Research Topics: UK Theme Parks

BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS

Introduction             The increasing number of tourist whose purpose is to find a place where they can relax, enjoy and be entertained has been one of the major cause of there are different countries who tries to develop their own theme park or enhance their existing theme park and Hong Kong is never an exemption.     The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government views tourism as a sustainable industry and one of the major pillars of Hong Kong’s economy.   This is really not surprising considering the fact that the said industry, indeed, brings in to the country lots of money. In 2001, the total tourism receipts amounted HK .3 billion (Hong Kong SAR Government Information Centre 2005), which contributed to a considerable percentage of Hong Kong’s GDP. As the Government realises that tourism is a vehicle for economic and social development, some proactive policies had been adopted to further strengthen and enhance Hong Kong’s capacity to be a key tourist destination.   Because of the opportunities given by the tourism industry, Hong Kong government is trying to sustain its competitiveness in tourism through the theme parks available in the country. Primarily, the main goal of this paper is to conduct a strategic analysis for the Theme park industry in Hong Kong. Herein, the business environment of the theme park industry will be analysed using two marketing tools for analysis (PESTLE and Porter’s Five Forces Model). Furthermore, the discussion will also include the scenario planning both optimistic and pessimistic.   Industry Background             Currently, there are two existing and operating theme park industries in Hong Kong. These include the Ocean Park Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Disneyland. The main goal of the development the theme park industries is to provide a place for local residents in Hong Kong where they can enjoy, relax and be entertained by the different features offered by the industry.  In addition, theme park development also aims to attract more people to visit Hong Kong.               The theme park industries play a vital role in both tourism industry and the Hong Kong government. The number of tourists that visits each theme park has been able to help boost the economy of Hong Kong.  Reports predicted that the theme park bring about 5.2 million people from different places worldwide and a certain proportion will be accounted from mainland China. In that assumption, it means a greater advantage for the tourism industry to accumulate more expenditure from its tourists.   PESTLE Analysis             The theme park industry in Hong Kong will be analysed using PESTLE Analysis. PESTLE stands for Political, Economical, Socio-cultural, Technological, Legal and Ecological aspects.               Political             Firstly, the political environment concerns the role of the government concerns the role of the government and its affects in an organisation. It also includes the extent to which the government intervenes in the economy. The Hong Kong government has been very supportive with the theme park industry.   Since the government of the Hong Kong believes that these industries will be beneficial for the region, the government of Hong Kong is also open for other possibilities of establishing new theme park that will meet the needs of both the local residents and their tourists for a best family holiday spot. For example, the Hong Kong Disneyland is a joint venture between the HK government and the Walt Disney, while Ocean Park is a theme park which is owned by HK SAR government. These means, that HK government have a control of the theme park industry.                 Economical             Secondly, the amount of economic activity in the economic environment is extremely an important aspect.  Whilst assessing the economic environment in which theme park industry operates. The government tries to terminate the level of economic activity to provide positive and friendly environment for the theme park industry. It can be said that Hong Kong economic situation is strong and stable. With this, Hong Kong is able to sustain good relation with theme park industry especially for Hong Kong Disneyland. The economic stability of the region has helped the theme park industry to have a good economic performance.               Socio-Cultural             Social environment is of great importance when being applied to different organisations, in case the theme park industry.  Hong Kong has been considered as one of the regions in Asia which is considered to be a strong tourist destination. With the increasing number of people who wants to live a quality life by enjoying and relaxing in a fine holiday spot, it can be said that the theme park industry have a greater opportunity to grow even more in Hong Kong. The demographic changes and the psychographics of Hong Kong society has open more chances for the theme park industry to achieve its goal and mission.               Technological             Technological factor has helped in reducing the barriers of entry for other theme park industry. It has also supplemented in the cost of capital in other areas, to enhance the services provided by theme park industry.  Through the use of online marketing, it becomes easy for theme park industry to promote the business to their target market in different parts of the world.                 Legal             Legal aspect is also an important factor of the business environment. It can be said that since the theme park industries in Hong Kong was partly owned (Hong Kong Disneyland) and wholly owned (Ocean Park) by its government, these industries had been able to make all its business operations and transactions adhere to the rules and regulations provided by HK government. With this, theme park industries are assured that they will never be accused for any illegal actions which in return will help them have a good reputation in the market environment.               