CONTACT SALES
TECHNICAL SUPPORT

How Themed Entertainment Is Proving Its Strength in the COVID-19 Era

As 2020 continues to bring new challenges for the theme park and attractions industry, it’s time to focus on a realistic view of the industry and what lies ahead.

The ripple effects of COVID-19 are still being felt, and many of our attractions have reopened as many other leisure and entertainment activities remain closed to customers. Let’s be clear: the pandemic has hit our industry hard. Traditional park openings were postponed no less than three months, and consumer confidence remains at an all-time low.

Some visitors fear the virus and choose to stay home, and others are choosing to venture out, sometimes bypassing the rules and regulations set in place by governments and parks, themselves. With a second wave of COVID-19 cases now approaching new peaks, 2020 will be in no way a traditional theme park season.

But, as there is in any situation, there is an opportunity to leverage the insights we’ve gained and innovation we’ve seen to get our industry back on track.

Let’s shine a light on the top lessons that were (re-)confirmed during this pandemic with an optimistic eye on the future of our industry.

 

Port-Aventura-1200x629px

 

Key Takeaways from the COVID-19 Era for Theme Parks and Themed Entertainment

  • Your local audience matters: It’s critical for theme parks to never lose sight of their own backyard – their local region. Your local audience needs to embrace you since the first day of operation, and they can play a key role as neighbors, potential brand ambassadors or even employees. This crisis has shown that a pandemic reduces the area from which a theme park attracts visitors due to both a decline in overall travel and out-of-state restrictions, and a large majority of current visitors live within a driving distance of your facility. Take care of them however you can.
  • Diversify your business: Theme parks that attract diverse groups of audiences will come out of this unprecedented era stronger. This refers not only to diversity in terms of demographic, but also in terms of audience type, from international tourists, local residents, students and young professionals to business audiences and government bodies. Make sure you attract to all these groups in a way that feels inclusive and immersive.
  • Innovate: It’s time to adapt your business model to today’s expectations. Not only do you need to digitize your theme park business model – you’ll also need to make sure your experience offers the right amount of innovation to feel fresh and impressive, yet also deliver key peace of mind. Solutions like extended reality, or XR, dark rides, and more can help.
  • Vision: Make sure your leisure development has a higher aim to serve as a guideline in challenging times like these. A higher reason of existence will tell you who is going where and how they’ll get there.
  • Go premium: While it might sound contradictory, this pandemic is an opportunity to make your attraction more premium. With visitor totals limited and an increase in the expected level of guest service, a new, premium audience might feel attracted to spending money at local destinations. Embrace this audience and offer them exclusive experiences, like Ferrari World Abu Dhabi’s experiments with hypercars, that show that you are ready to exceed those expectations.

Vallejo-1200x629px

 

How Developments in the Travel Industry Will Impact Theme Park Destinations

Many questions arise when we think about the future of leisure, tourism and travelling, including:

The final impact of the crisis is still to be determined, but new patterns have started to make themselves apparent that could provide the answers to these key questions.

Once the threat recedes, travel and overall demand should return. Here are some things you, as a leisure operator, can take into account to ensure you take advantage:

  • The comeback of the tour operator and travel agent: Consumers will look for safe formulas and packages that feel more within their control and are likely to produce a safe and fun overall experience. Partnering with key tour operators will be key to regaining consumer confidence.
  • A continued process of consolidation: Not every airline, cruise line, hotel or attraction will survive the crisis, and the struggling ones might merge into larger entities, such as investing companies or consolidated park chains.
  • Healthy travel will be a key topic: Expect health checks to take place multiple times during future overseas trips, with the discovery of symptoms and signs of infection paramount in both travel and entry to attractions.
  • Technology integration becomes key: More than ever, we will rely on technology to make our lives more efficient and practical, and this expectation won’t disappear when we go on vacation or decide to visit a theme park. The expectation moving forward will be the provision of the ability to use fully functioning digital tools to improve our experience.

