Park Bloggin’

by Dr Jack Samuels The amusement and attractions business is extremely diverse but it is also part of a much wider industry, that of the leisure, entertainment and hospitality – or tourism if you prefer.
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Our industry has always been identified with certain intensities, but in recent years additional factors have had a real impact on park attendance.
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Remember the Frank Sinatra tune, That Old Black Magic?
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by Jeremy Reed As the new chief executive of BALPPA, I am greatly looking forward to representing the interests of the UK private sector visitor attractions industry and to further pursue the association’s lobbying goals.
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by Dennis Speigel For the last decade, I have been perplexed by rising prices at theme parks. I have also been concerned about the enormous amount of discounting that parks and attractions find necessary to continue to “pump up”…
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by Dr Jack Samuels As a new approaches at many of the world's parks and attractions, pricing decisions must be made. Frequently managers make such decisions based on costs rather than market realities.
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by Dennis Speigel In my opinion the most important aspect in the planning and development of a leisure project is the “First Step” – the feasibility study.
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by Paul Ruben In this month’s Big Question (see page 5) we ask selected park operators what caught their eye at this winter’s trade shows. Nobody asked me, but I'll tell you anyway.
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by Dennis Speigel As I look at our industry and large corporations that now dominate ownership, one thing comes clearly through: “It’s all about earnings.”  That is not a bad thing, but make no mistake, this is the driving force that…
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by Dennis Speigel We are often asked by clients at International Theme Park Services how much theming should be given to an attraction. I believe the answer is easy …keep it simple and do not over-theme. Theming is necessary but also…
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