Ecological             The ecological factors directly impact the travel industry trends and the theme park industries. The weather conditions in Hong Kong determine the profitability of theme parks. The better the weather conditions the higher is the number of visitors. Ecological factors play an important part in the success of the theme park industries as it affect input manufacturing capacity. Without proper yield a company will be unable to meet the existing market demand, creating a strong opportunity for its competitors.             Porter’s Five Forces Model Porter’s Five Forces model (Porter, 1990) shows the macro analysis of the theme park industry situation in Hong Kong.   ·        New entrants The deregulated state of the market provides certain opportunities for new entrants to start the business. The theme park industry in a mature market, divided between existing theme park industries. The continuous change of life style preferences create various opportunities for them park industry content. The theme park areas have serious entry barriers, especially for small players, as the existing industries have strong reputation, develop economies of scale and continuously invest in new technologies.   ·        Buyers The global operations of different theme parks industries and the strong local operation of theme park industry in Hong Kong have shown that consumers have a very strong bargaining power. Strong competition between global and regional niche players and constant change of preferences for the tourist will have strong impact on theme park industries.   ·        Substitutes Substitute theme park industry that will be developed in Hong Kong will have significant effect on the number of tourist or visitors who will avail the services of the existing theme park industries. For example, Ocean Park is the only theme park operating in Hong Kong and has shown strong business performance, but when the Hong Kong Disneyland was opened which provides new features for a theme park, the performance of Ocean Park has been affected.    ·        Suppliers The scale of operations, the size of the theme park industry in Hong Kong and the highly recognised strong identity provide the theme park industries with bargaining power against local and global operations.   Competitors Analysis             In Hong Kong, the two existing theme park industries are the Hong Kong Disneyland and Ocean Park. Although, each industry has special and unique features and each has a different market segment, competition in both industries can still be considered as tough and strong. However, because the government has a control with these theme park, the competition are reduce which help both the industries to operate at their best and gain competitive advantage against each other.   Scenario Planning             Based on the environmental analysis for theme park industries in Hong Kong, the following scenarios are being visioned for these industries.   Optimistic Scenario             With the increasing number of tourists who wants to visit relaxing and entertaining places, it can be said that ten years from now, theme park industries in Hong Kong is perceived to be more competitive in the global world. In addition, if the government of Hong Kong will continue to support the theme park industry and enhance the services and its features, theme park industry will gain good reputation and in 2016, these industries will be considered as a world-class industry in Hong Kong.   Pessimistic Scenario             If the Hong Kong government would not consider ways on improving the facilities or the operation of theme park industries, it can be perceived that in year 2016, theme park industries in Hong Kong can only be considered as a history for the region and their dream of being recognised as a region that provides world-class holiday destination will not be achieved..   For these scenarios, it can be said that the optimistic scenario is more plausible to happen than the pessimistic one.  Since, the business environments of the theme park industries are considered to have a positive impact for the industries’ operation, it can be said that theme park industries will be able to have a sustainable competitive advantage. And because of the support of the government with these industries, a greater possibility of achieving growth is at stake for the theme park industry.   Conclusion  Analysis shows that the willingness of the government of Hong Kong to become a world-class tourist destination is the key environmental factor that enhances the growth of theme park industries in the region. The business environment of the theme park industries in Hong Kong has enabled the industries to gain competitive position not only in the local market but more importantly to international market. It can also be said that with the positive reactions of the Hong Kong business environment, theme park industries will have a good future. All in all, theme park industries in Hong Kong post a greater opportunity to be more recognised in the world.   Reference Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China 2005, Available at [http://www.info.gov.hk/eindex.htm]. Accessed on [08/05/06].   Hong Kong Disneyland 2006.  Available at [www.hongkongdisneyland.com]. Accessed on [08/05/06].     Hong Kong Ocean Park 2006.  Available at [www.oceanpark.com.hk]. Accessed on [08/05/06].      ASSIGNMENT 2: OCEAN PARK ANALYSIS   Introduction             Theme park industry has become one of the most important industries in Hong Kong. The region has been able to realise that theme park industry opens the opportunity for Hong Kong to be recognised as a tourist destination in the world. One of the theme park industries operating in Hong Kong is the Ocean Park. Thus, the goal of this paper is to conduct an internal analysis for the Ocean Park. Herein, the discussion will give emphasis on the competitiveness of the company.  In addition, the discussion will include the determination of the strategies used by the company.   Company Background             Ocean Park is one of the theme parks operating in Hong Kong which is wholly owned by the Hong Kong government. Before Hong Kong has become operational, Ocean Park has been considered as the only theme park developed in the region. Ocean Park is located between the Aberdeen and Repulse Bay. It is considered as the largest leisure paradise in Southeast Asia and one of the largest marine parks throughout the world, Ocean Park covers a total land area of over 200 acres and the park was constructed on both sides of the mountain. Herein, a cable car system connects the lowland and headland and gives spectacular views of South China Sea and Hong Kong.             