From Meow Wolf’s Omega Mart in
Las Vegas’ Area 15 to KidZania in
London’s Westfield shopping centre,
attractions are driving retail footfall,
but which experiences work best?
LDP partner Kathleen LaClair
summarises the trends
Role play experiences at KidZania drive footfall to Westfield shopping mall / Photo: Kidzania
Leading economic advisory firm Leisure Development Partners (LDP) authored a White Paper for MAPIC and the LeisurUP retail conference titled Established and Emerging Concepts in a Retail Setting.
Looking at which attractions work well in retail environments and help arrest the decline in footfall that’s plagued retailers pre and post the COVID-19 pandemic, LDP reviewed the different attraction types, their key characteristics and performance metrics. LDP also highlighted several case studies, and together with leading primary research company A Different View, carried out a UK survey to gather data on people’s past and anticipated consumer behaviour in relation to the different attraction types in retail centres.
Existing and Emerging Concepts LDP reviewed key characteristics of various entertainment concepts including family entertainment centres, art-based attractions, indoor theme parks, ski and surf centres and pop up experiences (see table, below), which were also the focus of the survey questionnaire. Many of these concepts were popular prior to the pandemic but LDP found that their clients, developers, and operators have a renewed interest in knowing more about the experiences.
Catching up or getting out ahead? Various challenges facing retail owners and developers across the globe spurred the ‘retailtainment’ trend in traditional shopping centres. Anchor tenants and national brands were vacating large spaces due to downsizing of the portfolio during economic downturn and the ramp up of online shopping, which created less footfall in retail centres. The first wave of this trend tended to be reactive in nature, a response to these challenges. Developers figured out that adding entertainment tenants complemented and refreshed the existing offering, extended consumer stay, attracted new customers and brought previous shoppers back into the fold.
The Reactive Approach – Westfield, London Westfield London is a prime example of a traditionally planned retail centre adding entertainment tenants, in some instances into large spaces previously leased by major retailers, to increase footfall and spending.
Westfield opened in 2008; the original development was a traditional mall with a mix of anchor and secondary tenants and purely focused on retail. Opening at the onset of the recession was a significant challenge and the shopping centre struggled for the first few years of operation. Developers began to plan the next chapter for the centre, and expansion plans developed in 2012. With retailtainment an established trend, developers added KidZania and other entertainment tenants including a 20-screen Vue Cinema, All Star Lanes, Puttshack, City Bouldering and Upside Down House, as well as a multitude of bars and restaurants.
The second trend of entertainment tenants in retail started a bit later – proactively thinking about new ways to incorporate entertainment into new retail destinations. These purpose-built developments are typically heavily focused on entertainment, with complementary food, beverage and more traditional retail offerings. Developers are rethinking traditional mixed-use or RDE (Retail, Dining, Entertainment) districts to be focused on the latter, as younger generations continue to look to the experiential activities as their chosen way to spend time and money.
The Proactive Approach – Area15, Las Vegas Originally a Mercedes Benz dealership, the land that is now AREA15 was initially re-planned as a traditional mixed-use development that failed to come to fruition after the Great Recession. Developers Fisher Bros. and Beneville Studios saw an opportunity to build something that could compete with the entertainment giants along the Las Vegas Strip, and they proactively focused on experiential entertainment and science fiction.
The first anchor was Omega Mart, an interactive art installation by Meow Wolf. Omega Mart is essentially an alternative reality game, where guests attempt to solve the plot using clues, both online and within the supermarket physical setting. The second major tenant, Lost Spirits, is an interactive, immersive show set within a working distillery. The size of an American football field, guests at the attraction wander around mazes, stages and lounges, interacting with cast members and becoming a part of the show.
And the Survey Says… Among those surveyed, family entertainment centers (FECs) were the most visited in recent years among the different attraction types in retail centres. In looking at more detail, adults that have children out-visited all the attraction types including indoor gardens and artainment, when compared to those that do not have children, in the surveyed group.
The popularity of FECs can be attributed to the varied level of offering and wide appeal, ranging from a KidZania which is geared more towards families with young children to those like Dave and Busters which appeals to friend groups and couples and has elevated levels of food and beverages including alcohol. While not shown in the chart, men and women responded in general alignment, though with men reporting somewhat higher visits to competitive socialising and adventure/action experiences and women reporting higher visits to pop-up experiences and indoor garden attractions.
