Nearly all 25 parks in our most visited global park list achieved positive growth in 2012. A new record level of 206 million visits has broken the 200 million figure for the first time.

As in 2011, the global theme park market in 2012 was driven by major reinvestment at Disney and Universal parks. Last year, Orlando led the way with The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Florida. This year, it was Southern California, with double-digit increases at Disney’s California Adventure (where additions included Cars Land) as well as Universal Studios Hollywood (which added Transformers: the Ride 3-D).

While the US parks contributed a substantial volume to the top 25, more growth was provided by Asia. Hong Kong Disney (which opened the Grizzly Gulch themed zone) and Universal Studios Japan (that launched Universal Wonderland) were up 14 per cent, with Lotte World achieving a strong 10 per cent growth and Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea seeing a quick post-tsunami recovery. Asian parks are slowly taking over the top 25 with OCT East in Shenzhen entering the 2012 list. The gap in attendance between the top 20 Northern American and top 20 Asian parks is slowly narrowing and Asian parks may overtake North American in the next few years.

Despite an extraordinarily tough year in Europe, all four European parks in the top 25 managed to grow attendance by around two per cent, which is a remarkable achievement given the circumstances. Europe continued to reinvest with Disneyland Paris adding new 20th anniversary shows and Europa Park’s fifth hotel, Bell Rock, and a Wodan Timbur rollercoaster debuting.

TRIPLE HIT FOR EUROPE
The 2012 season was unbelievably difficult for European parks due to the continuing economic recession, cold and wet summers in Northern Europe and the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Some parks found it challenging to maintain attendance but others showed strong growth, contributing to the overall attendance stabilised at 58 million visits. This shows that thoughtful reinvestment can overcome negative trends.

The biggest growth was at two French parks in the lower 10. Parc Asterix opened Egypt World, featuring a highly anticipated OzIris coaster and a smaller ride for children. This led to growth of eight per cent. Puy du Fou, celebrating the 35th anniversary of its original show – Cinescenie – was honoured by TEA’s Thea Classic Award, which drew press attention and helped promote the park in the domestic market. The park was also strengthened by the new Christmas show, Grand Noël, which boosted winter visits and attendance grew by seven per cent.

Extending the season with Halloween and Christmas events is a trend in Europe. More parks are seeking opportunities to offset low summer visits by opening in colder periods when weather conditions are less of an issue, as guests come prepared. With the uncertainty of the summer weather over the past few years, it may be time for European parks to explore options that would make the visitor experience more comfortable in poor summer weather.

Catering for the family is gaining importance and more parks recognise the trend. PortAventura set its strategy on becoming the best family destination in Europe, Parc Asterix balanced its new thrill coaster with a child ride, Puy du Fou allows the whole family to enjoy its shows together and Legoland parks are delivering hotels and holiday villages.

In current economic conditions, even a modest growth is an achievement and reinvestment is key in this.

PortAventura drew crowds to its new rollercoaster, Shambhala: expedition to the Himalaya, which has broken rollercoaster records in Europe for height (76m), drop (78m) and speed (134 km/h on the first descent). The park continues to capitalise on its kids’ area SésamoAventura, which opened in 2011. The park’s attendance grew while the wider Spanish theme park industry didn’t do so well.

OPERATING GROUPS STRENGTHEN GROWTH
The top 10 operators had a successful year, increasing the overall attendance by seven per cent to 356 million visits made to the groups’ attractions in 2012. Unsurprisingly, Disney led the race with 126 million visits, having grown by an impressive five per cent due to the enhancement of its Asian and US parks.

Merlin Entertainments Group demonstrated a remarkable 16 per cent growth overall, which strengthened the operator’s second position in the chart with 54 million visits. Merlin’s performance demonstrates the importance of a diversified portfolio given the climate and economic variations the industry experiences. With attractions in 21 countries around the world, Merlin was able to offset challenging conditions in the UK and Italy, for example, with stronger performance in Asia Pacific. The operator continues to expand through new attractions and accommodation.

Asian operators are making their way onto the list of leading global operators. Two China-based theme park chains, OCT Group and Haichang Group, are now in the top 10 park chains with 23.4 and 9.4 million visits and intentions of expansion, an important trend in China.

OUTLOOK
This year’s results suggest that worldwide attractions markets are returning to a positive outlook. There’s more optimism now, especially in North America and Asia, and expectations of future growth and expansion. Overall, operators are putting tremendous efforts in maintaining and growing attendances at parks, and sizeable and thoughtful reinvestment will remain key in this.

With a mini baby boom in Europe, catering to families with small children is paramount and we expect the shift to the family market to become even more pronounced in the years to come. In Northern Europe in particular, the weather is an important factor so let’s hope for operators’ innovative solutions for how to make rain and wind fun.