Ocean Park has been built because of the donations of the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club and opened in January 10, 1977. The theme park was under the control of statutory board of Ocean Park Corporation.  The company provides an affordable marine animal education as well as entertainment. It is said that there are approximate 4.2million visitors in Ocean Park yearly.  Accordingly, there are 40 different rides and attractions in the park. The main attractions of Ocean Park are divided into three sectors:  The Marine land which composed of the mysterious underwater worlds, headland rides and the lowland gardens.   Resource Audit This part of the analysis will discuss the assessment of the resources of the company. In this manner, the consideration of factor conditions for Ocean Park will be considered. Factor conditions refer to the corporation’s ability to turn the basic resources both natural and unnatural into a specialised advantage which will benefit the company’s performance and enhance competitive advantage. These resources include skilled or human resources, technological resources and natural resources. In lieu with Ocean Park the company has been able to create its own resources into more beneficial resources which help the company achieve its business objective and succeed in the market environment.  The skilled labour or human resources have been given a good management system that maintains the productivity and enhance the skills of such employees. The management of Ocean Park sees to it that all their employees have equal opportunities to grow and enhance its potential which benefits that company along the way.  Herein, trainings and career development are emphasised to make the workers feel that they are given important and all their hardships for the company will be worthy.  In terms of natural resources, the company sees to it that the natural resources are not affected by their operations.  Specifically, the company make use of the natural resources as the main tourist attraction to market the company. As the company realised, that their business has a direct impact with the natural environment, Ocean Park sees to that they are able to manage the environment effectively. This can be seen in the imposed environmental management system of the Ocean Park.  This commitment includes the aim of reducing the impact of their operations on the environment by using the natural resources responsibly. In accordance with the technological infrastructure, the company sees to it that they utilised technologically advanced facilities and equipment to give their target market quality services. The company uses information technology to make all their transaction organised and manageable.  In addition, they use state of the art technological facilities to maintain the smooth operation of the park.   Value Chain Analysis In order to better understand the activities leading to competitive advantage; it can begin with generic value chain. Value chain is the framework for examining the strengths and weaknesses of an organization, and for using the results of this analysis to improve performance (Campbell et al, 2002). Porter (1980) described the activities of organization as the “value Chain”, which may be classified into primary activities (that create, transfer or support something of value) and support activities (that assist the primary activities by providing resources or infrastructure). The value chain is useful in outsourcing decision. Understanding the linkages between activities can lead to more optimal make-or-buy decision that can result in either a cost advantage or a differentiation advantage.             The company is wholly owned by the Hong Kong government. This means that all activities of the company adhere to the decision of the government.  The operation of the company includes accommodation of a number of customers who visits the park.  The operation of the company to create value includes ticketing system and the management sees to it that the people in the park are not overcrowded. Moreover, the company also uses the capability of the information technology to handle all value chains strategically and systematically.  And lastly, it gives emphasis to its suppliers by valuing them through seminars and other informative activities.   Competitive Advantage Winning business strategies are grounded in sustainable competitive advantage or position in the marketplace (Oliver, 1997). One of the sustainable competitive advantages of Ocean Park is how the management of the company do their business.  Guided by the so-called strategic management system, the leaders of the industry clearly illustrate integrity in all their actions.  The management has also strong commitment in promoting the company values and the value of diversity among the employees and staffs. In addition, the management of the company has been able to understand the priorities of the business and make every decision in line with the strategic direction by giving consideration to the effect on all aspects of the business and on other stakeholders.  Another sustainable competitive advantage of the company is its continuous focus on the importance of both internal and external customers to ensure that these customers remain loyal to them.  The company also makes it sure that they motivate, inspire, coach, guide and support their staffs to realise the mission of the Ocean Park. Furthermore, the company’s ability to identify and recognise contributors is another factor that sustains the company’s competitive advantages.   Core Competencies             The company’s core competencies include the ability of the management to provide quality services among its customers. In addition, the continuous development and improvement made by the company to adhere to the changing needs of its target market can also be considered as one of the core competencies of Ocean Park. With this, the company tops the itinerary of many tourist of Hong Kong, especially those with children. Furthermore, the effective and efficient operational management used within the company can also be considered as one of the core competencies of Ocean Park.   