Survey respondents were asked to rate their preference for each attraction type on a 0 (no interest) to 10 (strong interest) scale, both for themselves and for their children (if applicable). Adults alone were most interested in visiting indoor gardens, pop-up experiences and competitive socialising – aligning to the responses on past visited attraction types. Those with children indicated that the more physical or adventurous activities were preferred, including indoor theme and water parks, and adventure/action experiences in addition to FECs.
In thinking of how long they would plan to stay at the different entertainment concepts, indoor theme or water parks and adventure/action concepts have the longest anticipated dwell times, between three and four hours. These are closely followed by FECs, indoor ski/snow and competitive socialising concepts, where survey respondents said they would plan to spend about three hours.
Arrival patterns vary by the type of concept and target market; those targeting families or kids (FEC, indoor theme or water park) tend to have higher percentages of people coming in the morning or early afternoon versus those geared to adults (competitive socialising), which see higher volumes arriving in late afternoon or evening. The survey responses on anticipated arrival times aligned with that established trend.
Entertainment concepts with longer dwell times, which typically offer more types of experiences or rides, dictate higher levels of admission ticket spending, at or higher than £25.00 per person for an adult, as reflected in the anticipated spending data (see chart on opposite page). Across all concepts, survey respondents indicated that they planned to spend an additional £40.00 to £60.00 per party on food and beverage, retail, and photos.
Wrap Up Based on the level of interest from industry clients and developers, tried-and-true and new entertainment concepts will continue to evolve and grow, representing a larger percentage of tenant types in a retail centre or destination in the coming years. LDP expects that well-established operators will rebound from challenges faced during the pandemic and expand into new locations. New concepts should be tested to find ideal markets and locations within existing and new retail destinations. Shopping centre operators will continue to seek out entertainment concepts to drive footfall and increase spending, especially as the online retail industry continues to evolve.
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2023 issue 3
Editor's letter: Learning to listen
Young people were involved in every stage of planning for the new Young V&A. Is this the start of a real shift in the way children’s museums are planned?
People: Karin Hindsbo
The head of Scandinavia’s largest museum is set to take over as Tate Modern’s new director. She shares her plans
People: Sean Decatur
It’s a big year for the American Museum of Natural History, as its new president takes over and it launches a major new centre
People: Håkon Lund
As Norway’s largest theme park embraces solar energy, Lund Gruppen’s owner tells us why the industry needs to be at the forefront of change
Interview: Andreas Andersen
As Gothenburg’s Liseberg theme park celebrates its 100th anniversary, its CEO talks celebrations, challenges and COVID-19 with Magali Robathan
Museums: And still we rise
Charleston’s long-awaited International African American Museum opens, reclaiming one of the US’s most painful and sacred spaces. IAAM president Dr Tonya Matthews speaks to Attractions Management about the long road to opening
Aquaria: A fresh start
The team behind New Orleans’ Audubon Aquarium and Insectarium used the COVID-19 pandemic to rethink their offer.
We check out the result, which brings both institutions under the same roof for the first time
Museums: Power of youth
Investing in creative confidence in our young has never been as important as it is now, argues Young V&A director Helen Charman
Science centres: Axel Hüttinger
From the creation of a new science centre in Angola to an indoor/outdoor children’s gallery in Barcelona, Huttinger Interactive Exhibitions is keeping busy
Research: Mixed blessings
Attractions have been helping revitalise shopping centres for many years, but how is this market changing?
Awards: Good lookers
Some of the world’s most beautiful and innovative new museums have been celebrated by Architizer’s A+ Awards. We take a look at the winners
Sponsored: Red Raion
Red Raion has emerged as an industry leader in the realm of digital
attractions, captivating audiences worldwide with its CGI movie
experiences.
An opportunity to reimagine one of the UK’s most recognisable towers has been formally
opened by Rivington Hark, as St Johns Beacon invites operators and partners to shape its
next phase. [more...]
From Meow Wolf’s Omega Mart in
Las Vegas’ Area 15 to KidZania in
London’s Westfield shopping centre,
attractions are driving retail footfall,
but which experiences work best?
LDP partner Kathleen LaClair
summarises the trends
Role play experiences at KidZania drive footfall to Westfield shopping mall / Photo: Kidzania
Leading economic advisory firm Leisure Development Partners (LDP) authored a White Paper for MAPIC and the LeisurUP retail conference titled Established and Emerging Concepts in a Retail Setting.
