Visitor Attraction Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Visitor Attraction Management - Essay Example Visitor attraction is a market that is an increasingly emergent market. It is established that only proper management can sustain these sites in the long run. Every aspect of the attraction i.e. finances, public relations, human resource, impact management etc need to be carefully considered to ensure that the business stays afloat. It is imperative that the site leaves a lasting impression on the visitors (McBoyle 2008). Examples are natural areas, theme parks, museums, animal orphanages, heritage centers etc. Effective management can never be underrated as it inspires visitors and thus generates revenue for the locality. It helps a visitor attraction site compete favorably (Leask 2009). It looks at factors such as the kind of attraction, skills employed, resources available, environment that is competitive enough and the stakeholder base. It is important that a visitor attraction site be well planned. It should stand out from the rest, be properly designed and be unique. This will make it superior to its competitors (Mitchell 2001). This paper will focus on theme parks and specifically, Thorpe Park. It will discuss its management in light of three subtitles; marketing, human resources and visitor experience and quality. This paper aspires to elicit the managerial challenges faced by the named park and highlight how to deal with them. Introduction Thorpe Park is a theme park located in Chertsey, Surrey in the United Kingdom established in 1979. It is managed by Merlin Entertainment, to whom it was let out. It occupies about five hundred acres of land. It enjoys visitations as statistics show that it had approximately 2million visitors in the year 2011. It is a tourist attraction site that provides fan activities for its visitors. It is well known for its ecstatic activities. It has close proximity to London (Yugimotou 2012). Marketing In simple terms it means offering the correct group of people the right product or service in the correct destination, having t he proper cost in mind and getting to them via the right channel of promotion. The aims of researchers going into it are majorly to increase its acceptability, enhance its yearly proceeds and improve clients’ approval (Swarbrooke 1999). Challenges and evidence A study was conducted of Thorpe Park’s marketing strategies adopted. Both primary and secondary data were studied and the following insights were deduced: They have a very effaceable broadcast media outreach. They use the television to publicize themselves. Without a doubt, this reaches a good number of people. Furthermore, they also use print media to promote themselves. They provide flyers and brochures to those who visit. This is a good way of reminding the visitors to go back again. It is also a means of advertising themselves to those who have never been there before (http://www.paperdue.com/details/A). It was ear-marked that their performance online is quite impressive. They have also developed certain stra tegies such as promotional like price cuts, have good eateries etc. However, it is important to note that Thorpe Park is not doing well in terms of publicity especially in the sector of billboards and posters use. In addition, another challenge is its neighboring competitor, Legoland. This is an amusement park located just under half an hour drive from Thorpe Park. It is noted that it could pose a very significant danger to the growth and development of Thorpe Park