Culture and Stakeholders Analysis This type of analysis is used to recognize all stakeholders in a certain situation: in this case all stakeholders involved in Ocean Park will be analysed.  The stakeholder analysis is a method that the researcher can use to recognise and evaluate the significance of key people, groups of people, or institutions that might extensively persuade the success of Ocean Park.   The findings of the stakeholder analysis can provide early and essential data about who will be affected by the operation of Ocean Park positively or negatively, who can influence the failure or success of the company, which individuals, groups and agencies would be involved in the business operation and how and whose capacity needs to be built to enable those individuals or group of individuals to participate. Thus, the analysis of stakeholders will provide a foundation and structure fro the participatory planning and monitoring that will follow. In this case, the key stakeholders of the company includes, the management of the company under the control of Ocean Park Corporation the employees and staffs, the customers (local residents and tourists), communities, government institutions and other shareholders, and rivals.  These stakeholders are one of the key factors why the Ocean Park has been able to sustain it competitive advantage.  The management skills and abilities of the leaders of the company have made Ocean Park become the largest marine-oriented theme park in Asia and in the world. Further, the loyalty of the customers and the trust it gave to the company has helped the company maintain its competitiveness. The role of the staffs and employees are the ones that make the company continuously achieve the needs and demands of the customers.  Other stakeholders support can be considered as additional factor that makes the company what it is right now.   Financial Analysis Financial Reporting Analysis has many factors to consider in order achieve the main objective. Measurement of different resources should be included. For many people, the expression measurement probably evokes more negative than positive responses. The words are associated with ideas like discipline, control, and accountability. They rekindle thoughts of pocket-protected technicians with clipboards gathering data to support time and motion studies. They suggest a lack of freedom, a stifling of creativity, an environment of work without fun. Interestingly, when things are going well, measurement may be welcome because it reinforces positive feelings, informs others of our positive accomplishments, and forms the basis for performance-based rewards. In the case of Ocean Park, it can be said that the company has a strong financial performance. Although, the opening of Hong Kong Disneyland had a significant effect on the profit of the company, the management of Ocean Park are still able to maximise their financial resources for improving the Park to survive in their competition with Disneyland.   Company Strength & Weakness Strengths             As mentioned above, Ocean Park has been known as the largest and most competitive marine oriented and education theme park not only in Asia but in different parts of the world. This recognition can be attributed to the strengths of the company. One of its strength is its ability to anticipate the demands of the customers and its ability to provide high-quality services which in return make their customers become loyal of availing all their services. The company has been able to implement a strategy that will suit the needs of the company to provide quality services and to continually make the business become a tough competitor among its rival.  In addition, one of the company’s strength is its strong environmental commitment.  The company imposed an environmental management system which includes community consultation, proactive planning, compliance, sustainable development and auditing for continuous development.  Furthermore, the continued focus on controlling costs and increasing efficiency can also be noted as one of Ocean Park’s strengths to maintain is annual profit growth.                          Weaknesses             Although the company encompasses much strength to be competitive in theme park industry, it also has some weaknesses.  One of the weaknesses of the company is the inability of the management of the company to anticipate the challenges brought by the opening of Hong Kong Disneyland which affects their sales.  In addition, the company is also lacking the capacity to manage carefully their business because of the large entities and separate units of the business.  The company is faced with different unsolved issues because of lack of strategic decision making.  This weaknesses, if not given attention may lead failure for the company to achieve its goal of providing quality products and services   Conclusion/Recommendation All in all, it can be said that the management of the company has been able to utilise all its resources into an asset which makes them gain competitive advantage in the theme park industry and tourism industry worldwide. It shows that the ability of the management to focus on their business strategy make Ocean Part a strong competitor in the marketplace. In order for the company to maximise its strengths and minimise or totally eliminate its weaknesses, the company must be able to use or impose a strategic management system that will help them enhance their business operations   References/Bibliography Campbell, D, Evans, N and Stonehouse, G 2002. Strategic Management for Travel and Tourism. UK: Butterworth-Heinemann.   Ocean Park 2006.  Available at [www. oceanpark.com.hk]. Accessed on [08/05/06].   Oliver, C 1997, “Sustainable competitive advantage: Combining institutional and resource-Based views.” Strategic Management Journal 18(9): 697-713.   Porter, ME 1980.  Competitive Strategy. Free Press.         Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS

Introduction The increasing number of tourist whose purpose is to find a place where they can relax, enjoy and be entertaine...