While some players in the travel ecosystem will be able to adapt to the new circumstances and recover rather fast, others face slow reopenings and depressed rates after the boom that preceded the pandemic. 

 

Orlando-1200x629px

 

Looking Ahead at the Future of Theme Parks and Themed Entertainment

Much has been said about the future of the theme park and themed entertainment industry after the COVID-19 pandemic, with thought leaders across the industry weighing in on informal forums like the Season Pass Podcast. There are many ways to keep you and your colleagues inspired.

Overall, one forecast seems clear – if parks that have already seen significant data after reopening and leading market research are any indication, the theme park and themed entertainment industry will recover from this global disruption.

Now, it’s up to decision-makers like you to empower your park for full-speed-ahead recovery.

Have you identified any further potential changes to the ways we will travel and consume leisure in both the immediate and long-term future? What other lessons or knowledge have you either learned or seen reconfirmed during this time?

Share your insights with us – we would love to hear from you work together to address your unique challenges and goals for the post-COVID era of theme parks and themed entertainment.

 

What's your perspective?

Tell us the topic you would like to hear more about

More Perspective
7 MINS

The Evolution of Sound

Today’s performance audio landscapes are dominated by immersive artificial soundscapes, directional audio and other advanced sound systems. These innovative solutions build on the pioneering...

|
4 MINS

The Metaverse: A world of opportunity

When Gartner cites the metaverse as one of its top strategic technology trends for 2023, the technology has to be taken seriously. Indeed, according to forecasters, it looks like big business for...

|
2 MINS

Dark Rides, The Next Generation (Part 2)

In an earlier blog, Dark Rides – The Next Generation – Part 1, we explained the importance of upgrading dark rides to meet increasing visitor expectations and explored the three key trends –...

|
3 MINS

Dark Rides, The Next Generation (Part 1)

Dark rides have been an important and popular attraction in theme parks for generations, but now experiential technology is taking them in exciting new directions — and the new generation of rides...

|
2 MINS

The evolution of the video wall

Video walls as art - How far can LED technology take the video wall? Video walls have reached an exciting tipping point. The latest developments in LED video walls are helping designers create custom...

|
3 MINS

How to Use AI to Augment Your Creative Potential

Artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t the stuff of science fiction anymore. In fact, it’s powering billions of processes and workflows for companies worldwide. It’s become a key component in almost...

|
3 MINS

The Future of Onsite AV Support

The world of audiovisual technology is changing, and effective design, planning, engineering and installation of a holistic AV solution is now a prerequisite to doing business in an increasingly...

|
6 MINS office-shakehands

Planning to Hire an AV Company?

Exceptional projects demand an exceptional team. When engaging an audio visual (AV) solutions provider with so many companies out there… how do you choose? From design, to procurement, commissioning...

|
3 MINS

Are You Ready for ISE?

Taking place in Amsterdam February 11-14, the Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) exhibition is a premier event focused entirely on audiovisual (AV) and systems integration. If you have a project on the...

|
2 MINS

Is Your AV Deployment Secure?

The need for security impacts everyone. And, unfortunately, unmonitored access points can quickly lead to a costly data breach. The massive Target breach from a few years ago was the result of an...

|
1 MINS

Does 5G Matter for Your AV Deployments?

If you pay even the slightest amount of attention to technology trends, you already know that the hype around 5G is rapidly gaining steam. The question is what does the eventual movement from current...

|
4 MINS

Looking Back at a Decade of Opportunity

Each time we hit a new decade, it is always fun and often rewarding to take a look in the rearview mirror to see how the company has progressed. The past 10 years represent a decade of significant...

|
2 MINS iStock-1152574617

What's on Your Wishlist?

