leisure, sports and recreational activities

1. AMUSEMENT PARKS
AND THEME PARKS

2. • Amusement park and theme park are terms for a group of
entertainment attractions and rides and other events in specific
locations for the enjoyment of large members of people. An
amusement park is more elaborate than a simply city park or
playground because it provides attractions of all ages.
• Amusement parks evolved in Europe from fairs and pleasure
gardens, which were established for the people's recreations. The
oldest amusement park in the world is Bakken, which was opened
in 1583 at Klampenborg, Norh of Compenhangen Den Mark.
• Theme park trips are ideal for family vacations, including children
below 19 years of age. Theme park travellers usually fly to their
destinations and rent a car once they arrived. They engage in
various activities such as shopping and visiting historical places,
museums and beaches.

3. MAIN ISSUES IN THE
MANAGEMENT OF TOURIST
ATTRACTIONS
• Attractions face several threats from the external
and internal environments, which affects the
product quality, operational capability and visitors
experience. Thus it is important for managers of
attractions to develop a strategy that's recognizes
threats and focuses on managing potential impacts
to attain long term capabilities.

4. MANAGEMENT PLANNING
• In study of Australian tourist attractions Benkendoff and Pearce (2003) found that attractions with the
highest level of management planning and perform best and are more profitable.
• The following are the effects of higher levels planning
1. Higher visitors numbers
2. Increased revenue
3. Longer asset value
4. Greater local profit
5. Lengthened visitors stay
6. Better growth
7. Better confident
• Managers of attractions must plan ahead, decide what actions will be taken and identify objectives
time, scales funding and implementing of projects.
• Planning is necessary for the long-term survival of attractions based on renewal and innovations.

5. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
• Environmental impacts caused by visitors raised a
number of issues for managers of natural, built and
events attractions. While natural attractions and
those that charged admissions fees and highly
susceptible and seasonality, places of worship and
country parks that are less susceptible. In addition,
attractions in cities suffer less from seasonality and
those located in the external areas.

6. VISITORS NUMBERS
• These are several factors that affects visitors
numbers. These area promotions, global issues,
and the weather. Mechanism for recording visitors
numbers include admissions tickets, car parking
receipts, and manual or mechanical tools. However
recording visitor number as some sites is a
problem particularly when the entry is free, when
the sites has multiple entry points, and when the
installation of mechanical counting is not feasible.

7. DESTINATIONS PLANNING
• Gun (1988) found out in his study that attractions functions more
effectively when that are clustered together. Several areas have
adopted the strategy of clustering attractions and events, which
provides more activities from tourist. The rationale for clustering
attractions is greater tourist mobility, competition among tourist
areas, stronger marketing mechanism and higher investment in
development. Managers of attractions are able to collaborate
with one another to become more receptive to changes in the
market place, and helps in the formations of strong regional
identities through destinations marketing rather than specific
attractions. Investment in popular attractions in urban areas is
undertaken not only to attract more visitors but also stimulate
urban renewal.

8. DIVERSIFICATION
• Many attractions have developed from an existing
business such as farm attractions diversified
agricultural business. Industry attractions have
developed through a similar process where
company identifies an opportunity to promote it's
product and create brand awareness through the
visitors market.

9. RENEWAL AND INNOVATION
• Innovation is a principal concept in tourism
business. Many attractions fin it necessary to
incorporate technology and innovation to their
futures attractions to retain and stimulate the
interest of the visitors.
• An example is the virtual reality rides to New York
Skyride at the Empire State Building.

10. THE FUTURE OF TOURIST
ATTRACTIONS
• Pearce Benkendoff and Johnstone (2000) four areas
that will affect the future of tourist attractions.
1. Management
2. Marketing
3. Product development
4. Interpretation and Communication

11. MANAGEMENT: REVENUE
GENERATION
• Other than tickets sales, attractions can generate
revenue through several means. Efficient
management is necessary for the success of
attractions. Table 8 shows the alternative
mechanism for revenue generation in attractions.

12. Table 8: ALTERNATIVE
MECHANISM FOR REVENUE
GENERATION IN ATTRACTIONS
1. Encouraging educated visit
2. Providing a venue for corporate hospitality, meetings and product launches
3. Hosting weddings and birthday parties
4. Generating rental income from alternative usage from infrastructure, such as retail outlets
clubs and offices which utilize redundant building on space on sites.
5. Introducing car parking charges or leasing of the car park to a management company
6. Improving retail and catering initiatives that offer unique and distinctive products that and
experience that reflects the ethos of attractions.
7. Attracting more visitors and more frequent repeat visits
8. Increasing length of stay by offering more activities (such as children's sleepovers at the
Boston Children's Museum)
9. Extending opening hours to expand experiences on offer (such night time visiting( as in the
case of Singapore Zoo)
10. Introducing members of friends schemes giving privileges and discounts.
11. Hosting high profile events
12. Attracting corporate sponsorship

13. MARKETING
• Marketing is significant in the success of attractions. Marketing is not only
concerned with promotions and advertising but also in pricing,products,
and distributions channels. Some attractions management have website
that shows important information to lure visitors. Other means promotions
are tourist brochures, magazines, news paper and television. Among the
channels of advertisements, World of Mouth (WOM) remains as the most
powerful and cheapest tool for many attractions.
• The most successful attractions that produced professional media kits,
which are used in public relations work such as photographs,brochures
maps and prefer for different markets. Managers of attractions should
prepare affective marketing strategies that appeals to the consumers such
as offering the right products to the right person at the right time in the
right place.

14. PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: CREATING
WORLD CLASS DESTINATIONS
• Product development is a process in managers of
attractions engaged innovation that tend to
develop a new concept and used new technology
such as virtual reality, and animations which
enlivened the product offering through tours, 're-
enactment and personal forms of interpretations.

15. INTERPRETATION AND
COMMUNICATION
• There are two brand themes that are significant INTERPRETATION and
communications. These are:
1. The role of technology known as high-tech
2. The role of personal interaction known as high-touch
• These are several reasons why operators of attractions invest and develop
technology-based elements. These are:
1. To create a unique product
2. To enhance visitors experience through entertainment, education and
interactions.
3. To be competitive
4. To manage visitors by means of technology driven transport such as the
one found in Yorvik Museum New York
5. To improve systems with the used of

16. International Association of
Amusement Parks and Attractions
• The world's largest amusement park and attractions
association is the International Association of Amusement
Parks and Attractions (IAAP) in Alexandra, Verginia, USA. The
association was founded in 1918 and has more than 4,500
members in ninety countries. It represents and serves as
operator of amusement parks, tourists attractions, water
parks, miniatures, golf courses family entertainment centers
and manufacturers and supplies of amusement equipment
and services. The association conducts research, complies
statistics and publishes Fun World and an Annual
International Directory and Buyers Guide. In addition it
holds an annual convention and trade show.