As of now, tourism is considered as one of the most important industries in the world

Part 1: Marketing Report   Introduction             As of now, tourism is considered as one of the most important industries in the world, it is helping many economies of different countries in terms of financial aspect. In connection to that, theme park is considered as one of the most important sectors of the tourism industry. Since 1980s, the theme park industry has developed into a global event and trend (2007).             In Hong Kong, tourism is known to be the number one sources of income of the entire nation.   This is because of different theme parks, events, festivals, and shopping malls in the country. Primarily, the main goal of this report is to provide a marketing approach for specific events in Hong Kong. In this report, the author will give emphasis on sporting event, specifically the Horse Racing Events in the country.             Type of Event             Sports in general have been an important aspect of global culture; it is in the conduction of sports where language and cultural barriers are replaced by the universal eagerness for such activities. Recently, several sports activities are being held in different, which in turn attracted a number of tourists. Diving, golf and yachting are some of the latest activities under sports tourism that are attracting a significant travel market portion, particularly in Europe, United States and Asian countries.  The growing interest of foreign travelers for sports attractions is further stressed by the results of a statistical report where 62% of international tourism accounts for leisure and recreation. Twenty percent is the portion of international traveling due to various personal reasons like health treatment, family/friend visits, or religious pilgrimages. The remaining 18% account for international tourism for business and leisure trips ( 2001).  One of the sporting events that have become very popular among many people is horse racing. It is mentioned that this sporting event is one of the largest spectator sports in existence today.  Some individuals may perceive horse racing as a gambling-related sports, but it has always been a sport especially for the competitors.             In its history, it can be said that horse racing is not associated with gambling or money making, horse racing is used because of pride to provide that they are superior from their opponents. Accordingly, horse racing was brought to Hong Kong as a British tradition and from then, it becomes the most essential entertainment, sporting event and gambling institutions in the country. In order to commemorate this event, the has been established in 1884. This not for profit organisation conducts nearly 700 races each season at the two race tracks in. This sporting event draws in over 11% of the country’s tax revenue.  Each single racing day of  and  tracks fills 46,000 in attendance per card. Horse racing in Hong Kong does not only cater for local horse racing enthusiasts but also international betters and horse racers. In this regard, horse racers, bettors are waiting for the Hong Kong International races which is most commonly know as Turf World Championship. This is a tournament wherein the world’s best trainers, jockeys, contenders, and champion horses are gathered in on sporting event.     Age of the Event             It can be said that Hong Kong has a rich tradition of sporting events specifically with their horse racing sports since the establishment of the  in 1884. Today, the horse racing sport events is still considered as one of the most popular sporting events with fans from different generations.  Horse racing events are done in two premiere racing venues which are  and  courses. These two race courses are hosting high-stake races from September through July and draw fervent hordes of spectators who want to witness exciting fights and to cheer for their favorite jockeys and horses for the bigger payoff and the big win. The Happy Valley is located in a residential area in the northern region of Hong Kong Island and is noted to be the city track.  hosts races on Wednesday nights with attractive backdrop of sparkling skyscrapers. On one hand, weekend races are usually held at the so-called country track of  , broadly considered as one of the world’s finest racing facilities.  has been able to host the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Races, which is the riches day of turf racing al over the world and held every December. It also hosted the  held every March.   Target Market             The target market of the organization focuses on local and international visitors who are horse racing enthusiasts including the horse races, spectators, bettors, jockeys and other market. The target market also includes individuals of legal age who wants to experience the excitement of horse racing fights and to take their chances for money in the horse racing bets. The demand for this sporting event company is being affected by different factors such as the economic conditions of the world as well as different political happenings and events in the global field such as the terrorism and disease scare such as SARS.               Market Statistics             The estimated sports goer during the racing seasons is said to be about 1.2 million attendances each racing day, based on the .  In 2005-2006, statistics show that there are 1.89 million total horse racing attendance for 78 race meetings with a betting turnover of HKHK.050 billion. Although there is a decline of the number of attendance, this does not affect the turnover of the HKJC because of the turnover of the online betting. Table 1 Turnover Rates Horse Racing (HK$million)     2005/06 (78 Race Meetings) 2004/05 (78 Race Meetings) % Change Turnover 60,050 62,661  -4.17% Betting Duty  7,943 8,352   -4.90% Source: HKJC operations and Seasons Highlights (2008). Online available at http://www.hkjc.com/english/corporate/corp_operation_05-06_results.asp Retrieve November 7, 2008.     Marketing Strategy Positioning As of now, visitors or travelers are not only visiting a certain place or events, simply just for fun. Most of them are looking for excitement, and more importantly learning process. This is one of the reasons why, more and more countries are trying to be the number one choice of the tourists by providing them with exciting and unique travel experiences. The primary market for the said strategy will be local and international horse racing enthusiasts, which include horse races, jockeys, bettors and other spectators from  different part of the globe, particularly those who are related and interested with sporting events, specifically horse racing. The target market is those individuals with legal age specifically for bettors and other children accompanied by their parents to see live horse racing events.             