While the future of theme parks seems promising, it will require some time and effort in the right direction to revive the footfall, says Major Dinesh Sharma
The theme parks are the hub for heady adventures, thrilling rides, and adrenaline rush. However, visiting them was, perhaps, the last thing on people’s minds when the pandemic struck us in 2020 as it brought a lot of difficulties across businesses and brought our lives to a halt. Despite 2021 being the year of recovery for some, it is still a sluggish period for the Indian theme park industry. Earlier, it used to be a booming industry with a good employment rate of a minimum of 80,000 people, but now, the employees are jobless or bearing salary cuts.
Dealing with this major hit to the theme parks, the industry is trying to focus on the path of recovery. While the future seems promising, it will require some time and effort in the right direction to revive the customer base. Currently, all they are focussing on is that their operation adheres to the government guidelines.
The present
Now, with the unlocking, most theme parks in the country have reopened after being shut for approximately 10 months as per the guidelines. The parks are taking every possible safety precaution for their visitors and making sure to follow all the norms issued by the government. Their utmost priority is ensuring the safety of the people.
They are trying to adapt to the new normal and grasp the online working methods. Online pre-booked admissions, markings showing where to stand, maintaining social distancing, temperature screening, and sanitising the visitors and employees at the entry time and other prominent zones inside the parks are some of the steps taken to ensure safety. The park operators are also pushing for contactless transitions with food orders, menus on applications, and for buying things from the stalls and shop inside the venue.
The parks are being properly sterilized — swings, surfaces, seat belts, and handlebars — before and after every ride. They have allocated their funds on the safety of the visitors and are spending approximately Rs 10,000-15,000 or even more than this per day.
It has, indeed, been a roller coaster ride for the industry with theme parks having to reopen and then shut down multiple times due to the volatile COVID-19 situation. In order to have a blooming future, strengthening their present situation is essential. The recreational firms have realised this and hence, are working towards achieving the same objective.
Increased expenses, the imposition of safety measures, social distancing, and the provision of limited tickets are some of the ways in which they are looking at reviving their businesses. There are hardly 40 visitors per day and rides are running at less than half the capacity as compared to the pre-pandemic times.
It is undeniable that theme park authorities are struggling with financial issues to protect their employees and mainly to apply the right strategies to draw visitors to the theme parks. Basically, there are two major categories, one which includes rides with water, and the other is without water. While the firms haven’t made the water rides operational as of now but if they decide to open them soon, then, it will become increasingly challenging to curb the transmission of the virus. However, in case they re-launch their water rides, then they will have to adopt specific safety measures. They will have to use a certain chemical that can help in eliminating the virus from the water and is also skin-friendly.
They can also make sanitising compulsory before stepping into the water. Changing or purifying the water at regular intervals after a certain amount of people have entered is another basic yet important step that can help in ensuring the safety of the people while savoring the water rides. The provision of COVID-19 tests at the entrance of the parks that too at nominal charges will further aid in keeping everyone safe and sound.
Attracting customers
One of the common ways in which theme parks are attracting customers is running creative advertisements and campaigns as a part of their marketing strategy to grab attention. Additionally, they are offering the ticket at nearly 30 to 40 per cent discount on its full ticket price. In the present times, the park’s price point is 10-15 per cent lower than 2019 prices but they are optimistic and hopeful that if the demand sustains over the next couple of months then the theme parks will function in full swing. They will be able to roll back to original ticket prices.
The future
The present might seem blurry but the future of recreational parks is indeed promising. As to the present risky situation, all these hygiene solutions need to be adopted for the next 12 to 18 months as the virus is here to stay and we need time to minimise its risk.
Almost every company and business was affected terribly by the pandemic. Hence, it will take time to recover and we need to imbibe relevant strategies to overcome the losses and get back on our feet. This is especially so in the case of theme parks as the challenge for them is huge and the revival journey is troublesome. However, it isn’t impossible as everyone wants cheerful and enthusiastic moments after the lockdown, and theme parks will be the perfect resort for the same. Hopefully, with all the relevant strategies in place, that day won’t be far when the theme parks will again be crowded!
(The writer is the founder of Delta105, Army theme park.)