Richard Cadell, Fun City/Brean Leisure Park, UK (pictured): Our group sales are accelerating, but it’s fair to say we are very cheap, so it’s a no-brainer.
Our group prices are £6 [$9.95//€6.80] or £8.99 [$14.90/€10.15] per person for a £9.99 [$16.50/€11.30] or £19.99 wristband [$33.00/€22.60]. The way we view it is because our groups are predominantly schools, we would be quieter during term time without them, and I think we are very much a repeat visit. If you look at other local attractions, such as my friend Gerry Cottle’s Wookey Hole Caves, it’s a “oncer” so you can’t afford to give it away. In contrast we change every year, but local people might not always be aware of that, so the schools are a good shop window for us. That’s the key to groups, to heavily discount, but we make it up on food and other stuff.
Peter Tartaglia, Playland, USA: In comparing this year to last year at this point in time our group sales are similar in the number of groups booked but higher in the number of admissions sold by 28%. We are cautiously optimistic that this trend will continue especially if camp enrolments are higher this year.
Vic Nolting, Coney Island (Cincinnati): Group sales bookings for the first quarter are actually slightly down from 2010. However, the number of groups who are seriously considering a picnic event have increased significantly. So while groups are booking later and later, we are confident that our business will increase during the 2011 season. It’s hard to say how much, but our reps think that somewhere in the area of 6 to 8% is attainable.