The said strategy will focus on the general type of betting and special effect and post production. The said offers and services will get the attention of the horseracing enthusiasts from the said field. On the other hand, it will also have an influence to those bettors and fanatics. Because it will give them a sense of knowledge regarding on what is happening in a horse racing events. Tourists are also welcomed as a target market especially those who came to see the best horse racers and jockeys live.  The said marketing plan will be benefited from the sports and entertainment sector of the country; furthermore, it will also be benefited from the growing tourism industry of Hong Kong.     Communications Strategy             Communication strategy focuses on the entire relationship aspects of the horse racing sports events towards the target market. This can be done by different communication strategies that will mainly focus on communicating and relating with the sports and entertainment events. It will be done by series of different communication method such as press, advertisement, website, seminars, and other events that are related to the said aspects. In terms of this approach, the use of Integrated Marketing communication strategy will be considered.             Through the integrated marketing communication, horse racing sporting events will be strategically promoted through the use of various promotional elements as well as marketing process to communicate the message of the company and the brand to the specified target market (1996). It has been noted that integrated marketing communication is aiming on using direct communication so as to bring behavioral changes among consumers who will purchase a specific brand ( 2000). Integrated marketing communication also relates the message to the client which brings behavioral changes that helps the brand to establish a strong and tight relation with the target market. Furthermore, the context of integrated marketing communication stresses on the significance of coordination and synergy so as to develop and maintain a strong brand image. By using various communication instruments through the integration concept of marketing communications, industries have the ability to use effective methods to strengthen their brands with their target market and promote stronger brand names to their targets ( 2004).   Sales Strategy             The sales strategy focuses on the direct relationship with the horse racing enthusiasts. This will be done  by  this will be done by process of offering different packages in order to come up with the demand, desire and budget of the horse racing enthusiasts. In addition to that, it will also be important to have a direct relationship with different schools and universities that are connected to the field of arts and filming. Appendix 2   Marketing Budget   Marketing Budget             The advertisement of the entire project focuses on the TV, Newspaper ads, flyers as well as the Internet. Each TV advertisement causes HK0 dollars per 30 second ad per station. The newspaper ads cost HK0 per advertisement; furthermore, the flyers cost HK0, where in HK.10 each ( 2008). Communication Estimated Quantity Estimated Cost Per Unit Estimated Subtotal Flyers 5,000 HK.10 HK0 Television 10 HK0 HK000 Website 1 HK0 HK0 Sponsorship 3 HK0 HK0 Total     HK750               This communication and marketing budget will focus on the relationship of the organization towards the primary market.   Pricing             Due to the fact that the direct or primary market of the organization focuses on the horseracing enthusiasts, the pricing techniques and processes is an important matter. This is due to the fact that horseracing enthusiasts can be considered as price sensitive, thus the price of the product can directly affect their buying behavior. It is also important to consider that most of the international horseracing enthusiasts are in tight budget, due to the fact that they are living far from their families.     That is the reason why, the price of the service will be based on the demand, needs but will meet the expense of the horseracing enthusiasts. .    Key Success Factors             The key success factor of the learning facility of the horse racing events focuses on the improvement of the tourism industry of the country, particularly the increasing demand for sports events in the country, particularly the increasing number of international horseracing enthusiasts in the country. Furthermore, it is also important to consider that the company is holding the brand image and popularity of being the provider of a world class horse racing events all over the globe that is very popular in the field of horse racing sports.  That is why it can be used as one of the major aspects in terms of brand awareness and communication towards the target market.   Conclusion             Analysis shows that horse racing sporting events should been able to use effective and efficient marketing strategy to position them in both the local and global market. Herein, the  marketing approach will serve as their competitive edge to establish competitive position in the market. Furthermore, it can also be concluded that although the company has some weaknesses, they are able to make it as a potential factor to stay in the competitive market. This marketing plan is a helpful tool for the company to achieve their vision and mission. In order to market the horse racing sports events in Hong Kong, the government should be able to give importance on the value of these sporting evens in the entire HK tourism.                                     Part 2: Marketing Report Portfolio of Festival   Summary             Marketing communication is one of the most important elements to generate target audience and to convey information to them. In this report, different events have been considered and analyzed their marketing communication approach. The events include Beijing Olympics, Hong Kong Arts Festival, and the Community development program for adults of Malaysia which is KEMAS. This paper has been able to provide details about marketing communication and how this can help an event to become successful. Analysis of the marketing communication of the three events has been considered and it shows that the three have been able to use different marketing communication approach and have different objectives in doing so. The Beijing Olympics campaign was to attract tourists and sports enthusiasts and to provide information about the importance of sports activities while the Hong Kong Arts festival campaign aims on promoting awareness on the cultural and arts elements of the nation not only in the local but also international level. On one hand, the communication approach of the Ministry of Education for KEMAS aims on enhancing the awareness of the adults on the importance of education and literacy programmers.  