In the last few months, I’ve encountered protestors camping outside a number of attractions, lobbying visitors in the queue lines to try to persuade them to boycott the attractions because of a specific sponsorship tie-up.
Although they’ve been peaceful protests and sometimes interesting, it’s obviously not a good thing for attractions customers to be exposed to this kind of pressure.
The industry attracts protesters for the same reason it attracts sponsors – it’s high profile and extremely engaged with its audience. The numbers are also compelling – attractions capture high levels of footfall and do so in a provable and segmented way, so sponsorship spend can be targeted and analysed to a degree that isn’t possible with many other types of sponsorships or marketing.
With a growing desire to invest in corporate social responsibility (CSR), corporations view attractions as being on a par with sport as an investment area that achieves CSR objectives, while also being safe in terms of image and powerful in terms of association.
Today, sponsorship is a global business ranging from Disney’s tie up with Coca- Cola to Sotheby’s sponsorship of MOMA in New York. The industry couldn’t run without it and commercial sponsorship of attractions – particularly the arts, culture, museums and heritage – has enabled decades of excellence that would simply not have been possible otherwise.
But times change and sponsorships which were once acceptable to the public can – over time – become less so. London’s National Portrait Gallery was once sponsored by British Tobacco, for example, but that kind of arrangement would be unthinkable today.
One of the most famous benefactions ever is the UK’s Tate – now a network of four museums – originally made possible by funds from Henry Tate, one of the founders of what later became Tate & Lyle the sugar refiner and processor.
Today, sugar is acknowledged as one of the health scourges of modern times – toxic, addictive and with little nutritional value apart from empty calories. It’s one of the major contributors to the global obesity crisis.
But associations between Tate & Lyle and the Tate galleries faded long ago in the minds of the public, so that’s one protest that has been rendered redundant by the passing of time.
In such a complex and ever changing situation, it’s important the industry keeps all sponsorship deals under review, walking a realistic line between listening to protests and giving them fair and due consideration and robustly defending sponsorship relationships where they feel the accusations are unfair or not born out when tested against public opinion.
Liz Terry, editor, twitter: @elizterry
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2013 issue 2
Editor's letter : Dealing with protests
The industry attracts protesters for the
same reason it attracts sponsors – it's
high profile and extremely engaged with
its audience
Profile: Tim Fisher
The CEO of Village Roadshow Theme
Parks reveals how the company's
defied the double-dip global recession
with record attendances to its existing
parks and three more due to open
Museum: The big idea
San Francisco's Exploratorium reopened
in April in a venue three times its original
size. The museum's Linda Dackman
shows how the new space is being used
Aquarium: Den Blå Planet
The CEO and designer describe
Denmark's new aquarium, which is
shaped like a whirlpool and has 20,000
animals and up to 8,000 visitors a day
New opening: Thinking inside the box
The Perot Museum is shaped like a cube
and described as the next generation
of nature and science museums. CEO
Nicole Small explains how and why
Restoration: Home improvement
The Historic Dyess Colony: Boyhood
Home of Johnny Cash project is
restoring the famous singer's house,
educating visitors about the New
Deal era and revitalising the area
Planetarium: The sky at night
Two dome theatres are among the
highlights of Canada's new Rio Tinto
Alcan Planetarium, which shows what's
going on in the universe as it happens
Social media: Smart moves
Find out how to use digital opportunities
beyond your website in a new series
by social media expert Kelly Wheeler
In the last few months, I’ve encountered protestors camping outside a number of attractions, lobbying visitors in the queue lines to try to persuade them to boycott the attractions because of a specific sponsorship tie-up.
Although they’ve been peaceful protests and sometimes interesting, it’s obviously not a good thing for attractions customers to be exposed to this kind of pressure.
The industry attracts protesters for the same reason it attracts sponsors – it’s high profile and extremely engaged with its audience. The numbers are also compelling – attractions capture high levels of footfall and do so in a provable and segmented way, so sponsorship spend can be targeted and analysed to a degree that isn’t possible with many other types of sponsorships or marketing.
With a growing desire to invest in corporate social responsibility (CSR), corporations view attractions as being on a par with sport as an investment area that achieves CSR objectives, while also being safe in terms of image and powerful in terms of association.
