ERA/TEA Attendance 2006 is published in the April 2007 issue of Park World, and can be downloaded here. This detailed 12-page report, formerly published in Amusement Business, features attendance breakdowns for parks in five key regions, as well as analysis by the TEA (Themed Entertainment Association), which has compiled the report using data from ERA (Economics Research Associates).

“The basic purposes of a theme park visit haven’t changed,” observes Christian Aaen, senior associate at ERA’s Los Angeles office. “The simplicity of a family coming together in a safe and secure, attractive and unique themed setting remains the fundamental magnet – whether to enjoy a thrill ride, see a show or simply amble along landscaped paths and eat ice cream.”

The world’s top 25 parks alone attracted 186.5 million guests in 2006, up 2.9% on 2005. Overall attendance across the sector was up by 2.2%. “Rule number one in the theme park industry is ‘Thou shalt reinvest’,” says Ray Braun, senior vice-president of ERA. “Attendance increases of better than 4-5% were seen at parks that added major family-orientated attractions.”

The chart included in ERA/TEA Attendance 2006 for North America proves that the amusement park business is becoming increasingly dominated by corporate players. Just one of the top 20 North American parks (Hersheypark in Pennsylvania) is independently owned. Although the trend is not as extreme anywhere else in the world, there have been a number of takeovers and consolidations recently in Europe, including the recent Blackstone Group-backed merger of Merlin Entertainments and the Tussauds Group, which occurred after this report was compiled.

In Asia/Pacific Rim, Tokyo Disneyland was the most popular park in 2006, attracting 12.9 million guests, followed closely by the neighbouring Tokyo DisneySea park with 12.1 million. But ‘home grown’ venues also fared well. For example, Everland in Kyongii-Do, South Korea, which is also one of the world’s top 10 parks, welcomed 7.5 million guests.

The new Hong Kong Disneyland attracted 5.3 million guests, but Hong Kong’s own Ocean Park nevertheless saw its attendance rise in 2006, to 4.38 million. In Mainland China, the most popular park was Happy Valley in Shenzhen, run by the local OCT Group, which recently opened up a sister venue in Beijing.

In Europe, Disneyland Paris remains far and away the most visited park with 10.6 million annual guests, but the family-owned Blackpool Pleasure Beach in England is still popular with 6 million visitors. The classic Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Europa-Park in Germany, also score highly, their numbers bolstered by strong winter opening periods.

North America’s top five parks were all Disney parks, and Orlando remains a theme park Mecca with venues such as Universal Studios, SeaWorld and Universal’s Islands of Adventure all attracting well over 4 million guests each. TEA/ERA Attendance 2006 also includes a list of the top 15 US waterparks.

Disney does not have it all its own way, however. In Latin America, for example, the most popular park is Six Flags Mexico (2.05 million) in Mexico City, followed by two venues in Sao Paulo, Playcenter (1.6 millon) and Hopi Hari (1.5 million). A disparity in income levels means that the market is not as well developed in this part of the world.

Printed copies of ERA/TEA Attendance 2006 report can be read by subscribing to Park World, see link below.

The 2007 figures have now been released, for more details click here.

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