By and large, it can be concluded that marketing communication approach is important to convey important message to the people. Introduction Marketing Communication has always been one of the key points to an enterprise’s success; how the products or services are being portrayed through the ads are very likely to help affect the sales rates. The aims of Marketing Communication are to convince consumers to use their products, to give them an alternative or convince them to change their current products, and to increase the company’s sales profits. Because of this, financial success is the goal of Marketing Communication, and it may be achieved through an equally successful persuasive ads.  According to  (2003), there is ample evidence that the century-long domination in marketing communications by mass media advertising and advertising agencies is coming to an end. Marketing budgets are being shifted away from traditional advertising to behavior-oriented disciplines like consumer promotion, direct marketing, and direct-response advertising. Retailers are gaining strength over manufacturers New media technologies are increasing the fragmentation of media usage. On the other hand, prime-time television, long the main channel for mass campaigns, has had its audience diminish from 90 percent to 68 percent in the last 20 years ( 1997). Every company is inevitably cast into the role of communicator and promoter. For most companies, the question is not whether to communicate but rather what to say, to whom, and how often. It has been noted that marketing communication is like a coin which has two sides. The first side of marketing communication is concerned with efficiently and effectively giving information and details about the company and the products or services to a chose market segments. However, in isolation, what to say and to whom this will be told can be nothing more than a risky second-guessing regarding the allegiances and interests of other individuals. The second face of marketing communication is the inquiry. This side of the marketing communication task gives emphasis with learning from other people regarding the values and interests, and eventually relating this to the interests of the personnel working in the organisation. Such process should logically precede the promotion of a specific standpoint in terms of product desirability and relevant consumer satisfaction (Fill, 2002 Eventually, several companies began to go beyond conventional practice and used other promotional specialists to improve and implement their market plans. Primary, the main goal of this report is to compare and analyse the strategic effectiveness of the marketing communications strategy used by different events or festivals in various countries.  For this report, the sport events that will be analyzed are the recent Beijing Olympics, Hong Kong Arts Festival 2008 and the Community Program Malaysia which is KEMAS. In this report, the marketing communication of each of the events will be given emphasis.   Overview of Marketing Communication It is said that each and every organisation, may it be public, private or non-profit organisation should be able to consider strategic marketing approach so as to ensure competitive position in the marketplace (, 1994). One of the most important aspects of marketing is marketing communications (See Appendix 1). It is significant because it enables an industry to communicate effectively and efficiently with their target market.  Marketing communications is the term generally preferred to promotions. It is a vital contributor to the satisfaction of customer needs and wants. As such, it is essential that managers have an understanding of the factors that are involved in the development of strategies that enable organizations to communicate with their consumers (, 2003), their channel participants and with other stakeholders, such that those relationships may be developed over the long term. Every company is inevitably cast into the role of communicator and promoter. For most companies, the question is not whether to communicate but rather what to say, to whom, and how often. It has been noted that marketing communication is like a coin which has two sides. The first side of marketing communication is concerned with efficiently and effectively giving information and details about the company and the products or services to a chose market segments. However, in isolation, what to say and to whom this will be told can be nothing more than a risky second-guessing regarding the allegiances and interests of other individuals. The second face of marketing communication is the inquiry. This side of the marketing communication task gives emphasis with learning from other people regarding the values and interests, and eventually relating this to the interests of the personnel working in the organisation. Such process should logically precede the promotion of a specific standpoint in terms of product desirability and relevant consumer satisfaction (Fill, 2002) The overall result of this effort is intended to be the positioning of the provider as an efficient preferred source of solutions to problems experienced by people as buyers and consumers. This is the managerial aim in managing marketing communication. The challenge is to ensure that expressive communicative activity is clear, consistent, and coherent, while also enabling and facilitating impressive communicative activity that aids judgement and decision-making. Marketing communication is widening in scope to embrace the idea that healthy relationships between customers and suppliers are the basis for the prosperity of each. Expectations are growing for authentic communication as part of a stakeholder relationship based on trust and commitment of core benefits to users and consumers so must be differentiated through benefit augmentation to attract buyer and consumer attention when promoted (2004).   Comparison Analysis Overview of the Sports Event             The Olympics is a major international sports event that has been considered as a prime tourist attraction as well. In UK, preparations are underway for the upcoming 2012 Olympics. t has been chosen by the Coventry, Solihull, and Warwickshire Partnership (CSWP) in order to identify the different opportunities that could result from the 2012 Olympics. With Clift’s business and sports expertise, he had noted that this event will bring about major business, tourism and sports benefits. Based from previous Olympic events, increased tourism has been the most important opportunity brought about by such major international event. In order to optimize the effect of this opportunity, hosts typically make major preparations to meet the satisfaction of the tourists and foreign visitors. Hosts also consider its transportation systems and other tourist attractions near the Olympic site; the preparation of these visitor attractions will be done along with the construction of the Olympic facilities. In general, it is intended to deliver the best that a country has to offer through major Olympic developments for the tourists (, 2006).             