Theme Parks Circuses of the Modern Era
From Travel Trends.com
21 November, 2011 by Martin Kelly
Roll up, roll up – the circus is in town. Only it’s not the circus as history knows it. I’m talking about the modern version – theme parks, which are playing an increasingly important role in driving global tourism, especially in Asia.There’s not another tourism category that works harder for its business with consistent reinvention and aggressive, creative marketing the core mantras.
Never has this been more obvious than the past year, a tough 12 months for the Australian industry thanks largely to its geographic focus on the Gold Coast.
The Queensland holiday strip has been doing it tough and this has been reflected in the recent performance of the two big players – Village Roadshow and Ardent Leisure.
Village owns Movie World, Sea World and Wet ‘n’ Wild, while arch rival Ardent Leisure operates Dreamworld and Whitewater World.
The two fought it out tooth and nail in the first half of this year with a price discounting war stimulating demand – attendance at Ardent Leisure parks were up 30% to 2.7m – but hitting revenue with reduced profits for both operators.
Still, they made pretty good money, all things considered, demonstrating that well-run theme parks are not the rollercoaster ride some may think.
Village Roadshow’s theme park division, which also includes Australian Outback Spectacular, Paradise Country, Village Roadshow Studios, Sea World Resort and two USA water parks – earned $87.2 million before tax last year.
Roll up, roll up – the circus is in town. Only it’s not the circus as history knows it. I’m talking about the modern version – theme parks, which are playing an increasingly important role in driving global tourism, especially in Asia.There’s not another tourism category that works harder for its business with consistent reinvention and aggressive, creative marketing the core mantras.
Never has this been more obvious than the past year, a tough 12 months for the Australian industry thanks largely to its geographic focus on the Gold Coast.
The Queensland holiday strip has been doing it tough and this has been reflected in the recent performance of the two big players – Village Roadshow and Ardent Leisure.
Village owns Movie World, Sea World and Wet ‘n’ Wild, while arch rival Ardent Leisure operates Dreamworld and Whitewater World.
The two fought it out tooth and nail in the first half of this year with a price discounting war stimulating demand – attendance at Ardent Leisure parks were up 30% to 2.7m – but hitting revenue with reduced profits for both operators.
Still, they made pretty good money, all things considered, demonstrating that well-run theme parks are not the rollercoaster ride some may think.
Village Roadshow’s theme park division, which also includes Australian Outback Spectacular, Paradise Country, Village Roadshow Studios, Sea World Resort and two USA water parks – earned $87.2 million before tax last year.
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