Looking Back and Moving Forward

Reaching your demographic with precisely the right entertainment options can be a daunting task made easier with the right research and execution. Leisure entertainment facility owners and managers are always striving to draw in and serve customers, a simple goal that takes sometimes complicated and always thoughtful planning. In this issue, we examine how all types of out-of-home entertainment locations are working through the current economy to offer value and fun to customers.

Nostalgia is big business, a fact to which the management of the 1950s-themed Johnny Rockets franchise can attest. You can read about the largest Johnny Rockets in the world, which opened last month in Sunrise, Fla., in this issue. The restaurant features custom tables, an extensive arcade and many other unique touches that are sure to entertain and engage travelers and locals.
Amusement parks are also looking for ways to stay fresh and unique in the new economy. Part of the equation is making sure the stage is set for a comfortable visit. In The Large Park Report, Contributor Chad Emerson offers an exclusive look at a sometimes touchy subject: guest dress codes. And in a business where guests can get queasy from a ride or worn out from the heat, you can also read a story about how parks keep an eye out for guest health during their stay.

In other articles, we discuss branding your leisure entertainment facility, caring for trees at zoos, keeping guests busy and entertained at campgrounds, lighting techniques and technologies at museums, what sinks a party program at amusement parks, bumper car innovations, contemporary marketing and promotions strategies for laser tag centers, keeping bowling facility equipment in top shape, staff training tips for mini-golf and go-kart facilities, attracting customers to coin-op games, concession and waterpark food trends, considerations for purchasing new inflatables, haunted attractions insights for 2011 and more.

Special facility profiles this issue include a look at Scotties Fun Spot in Quincy, Ill., and at the Radisson Hotel & Waterpark in Albuquerque, N.M.
We also wish Janice Weiss many years of happy retirement with a special tribute article. The magazine’s Publisher Emeritus and a valuable member of the advertising sales team, Janice has been with the publication from its beginning in 1972.

Along with our redesigned website, www.tapmag.com, the magazine continues to expand its reach online. Please “like” the magazine on Facebook and follow us on Twitter by typing twitter.com/tapmagazine1 into the browser. We are also getting a terrific response to our Management Blog, which is edited by Contributor Allen F. Weitzel, who has 45 years of experience in the amusement entertainment industry. Visit www.tapmag.com to read and comment on Blog articles, and Allen will be sure to respond to any questions or comments that you post.

I hope you enjoy the issue. Please email me at editortapmag@kanec.com with your comments, questions and suggestions. My staff and I will be covering the IAAPA Attractions Expo in November, so please stop by and visit us at Booth 2802.

Scott C. Borowsky
President and Executive Editor
Tourist Attractions and Parks magazine

“My model for business is The Beatles. They were four guys who kept each other’s kind of negative tendencies in check. They balanced each other and the total was greater than the sum of the parts. That’s how I see business: great things in business are never done by one person, they’re done by a team of people.”
- Steve Jobs, interview with 60 Minutes, 2003