TEA / AECOM 2012 Attendance Estimates Released

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I agree marketing needs to be improved, but we also have to consider Customer service. If people don't have a good experience with their treatment then they will most likely not come back. They are not going to be happy if they have to wait in a 1 hour long line to get tickets at the ticket booths. And I could go on about what needs to be improved.
Also, back then AB used to give military members a lot more discounts and benefits, compared to now. Where they don't even open the "Waves of Honor" booth unless they know the park will reach capacity. That could also be a huge factor considering how many military members live in this area.
 
Customer service has nothing to do with marketing. If the park can't properly market its special events and new big-ticket attractions, there's no point in having a marketing department in the first place.
 
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Here's my question.

Before we start comparing Griffon to Verbolten, what was the attendance for the park in 2006?

To have a fair argument we need to compare the jump in attendance.

Plus if you think about how Verbolten did reverse the declining trend, double the increase by 2 since they would have continue to lose.
 
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While you do have some points Jr, honestly marketing is what gets people to come to the park for the first time which is what really counts. Their experience at the park is what keeps them coming back.

As far as military goes, they give discounted offers for military at their local MWR offices on the base or post, plus the offer Waves of Honor. To be completely honest, when I was a new guest to the park, I never even noticed the Heroe's booths until I past the first set of booths. All they really need is a renovation and add more booths to the front. I think they have the space to renovate to make the booths smaller and add more. There is SO much unused space near the overflow tram stop side of the ticket booths. It drives me crazy that they leave so much empty space there even on capacity days.

But in general their PR and Marketing Department needs some serious work done. They do post internet ads, but from what I've heard most of their advertising goes to the D.C. area. You hear radio commercials every so often. It is sad that you see more Disney and Universal ads here than BGW ads but let's be realistic, Disney's market area consists of everywhere. They are practically a monopoly. Although BGW can step it up and throw out commercials once every hour for about several hours a day at least in Virginia and North Carolina.

Also it is interesting to note that I distinctly remember hearing the Howl-o-Scream radio ads more than anything else. I wish they could push out some more amazing advertising. Sorry but inviting the same 20 or so people for a social media event for every event just isn't making enough good press.

It really is sad how most of their marketing is social media, yet they some how manage to fail at that as well.
 
jmu2011 said:
Here's my question.

Before we start comparing Griffon to Verbolten, what was the attendance for the park in 2006?

To have a fair argument we need to compare the jump in attendance.

Plus if you think about how Verbolten did reverse the declining trend, double the increase by 2 since they would have continue to lose.
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Neither TEA nor AECOM released full attendance estimates for 2006 but in the 2007 report (PDF warning) they note a 12.5% increase over the previous year. Based on that, a bit of quick calculation says that 2006 should have been around 2,762,000. So Griffon brought a 12.5% increase while Verbolten brought a 4% increase.


Also, updated the first post with percentage increases and decreases for each year.
 
Do they still give out free tickets for active duty military? I know they definitely did back in 2007.
 
Gavin said:
2007 was also Jamestown's 400th, so expecting anything near 2007 numbers for 2012 is somewhat unrealistic.
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Also add to that fact that it had been 8 years since the park's last coaster installation in 1999. Many people were longing for a big new coaster and the park delivered. There was so much hype behind the ride because it had been almost a decade since AC opened.
 
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I also wonder how much not having the LPGA golf tournament at Kingsmill Resort played into a decrease in attendance? It had to have some. However I think that the economy had the most effect.
 
Actually, I strictly remember seeing signs for the LPGA tournament last year and this year. They used BGW's overflow lot again.
 
Not like it isn't that obvious, but I'm pretty sure we are going to see a huge decrease in Park attendance this year. There are no new rides, there is one new event, the FWF, and we all know that didn't really help attendance. Also, not only are there no new rides, they are actually closing rides. We all know there will be no increase in attendance during Illuminights, there were no improvements to it, and they actually took away the amount shows that play at night. Also, we basically already know there will be almost nothing new during Howl-O-Scream, so we can already expect no increase in attendance. However since Howl-O-Scream is always popular I don't think attendance will decrease. And I"m not too sure about ChristmasTown, but I'm willing to bet that park attendance will decrease by 5%, or more.
 
Hi all, new here. Went to BGW for the first time this year. From the NY area. Thought it was wonderful, we really had a great time. We go to WDW also, but honestly, we had just as much fun at BGW.

On the advertising side, I wonder why they don't at least advertise in the NY/NJ/CT area. It's obviously such a densely populated area, and BGW is within a day's drive. It's not WDW, but it's a great alternative to Disney for a family vacation if you love parks. I really think it's much more than just a local attraction. We stayed at Kingsmill which was a great resort...better than the deluxes at Disney IMO, and also much more reasonably-priced.

It also seems to be priced way too cheap. $70 for the whole summer for such a high-quality park is low. Not that I want to pay more! But the price was striking to me. I don't think you can charge Disney prices for it, but certainly it's worth more than a Six Flags IMO.

Anyway, just my two cents! Hope it doesn't close now that we just found it : (
 
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Welcome to the forum, Marie. :) I totally agree with you, if the advertised in states other than southern virginia and northern North Carolina then attendance would spike up. That is a big reason why Verbolten didn't bring in a lot more attendance, they NEVER ADVERTISED!!! With Griffon they advertised everywhere, but that is also a more thrilling coaster, but they really could do better!
 
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Hoopla said:
Welcome to the forum, Marie. :) I totally agree with you, if the advertised in states other than southern virginia and northern North Carolina then attendance would spike up. That is a big reason why Verbolten didn't bring in a lot more attendance, they NEVER ADVERTISED!!! With Griffon they advertised everywhere, but that is also a more thrilling coaster, but they really could do better!
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Thanks for the welcome :)

Yeah, I really think there is such a huge untapped market up here. Most people I talk to don't even know about it hardly. Such a shame!
 
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Hi, Marie! Welcome to the forums!

I'm selfishly welcoming you, for my own part, because you agree that $70 is way too cheap to be letting people in for the entire summer. I've tried to make this argument a few times here, but don't find a ton of supporters, haha.

Anyway, glad to hear your family had a great time at Busch Gardens!
 
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Dr. Jay Money Ed.D said:
Hi, Marie! Welcome to the forums!

I'm selfishly welcoming you, for my own part, because you agree that $70 is way too cheap to be letting people in for the entire summer. I've tried to make this argument a few times here, but don't find a ton of supporters, haha.

Anyway, glad to hear your family had a great time at Busch Gardens!
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Thanks for the welcome!
Let's just say I was pleasantly surprised at the price :)
 
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Like I've said before, the park's marketing needs a good boot in the rear. Verbolten, Food and Wine, Illuminights, etc are almost never advertised. That being said, the park does pull a lot of people from the mid-Atlantic area (PA, MD, Jersey, Delaware), so there's no reason the park can't advertise in those regions.

It's weird, I've never seen Hersheypark ads play here, yet I saw plenty of VA plates up there last Saturday. Not to mention plates from surrounding states. Not only that, but the park was crazy packed (think BGW Howl O Scream crowds) on a 90 degree day. Lines for the rides were still really reasonable though despite being jam packed on the pathways. What's Hersheypark doing right that Busch is doing wrong?
 
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