Gaining Insights from the Season

After a busy summer, fall can be an extremely productive time to reevaluate your operating procedures and analyze the season’s lessons, both successes and missteps. In this issue, we offer a wide range of articles to assist you in keeping your business on track and earning throughout the year.

In the Waves section, we bring you the story of The Great Escape Lodge and Indoor Waterpark and the Great Escape Theme Park and Splash Water Kingdom. Located in the picturesque Adirondack Mountain region in upstate New York, these attractions are serving guests with a top-quality and affordable vacation experience. The story is especially timely as the magazine will be distributed at the World Waterpark Association convention in October.

Any updates you can accomplish at your facility present valuable marketing opportunities and the chance to make a lasting impression on your guests. Our Business Strategies feature returns this issue with a look at how making your facility appear new and improved also goes a long way toward generating positive word-of-mouth advertising.

Since the federal American with Disabilities Act regulations took hold in 1990, all types of leisure entertainment facilities have been responding to them with efforts to make their attractions accessible. In our AZA feature, we profile several zoos and aquariums that have gone above and beyond what may have been expected to create welcoming environments for guests of all physical abilities.

Our Family Entertainment Center Report is packed with useful articles for FEC owners and managers. We feature stories on preventing insurance claims at miniature golf and go-kart facilities, keeping your center spotlessly clean and dealing with customers who ignore safety rules at bowling centers, creating a secure environment for employees at roller skating centers and food service at laser tag facilities. Additionally, our Industry Owls writers look at creating and following written business operating procedures for maximum profits and the correct way to undertake a retail lease.

Keeping inflatables securely anchored to the ground is a chief concern for inflatable party rental companies. In the Amusement Rental/Inflatable News section, you can read about companies’ safe operating procedures.

We also feature stories on cashless vending and choosing the right cars and trucks for your route operation in the Street Beat section, fast food and equipment at family entertainment centers, food service at living history museums and how two large parks are using both traditional and fresh operating strategies to create gains.

I hope you enjoy the issue. Please contact me at the e-mail address below with your comments, questions and suggestions.

Scott C. Borowsky
President and Executive Editor
Tourist Attractions and Parks magazine
editortapmag@kanec.com