Do you have a project on the horizon? Is your goal to captivate your audience? In the spirit of the holidays, we have created a wish list of the qualities a company should consider when selecting an...

|
2 MINS james-pond-XO9uCZZaipE-unsplash

Dark Rides Expand Branding Opportunities

Brands are more important today than ever before. Why? Today’s consumer likes to relate to a brand – it is part of the experience they desire. This is true whether they are buying a product or...

|
2 MINS iStock-165683086

Dark Rides Protect Your Park's Future

Nostalgia has its place even with the Millennial crowd. There is something comforting about a known experience. It helps the guest even temporarily relive cherished childhood memories. That is the...

|
3 MINS dtorlando-01_(1)

7 Things You Need to Do During IAAPA

There is a lot of excitement at IAAPA, and without a plan the entire experience can quickly become overwhelming. Sensory overload is always a real possibility! Having participated in these events for...

|
5 MINS blog-image-01_(1)

Are You Ready for IAAPA?

As the attraction industry’s biggest expo, IAAPA is always a great opportunity to shine a spotlight on what we have done over the past year, as well as a time to meet with existing and prospective...

|
2 MINS iStock-863497498

Do You Really Need an AV Consultant?

As the experience economy continues to mature and evolve, it is has become increasingly more important to embrace creative and meaningful ways to visually interact with team members and customers....

|
2 MINS iStock-1093674926

Are You Ready for AV-As-A-Service?

The cloud-based as-a-service market has been one of the fastest growing sectors over the past 5 years. So much so that it’s estimated that organizations will spend $94.8 billion on these cloud-based...

|
1 MINS iStock-658188828

How Interactives Can Become Viral

We have talked in detail about the significant role that interactive audiovisual deployments can have as guests engage and ultimately embrace the immersive experience. What we haven’t discussed is...

|
1 MINS iStock-911030486-1

Addressing Learning Disabilities

Today’s educators are far more in-tune with the need to adjust lessons to meet individualized student needs. Addressing learning disabilities is a prime example.

|
2 MINS iStock-1065240764

Future of the Digital Workplace

The digital economy is here and with it comes a new way of conducting business. Technology is at the core of almost every job. Smart offices have become the norm with an influx of highly interactive...

|
2 MINS shutterstock_576827212

Collaboration and Communication

When properly leveraged, audiovisual (AV) technology is at the core of most highly effective collaboration and communications efforts in today’s digital world. After all, AV technology has the...

|
2 MINS podcast imageNEW-01

Unpacking the XR Revolution (New Podcast)

We are in the beginning stages of a true revolution – the extended reality revolution. Although some components have been around for a handful of years, the current level of maturity, understanding...

|
3 MINS iStock-169938237-1

Why Businesses Favor a Huddle Room

The global market is rapidly evolving, and if organizations hope to compete – or better yet thrive – they need to rethink their physical environments. Gone are the work weeks where workers file into...

|
1 MINS iStock-1043605040

Reinventing Spaces: Retailtainment

Modern retail venues are constantly evolving – merging entertainment with shopping to create lifestyle destinations for people to shop, eat, drink, socialize and work. They are ultimately redefining...

|
2 MINS monitor-1054708_1280

Why Audiovisual Solutions Matter

In today’s digital economy, how businesses leverage technology is often a key differentiator. While various technologies play a role in fueling this evolving environment properly deploy audiovisual...

|
2 MINS elc400_N5_medium_(1)

What is a Huddle Room?

As Millennials started replacing Boomers, they brought with them the idea of open office environments. And, while these open spaces created an aesthetic the new professionals desired, it also shined...

|
2 MINS victor-garcia-qm9pHqVt7KA-unsplash-2-2

Optimizing Design with AV in Mind

When creating a distinctive structure for a client, it is easy to get caught up in the aesthetics of delivering a truly unique design capable of setting a facility apart from the pack. However, doing...

|
2 MINS jeshoots-com-722888-unsplash-1

Putting an End to Terminal Boredom

Airport terminals can be busy and heavily congested environments, especially during peak travel times. However, even though terminals are often filled with people rapidly moving from point A to point...

|
Scroll to Top