Finding the Right Vendors the First Time

An online search for a product or service will yield instant results. But how can you find the best family entertainment center vendors from amid a sea of competitors that promise outstanding goods and services, but may or may not deliver on their claims? And how do you key into all of the latest thinking on industry trends and access tips and strategies for best operating procedures? Tourist Attractions & Parks offers assistance with both by providing a combination of in-depth editorial coverage and in this issue, the 2012 Entertainment Center and Location-Based Entertainment Suppliers’ Guide. The guide is a compilation of the most competent companies in the business, and you can use this reference all year as you seek to improve and grow your organization.
The Family Entertainment Center Report complements the guide, and is packed with useful articles. The Industry Owls offer strategies to secure financing, and the Mini-Golf and Go-Kart Report examines how to create the perfect children’s birthday party. In the ILTA Section, there is a letter from the group’s executive director and a look at making laser tag a featured attraction at FECs.  And in the Street Beat section, we present the article “Keeping FEC Arcades Profitable – Top Strategies from Coin-Op Machine Operators.”
June is also our Bowl Expo edition, and we offer extensive coverage of this growing and critical segment of the out-of-home leisure entertainment industry. In the Food Service Spotlight section, we offer an article packed with strategies to improve bowling food operations, and a special feature on top tips for hiring and training great order takers and servers. Additionally, the BPAA letter outlines industry trends, and the Bowling Feature covers how centers around the country handle remodeling and improvements.
We also offer a special focus on providing safe attractions. The Waves section article outlines how waterparks around the country practice and teach safety, while the Amusement Rental/Inflatable News section explains why New Jersey has some of the strictest safety regulations regarding these attractions and offers the bonus sidebar “Extra Precautions for Keeping the Youngest Guests Safe on Inflatables.”
The issue also includes a look at how large parks can manage the new generation of reporters and professional fans, buying and maintaining the right kitchen equipment, succeeding with coin-operated redemption games, how zoos are remodeling big cat exhibits for enhanced education and visitation and children’s museums are transforming the guest experience with interactivity and a local focus, and strategies on wait line entertainment from haunted attractions.
I hope you enjoy the issue. Please email me at editortapmag@kane.com with your comments, questions and suggestions.