of theme parks that failed to provide satisfactory service closed down later down the life after a long struggle.

“Of these nine failed/closed theme parks, all were closed after only brief operating tenures of ten years or less, but the majority of these (six of the nine) closed in less than five years, which highlights how crucial customer satisfaction is to long-term theme park survival”.

The news of an unsatisfactory time at a theme park is spread through word of mouth and reviews online. Furthermore, over 80% of people are more likely to believe reviews online then they are to place their trust in advertisements made by the organization in question. Therefore it becomes vital that the first impression of the guests be as satisfactory as possible. If not, regaining their trust for another visit becomes almost an impossible task.

Even a single ride accident, act of violence, or a negative event can severely damage the reputation of the park for years to come. Furthermore, people will not use the ride that was the center of the focus in the negative event that occurred. Therefore, even if the park has a working piece of equipment they are not able to fully capitalize on the machinery. In that manner, the asset is wasted leaving the park suffering maintenance and repair costs.

In a study, it was noted that; “16 failed/closed theme parks reported this type of financial issue, while only seven of 23 surviving theme parks did”.

Recommendations

While it is difficult to attract consumers when the competition is so high it is not impossible. One of the key things is to distinguish the brand from others. Furthermore, establishing the basics is also highly important. In that regard, if an amusement park is to be successful the management has to make sure that the establishment meets the cleanliness standards. While being a basic necessity, it is quite difficult to keep a massive selection of land clean at all times. Since there are going to be numerous children and adults present, constantly consuming food and going on rides it is evident that an accident will happen. Therefore, one has to have hired an active cleaning cure that is suitable for the amount of land the amusement part is spread across. Furthermore, cleaning the rides is an essential aspect of the task. Keeping the rides clean helps prevent safety risks and unnecessary repairs. There are many parts of the attractions which have to be lubricated for safe function. If those parts are clogged it can be quite the issue.

If the amusement park has attractions that involve water then they have to make sure that they keep the healthy standards as stated by the CDC. For instance, the CDC stated that Recreational water illnesses (RWIs) are caused due to the germs and chemicals found in most summing pools in amusement parks. Usually, the people who enter the pools tend to swallow the water or breathe the mist causing the germs to enter their system. Some of the germs can even enter through the nose involuntarily.

Considering the availability of space for future expansion is important. It is stated that; “When a park has run out of room to accommodate these additions, current rides and attractions must be removed to make way for the new. This results in an additional expense for the park, which detracts from overall profitability”.

Therefore, the costs and time tend to be wasted on trying to introduce a new attraction to the mix. As such, it is better to always have some space available for future expansion plans. Even if at the moment it might seem unlikely.

Poor weather conditions are also a great threat to the sustainability of the park and one of the key issues introduced by the location. It was noted that many regional theme parks such as the Pleasure Island in Massachusetts, and Freedom-land USA in New York reported weather-related issues as the main cause for suffering a huge loss. Therefore, when opting to open a theme park the weather conditions of the location have to be taken into consideration as it can lead to a complete failure of the park.