Looking at which attractions work well in retail environments and help arrest the decline in footfall that’s plagued retailers pre and post the COVID-19 pandemic, LDP reviewed the different attraction types, their key characteristics and performance metrics. LDP also highlighted several case studies, and together with leading primary research company A Different View, carried out a UK survey to gather data on people’s past and anticipated consumer behaviour in relation to the different attraction types in retail centres.
Existing and Emerging Concepts LDP reviewed key characteristics of various entertainment concepts including family entertainment centres, art-based attractions, indoor theme parks, ski and surf centres and pop up experiences (see table, below), which were also the focus of the survey questionnaire. Many of these concepts were popular prior to the pandemic but LDP found that their clients, developers, and operators have a renewed interest in knowing more about the experiences.
Catching up or getting out ahead? Various challenges facing retail owners and developers across the globe spurred the ‘retailtainment’ trend in traditional shopping centres. Anchor tenants and national brands were vacating large spaces due to downsizing of the portfolio during economic downturn and the ramp up of online shopping, which created less footfall in retail centres. The first wave of this trend tended to be reactive in nature, a response to these challenges. Developers figured out that adding entertainment tenants complemented and refreshed the existing offering, extended consumer stay, attracted new customers and brought previous shoppers back into the fold.
The Reactive Approach – Westfield, London Westfield London is a prime example of a traditionally planned retail centre adding entertainment tenants, in some instances into large spaces previously leased by major retailers, to increase footfall and spending.
Westfield opened in 2008; the original development was a traditional mall with a mix of anchor and secondary tenants and purely focused on retail. Opening at the onset of the recession was a significant challenge and the shopping centre struggled for the first few years of operation. Developers began to plan the next chapter for the centre, and expansion plans developed in 2012. With retailtainment an established trend, developers added KidZania and other entertainment tenants including a 20-screen Vue Cinema, All Star Lanes, Puttshack, City Bouldering and Upside Down House, as well as a multitude of bars and restaurants.
The second trend of entertainment tenants in retail started a bit later – proactively thinking about new ways to incorporate entertainment into new retail destinations. These purpose-built developments are typically heavily focused on entertainment, with complementary food, beverage and more traditional retail offerings. Developers are rethinking traditional mixed-use or RDE (Retail, Dining, Entertainment) districts to be focused on the latter, as younger generations continue to look to the experiential activities as their chosen way to spend time and money.
The Proactive Approach – Area15, Las Vegas Originally a Mercedes Benz dealership, the land that is now AREA15 was initially re-planned as a traditional mixed-use development that failed to come to fruition after the Great Recession. Developers Fisher Bros. and Beneville Studios saw an opportunity to build something that could compete with the entertainment giants along the Las Vegas Strip, and they proactively focused on experiential entertainment and science fiction.
The first anchor was Omega Mart, an interactive art installation by Meow Wolf. Omega Mart is essentially an alternative reality game, where guests attempt to solve the plot using clues, both online and within the supermarket physical setting. The second major tenant, Lost Spirits, is an interactive, immersive show set within a working distillery. The size of an American football field, guests at the attraction wander around mazes, stages and lounges, interacting with cast members and becoming a part of the show.
And the Survey Says… Among those surveyed, family entertainment centers (FECs) were the most visited in recent years among the different attraction types in retail centres. In looking at more detail, adults that have children out-visited all the attraction types including indoor gardens and artainment, when compared to those that do not have children, in the surveyed group.
The popularity of FECs can be attributed to the varied level of offering and wide appeal, ranging from a KidZania which is geared more towards families with young children to those like Dave and Busters which appeals to friend groups and couples and has elevated levels of food and beverages including alcohol. While not shown in the chart, men and women responded in general alignment, though with men reporting somewhat higher visits to competitive socialising and adventure/action experiences and women reporting higher visits to pop-up experiences and indoor garden attractions.
Survey respondents were asked to rate their preference for each attraction type on a 0 (no interest) to 10 (strong interest) scale, both for themselves and for their children (if applicable). Adults alone were most interested in visiting indoor gardens, pop-up experiences and competitive socialising – aligning to the responses on past visited attraction types. Those with children indicated that the more physical or adventurous activities were preferred, including indoor theme and water parks, and adventure/action experiences in addition to FECs.
