According to the Indian Association of Amusement Parks and Industries (IAAPI), the size of the Indian amusement park business is estimated to be around Rs 4,000 crore, and is expected to grow 6% annually till 2010. Southern States account for a lion’s share of the business, according to Mr GP Ravidas, managing director of the VGP Group, which set up the VGP Golden Beach Amusement Park in Chennai as early as 1975.
In Tamil Nadu, for instance, there are 10 big parks, four of which are in
Chennai VGP Universal, Kishkinta, MGM Dizzeeworld, Queensland and a smaller water park,” says Mr Ravidas, who is also the president of IAAPI.
Theme parks are ideal for family get togethers, feels Mr Ravidas. “Amusement parks enhance family bonding, unlike going for a movie, as the family spends time together for the whole day,” he says. Medical tourism has also boosted VGP’s business. “When patients come to the city for treatment, they usually bring family members along, who put our park on their list of to-dos.
That is how we get a large number of people from eastern states,” Mr Ravidas says. But if you thought theme parks were meant only for families and kids, think again. In a report titled Beyond Amusement released this March by Wonder La Holidays (part of the V-Guard group that runs Wonder La in Bangalore), it is mentioned that a large number of professionals (66%) believe offsite meetings at an amusement park can act as a bridge-building exercise among employees.
“About 10% of our customers are corporates. We have conference rooms and auditoriums within the campus where they can hold meetings,” says Wonder La Holidays managing director Arun K Chittilappilly.
Started in late 2005, the park, spread over 85 acres, has seen an investment of Rs 105 crore till date. It gets 1,900 visitors a day on an average, but is as high as 8,000 during weekends and holidays. The other southern states are not faring badly either.
Elles World, Ocean Park and Treasure Island in and around Hyderabad are some of the amusement parks in Andhra Pradesh. Even Kerala has nine, some of them being Veegaland, Fantasy Park (Kerala’s first amusement park), Dream World and Silver Storm Water. Karnataka, although a slow starter, is picking up speed and has Fun World, Wonder La and GRS Fantasy Park to name the prominent ones.
Veegaland in Kochi, another offering of the V-Guard group was started in 2000 and has had about 65 lakh visitors till date. “We have all-inclusive tickets in both parks. But, the Kochi market is more price-sensitive than Bangalore. So, our Veegaland tickets are cheaper than those of Wonder La,” Mr Chitlilappilly says. It was all work and no fun for Coimbatoreans till a decade ago. But sensing the spending potential and the increasing inflow of tourists to the nearby Ooty, the LA Group opened its Black Thunder Theme Park 6 Resorts in 1995.
Nestled in the foothills of the Nilgiris, its target customers are children, adolescents and youngsters in the age bracket of 20-40. “I chose that place because of the uninterrupted water supply (a vital for water games), salubrious climate and, most importantly, because it was away from the bustling city life,” says LA Group executive director A Joseph Vincent. He admits that his business depends on the tourist inflow to Ooty.
“During peak season, April-May and Christmas holidays — we do less promotional activities as by now we are well-known. During off-season, we offer school and corporate packages,” Mr Joseph adds. But Coimbatore remained a Spartan society till recently.
In 2007, Erode-based Maharaja group came to the city with the Rs-25 crore Maharaja Theme Parks & Resorts on the prime Avinashi Road.
Billed as the first-of-its-kind in Coimbatore, some of the facilities of this park include two cinemas, a mini golf course, water games, separate rides for family and children and conference and party halls.
While it can accommodate about 2,000 people at a lime, the average footfall of this park ranges between 300-400 a day during season and a mere 50 during off-season. “That’s because the concept is new to Kovaiites and we need to go in for aggressive marketing,” says Maharaja Theme Parks and Resorts managing director P Sathiyamoorthy.
Mr Vincent feels Coimbatore is yet to open up from its traditional mindset. “Once the corporate culture catches on and the much-awaited IT companies enter Coimbatore, we will surely have larger number of visitors,” he points out. Mr Ravidas feels the industry has a great potential to grow.
“Amusement parks will come up wherever the population is more than 10 lakh,” he says. The way forward, he says, is for the government to work with private players. He cites the example of Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, where the State governments have given land on lease for setting up such parks.
Source: The Economic Times
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