Today, sponsorship is a global business ranging from Disney’s tie up with Coca- Cola to Sotheby’s sponsorship of MOMA in New York. The industry couldn’t run without it and commercial sponsorship of attractions – particularly the arts, culture, museums and heritage – has enabled decades of excellence that would simply not have been possible otherwise.
But times change and sponsorships which were once acceptable to the public can – over time – become less so. London’s National Portrait Gallery was once sponsored by British Tobacco, for example, but that kind of arrangement would be unthinkable today.
One of the most famous benefactions ever is the UK’s Tate – now a network of four museums – originally made possible by funds from Henry Tate, one of the founders of what later became Tate & Lyle the sugar refiner and processor.
Today, sugar is acknowledged as one of the health scourges of modern times – toxic, addictive and with little nutritional value apart from empty calories. It’s one of the major contributors to the global obesity crisis.
But associations between Tate & Lyle and the Tate galleries faded long ago in the minds of the public, so that’s one protest that has been rendered redundant by the passing of time.
In such a complex and ever changing situation, it’s important the industry keeps all sponsorship deals under review, walking a realistic line between listening to protests and giving them fair and due consideration and robustly defending sponsorship relationships where they feel the accusations are unfair or not born out when tested against public opinion.
Liz Terry, editor, twitter: @elizterry
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2013 issue 2
Editor's letter : Dealing with protests
The industry attracts protesters for the
same reason it attracts sponsors – it's
high profile and extremely engaged with
its audience
Profile: Tim Fisher
The CEO of Village Roadshow Theme
Parks reveals how the company's
defied the double-dip global recession
with record attendances to its existing
parks and three more due to open
Museum: The big idea
San Francisco's Exploratorium reopened
in April in a venue three times its original
size. The museum's Linda Dackman
shows how the new space is being used
Aquarium: Den Blå Planet
The CEO and designer describe
Denmark's new aquarium, which is
shaped like a whirlpool and has 20,000
animals and up to 8,000 visitors a day
New opening: Thinking inside the box
The Perot Museum is shaped like a cube
and described as the next generation
of nature and science museums. CEO
Nicole Small explains how and why
Restoration: Home improvement
The Historic Dyess Colony: Boyhood
Home of Johnny Cash project is
restoring the famous singer's house,
educating visitors about the New
Deal era and revitalising the area
Planetarium: The sky at night
Two dome theatres are among the
highlights of Canada's new Rio Tinto
Alcan Planetarium, which shows what's
going on in the universe as it happens
Social media: Smart moves
Find out how to use digital opportunities
beyond your website in a new series
by social media expert Kelly Wheeler
Abu Dhabi-based investment firm Mubadala Capital has made a binding, fully financed
€1 billion
offer to acquire Pierre and Vacances SA, the European holiday resort operator behind the
continental European Center Parcs business.
Expo 2030 Riyadh is being planned as a permanent visitor destination, with organisers
confirming the six-million-square-metre site will become a Global Village after the event closes.
The owner of one of Australia's best-known waterparks has acquired a major competitor,
creating a new attractions business spanning two of the country's largest visitor destinations.
The Toverland theme park in the Netherlands has announced a €98m expansion programme
that will add a resort, new attractions and staff facilities as it pursues plans to become a multi-
day destination.
Hotel de France, located on the British Isle of Jersey, has created a wellness retreat package
that includes a hot yoga session that will take place in Jersey Zoo’s butterfly sanctuary.
A new immersive attraction designed to transport visitors into the final hours of ancient Pompeii
is preparing to open near the world-famous archaeological site in southern Italy.
Experience design company, BRC Imagination Arts, has completed a transition that sees founder
Bob Rogers pass ownership of the business to four long-serving senior executives, while
remaining actively involved with the company.
Movie Park Germany has opened a new Paramount Pictures-themed attraction as part of its 30th
anniversary celebrations, using immersive storytelling and adaptive reuse to reinforce the park’s
longstanding “Hollywood in Germany” positioning.
Therme Manchester’s 28-acre development, which will include interconnected glass pavilions
that measure 65,000sq m, will be the largest bathing and wellbeing attraction in the world once
complete, according to prof David Russell, CEO of Therme UK.
Efteling has opened Hooghmoed, a new family drop tower designed to broaden the appeal of its
recently launched Sirene Island themed area and introduce younger visitors to thrill attractions.
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