What I have learned from Theme Park Management course

As I stated in the very first blog posts, I hoped that after finishing this course, I would be able to master the fundamental knowledge and practical experience about Theme Park field in particular and Amusement Park in general. And what I have learned in this course has exceeded my expectation.

Throughout the 18 weeks of the spring semester, I have gained a rather comprehensive knowledge about the Theme Park development history and characteristics. From the origin of European gardens with water fountains, sculptures and ornamental plants, the theme park industry has experienced significant expansion internationally as Disney Land - the first theme park in the history - was built in 1955. Different from amusement park which includes a number of attractions in a small area with many prices, a theme park is designed based on a specific theme in a large-scale area with only one price. Depending on scale and the number of attractions possessed, a theme park can be classified as destination, regional, urban or niche theme park.

I also have a better understanding about two important concepts - McDonaldization and Disneyization - that can be applied for the theme park management process and operation. Including four characteristics: efficiency, quantification, predictability, and control, McDonaldization provides a theme park with a competitive advantage by creating a system catering a large number of people efficiently while Disneyization overlaps commercialization and entertainment at the same time. 

Above all, one thing that interests me the most is the idea of spatial innovation because now, the concept of theme park is not simply limited within a specific theme and amusement facilities anymore but it can be expanded into a leisure complex or applied for a city planning.  I also created a leisure complex for myself which is called the Space Theme Park complex including a wide range of unique attractions never existing before. And I believe that it can be a project for real in the future.

More importantly, I understand that a theme park is a business which means that it must satisfies the guests’ needs and wants in a profitable way by maximizing the revenue and minimizing the costs. Besides, the theme park management level should also examine the challenges which human resource management has to face carefully while consider the safety of not only guests but also the employees and monitor the guests’ satisfaction and maintain its competitiveness. At this point, the information system becomes critically important to facilitate the theme park operation and management process, as well as constant evaluation of its programs and performances.

Furthermore, a theme park has to develop its marketing approach in both tactical and strategic level to make it a famous destination among guests. By dividing the market into different segments according to certain criteria, a theme park can indentify its most potential target market and attract them by constructing a sustainable marketing strategy.

Last but not least, a theme park should not only place its concentration on profit generation but also take good care of social responsibility by practical actions in concerning about the natural environment as well as communities surrounding the theme park, animal’s rights and ethical standards. Since maintaining a public image is absolutely crucial for a service industry like theme park, social responsibility should be seriously considered when you want the support from the society.

In conclusion, through the course of Theme Park Management, I learned that managing a theme park is not an easy task. It includes a great number of steps from before, during, and after the establishment of the attraction. However, as I wrote in the beginning of the semester: “I hope that after finishing this course, I will acquire the ability to contemplate one Theme Park's operation and management not only through one guest's eyes but also a Tourism professional’s.” I think I have possessed that ability now, not very completely, but at least I will never see a theme park as the same way before.

Social responsibility of theme park

A theme park is a business. Taking this fact into account, what do you think is the social responsibility of theme parks?

In the week 16, we watched two documentary films about the social and ethical responsibilities of theme park. The first documentary film called “Black fish” mainly concentrated on Tilikum – a killer whale which was captured from its mother since it was very young and trained for people’s entertainment. During its captivity, Tilikum resulted in the deaths of three individuals. The film then explained the reason why the killer whale had such aggressive behaviors and attitudes which turned out to be the consequences of captivity. At the beginning, the theme park of Sea World was wrong in capturing young killer whale for entertainment performances because this action was illegal, and even after the death of trainer which was caused by Tilikum, they refused to release it to the natural environment due to the profit that the killer whale brought back. That was a very serious ethical problem. After that, people started to protest “Captivity doesn’t work” and demanded the theme park to release the killer whales. At this point, the reputation of theme park was badly damaged as a result of paying their attention only in how to generate more profits.

The second documentary film was about the dolphins which were captured and killed by Japanese. While watching this film, I was shocked by an outrageous fact that “People watch the performances by dolphins and eat dolphin at the same time”. I really couldn’t understand why they would sell dolphin meat in a dolphin theme park? They violated the animal rights and simultaneously poisoned people with mercury. Maybe it is a normal matter for Japanese guests, but I wonder how international visitor would react if they pay a visit to that kind of theme park?

After watching these two commentary films, I understood that a successful theme park management is not only about human resource, marketing, or spatial innovation but also about practicing the responsibilities toward the society and surrounding environment. And Walt Disney Company can be seen as a representative example. The Walt Disney Company is very famous for the program of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) which concerns about the natural environment, communities, and labor standards. Besides, the company continues to donate for charity for natural disasters victims and practices volunteerism around the world. 

A theme park is a business. Therefore, its ultimate goal is making money. It is an undeniable fact. However, a theme park cannot just focus on profit generation and ignore its social responsibility because society support is the first important factor that it needs to be successful.

Theme Park Marketing

Last week we had the lesson about Marketing in Theme Park and I learned that concentrating on the quality of service, managing theme park operation, or spatial innovation (expanding the concept of theme park into a leisure complex) are not enough to have a healthy and profitable business. Another crucial and indispensable element is making your Theme Park popular among guests, which means developing a structured approach to marketing in both tactical (short term run) and strategic level (long term run). 

My Space Theme Park’s marketing strategy will be started by a marketing plan as a draft about what are we going to do to make our Theme Park a famous destination for guests all around the world. In the beginning, the marketing plan will help us to indentify the target market segmentation which includes people who are potential customers for the Theme Park. Apparently, a trip to Space Theme Park is not for everyone. So basically, our target market is the upper uppers class of the society who are the wealthiest people and very difficult to be pleased. Also, we are going to divide them into different segmentations according to their age, occupation, and income in order to communicate, identify, anticipate, and eventually satisfy their needs and wants. For example, during the Space Theme Park visit, a CEO or a successful entrepreneur values internet connection in the outer space the most because they want to check their business emails every single moment. On the other hand, a young and famous celebrity may place more expectation on luxurious amenities such as spas and gyms.  By acknowledging the difference among market segmentations, Space Theme Park marketing strategy can be developed in a more complete way.

After finishing the marketing plan, we will apply Diversification Marketing Strategy for our Theme Park. Obviously, the Space Theme Park provides the new market (upper uppers social class) with a completely brand new product (the genuine experience of a astronaut). We are not going to spend a lot of money on advertising but we appreciate the importance of word-of-mouth channel of information. Have you ever wondered why Lamborghini doesn’t have any advertisements? Because their customers (the most successful and richest people) don’t have time to watch commercials! The similar thing happens to the Space Theme Park. That’s the reason why we are going to take advantage of the word-of-mouth recommendation to make traveling to the Space Theme Park a trend among the wealthiest layer of the society. And I strongly believe that this marketing strategy will be very effective.