In thinking of how long they would plan to stay at the different entertainment concepts, indoor theme or water parks and adventure/action concepts have the longest anticipated dwell times, between three and four hours. These are closely followed by FECs, indoor ski/snow and competitive socialising concepts, where survey respondents said they would plan to spend about three hours.
Arrival patterns vary by the type of concept and target market; those targeting families or kids (FEC, indoor theme or water park) tend to have higher percentages of people coming in the morning or early afternoon versus those geared to adults (competitive socialising), which see higher volumes arriving in late afternoon or evening. The survey responses on anticipated arrival times aligned with that established trend.
Entertainment concepts with longer dwell times, which typically offer more types of experiences or rides, dictate higher levels of admission ticket spending, at or higher than £25.00 per person for an adult, as reflected in the anticipated spending data (see chart on opposite page). Across all concepts, survey respondents indicated that they planned to spend an additional £40.00 to £60.00 per party on food and beverage, retail, and photos.
Wrap Up Based on the level of interest from industry clients and developers, tried-and-true and new entertainment concepts will continue to evolve and grow, representing a larger percentage of tenant types in a retail centre or destination in the coming years. LDP expects that well-established operators will rebound from challenges faced during the pandemic and expand into new locations. New concepts should be tested to find ideal markets and locations within existing and new retail destinations. Shopping centre operators will continue to seek out entertainment concepts to drive footfall and increase spending, especially as the online retail industry continues to evolve.
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2023 issue 3
Editor's letter: Learning to listen
Young people were involved in every stage of planning for the new Young V&A. Is this the start of a real shift in the way children’s museums are planned?
People: Karin Hindsbo
The head of Scandinavia’s largest museum is set to take over as Tate Modern’s new director. She shares her plans
People: Sean Decatur
It’s a big year for the American Museum of Natural History, as its new president takes over and it launches a major new centre
People: Håkon Lund
As Norway’s largest theme park embraces solar energy, Lund Gruppen’s owner tells us why the industry needs to be at the forefront of change
Interview: Andreas Andersen
As Gothenburg’s Liseberg theme park celebrates its 100th anniversary, its CEO talks celebrations, challenges and COVID-19 with Magali Robathan
Museums: And still we rise
Charleston’s long-awaited International African American Museum opens, reclaiming one of the US’s most painful and sacred spaces. IAAM president Dr Tonya Matthews speaks to Attractions Management about the long road to opening
Aquaria: A fresh start
The team behind New Orleans’ Audubon Aquarium and Insectarium used the COVID-19 pandemic to rethink their offer.
We check out the result, which brings both institutions under the same roof for the first time
Museums: Power of youth
Investing in creative confidence in our young has never been as important as it is now, argues Young V&A director Helen Charman
Science centres: Axel Hüttinger
From the creation of a new science centre in Angola to an indoor/outdoor children’s gallery in Barcelona, Huttinger Interactive Exhibitions is keeping busy
Research: Mixed blessings
Attractions have been helping revitalise shopping centres for many years, but how is this market changing?
Awards: Good lookers
Some of the world’s most beautiful and innovative new museums have been celebrated by Architizer’s A+ Awards. We take a look at the winners
Sponsored: Red Raion
Red Raion has emerged as an industry leader in the realm of digital
attractions, captivating audiences worldwide with its CGI movie
experiences.
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.
A proposed Puy du Fou development near Bicester and Universal Destinations and Experiences’
planned resort in Bedford are emerging as part of a wider transformation of the Oxford–
Cambridge Growth Corridor into a major centre for UK leisure and tourism inv
Shedd Aquarium has opened the Immersion Theater developed in partnership with SimEx-
Iwerks, as part of a wider strategy to enhance the guest experience and create additional
revenue opportunities.
The UK government has announced a temporary reduction in VAT on visitor attractions and
children’s meals as part of a summer cost-of-living support package designed to stimulate the
visitor economy and encourage family days out.
As designer Yinka Ilori prepares for his first solo gallery show in London, he speaks exclusively
to CLADmag about his mission to spread joy, the power of play, and his bold approach to using
colour (including the colours you won’t see in his work).
The government of Thailand is exploring plans for a THB300bn (£6.3bn, US$8.3bn)
entertainment complex in the country’s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), with officials
proposing a large-scale theme park and sports destination as part of a broader tourism and
economic development strategy.
An opportunity to reimagine one of the UK’s most recognisable towers has been formally
opened by Rivington Hark, as St Johns Beacon invites operators and partners to shape its
next phase. [more...]