The latest Beijing Olympics was held last August, 8 2008 and in order to ensure that China will benefit from the outcome of Beijing Olympics, the government has been able to use specific marketing communication approach. In doing so, the government has sought the service of the BBC Sports. In this regard, the aim of the marketing communication approach was to attract not only sports enthusiasts but other tourists and travelers to visit China because of the unique and different facilities they offer associated with the Beijing Olympics.             The marketing communication and campaign of the Beijing Olympics has been based on the conventional Chinese folklore Journey to the West. This marketing communication approach has been aired on July to attract many tourists and sports fanatics to go and visit Beijing during the Olympic season , The marketing communication approach included animations and music specifically produced for the Beijing Olympics.   The marketing communication approach aims on telling the entire story of the Journey of China to the West. The marketing communication approach features various promotional activities to reach target audiences from local and global market. They consider media through TV and radio advertisements, print advertisements through sports magazines and newspapers and interactive approach through mobile, online or the internet thought he official website of the Beijing Olympics.  The main goal is to target younger market through high-profile websites like ,and other social networking sites and the mobile activity. This marketing communication approach has used animations through the characters taken from the story of Monkey King which is one of the four classical novels during the Ming Dynasty (Beijing Olympics Marketing Campaign, 2008).             With the success of the Beijing Olympics, it can be said that the marketing campaign and communication through the help of BBC has been successful and effective. Through the marketing communication strategy of the Beijing Olympics they are able to relay the messages to the public. Accordingly, it can be said that Beijing Olympics has been able to use integrated marketing communication approach to reach target audiences in both local and global market. The IMC approach has been effective for campaigning Beijing Olympics as it helps in identifying the most useful and appropriate methods in communicating and establishing good customer relations, including good relationships with stakeholders like the sponsors of the Beijing Olympics like major brands such as Adidas and other brands. By and large, it can be said that Beijing Olympics has been successful in generating income and turnover through their comprehensive marketing communication approach.   Overview of the Cultural Events             The cultural event that will be given attention in this report is Hong Kong Arts Festival. The Hong Kong Arts Festival is considered as focus programmers for the Hong Kong culture so as to provide a broad range of art programmers from all different parts of the world.  This festival has been an essential symbol for the HK culture.  The festival has been able to introduce various entertaining and exciting programmers locally, nationally and internationally produces to the people of HK, and it has been able to stimulate the interest of the people in terms of arts to raise the level of appreciation. Every February and March, various individuals flock to the festival programmers as well as exhibitions at venues and places that traces from large performing arenas to intimate theatre locations. The HONG KONG ARTS FESTIVAL has provide different choices to meet the needs of different audiences such as the Classical Music or the Chinese Music, Western Opera, World Music, Drama, Dance, Chinese Opera and family choice and those for the Art lovers. This event is made possible by the support of the HK Jockey Club Charities’ Trust and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of the government of Hong Kong.  In order to promote HONG KONG ARTS FESTIVAL to the local, national, and international market, the institution has been able to provide two membership series which include Young Friends Scheme and Festival friends are also provides. To improve the arts knowledge for the general public, the government also have Festival Plus which includes talks, workshops, master classes, exhibitions, arts exchange and meet-the-artist sessions during the festival period.   Hong Kong Arts Festival has also their official website ( Accordingly, the marketing communication of the Hong Kong Arts festival promotes and raises the cultural consciousness of the people from the local and the international market. Aside from this, Hong Kong Arts Festival also utilize celebrity endorsements by considering famous Artists to participate in the Hong Kong Arts Festival events. Through the use of an effective marketing communication approach by the Hong Kong Arts festival, it gives the opportunity to the festival to sustain its marketability and its visibility in the print and media advertisements and also interactive ads through their website. The application of this marketing communication approach enables the Hong Kong Arts festival to communicate with the other target segment. For instance because of the increasing popularity of the World Wide Web, Hong Kong Arts Festival have the chance to reach consumers locally and internationally. This means that the reach of the festival are also extended and expanded in the global market through the use of integrated marketing communication.   Overview of the Community Event             The community event that would be given emphasis in this report is the community program with regards to adult education in Malaysia.  In Malaysia, the earliest progress of education began in 14th century with the spread of Islamic religion.  However, the existence of most adult learning is attached to martial arts and those involved in craftsman apprenticeship.  The year 1905, was the year when the expansion of education are set to teach agricultural sector when the farmers are being taught along with their families.  With this emerge the promotion of technical training on the following year which aims to educate technical assistants assigned for the Railway and . The Ministry of Education in Malaysia has been able to impose or implement different programs to further enhance the literacy of the people in Malaysia specifically those who are in rural areas like Sabah. In line with this, the has organized the (KEMAS) in 1961.  The main goal of this division is to abolish illiteracy among the adults all over the Peninsular Malaysia, and two years after, this objective was expanded to the people of Sabah and Sarawak. The main goal of these programs is to address the illiteracy of the adults in rural areas specifically, Sabah.  In addition, these programs imposed by KEMAS and MORD aims to provide adult learners with intellectual ability and technical skills which is essential in their everyday living. It also aims to assist adult participant to overcome their social conflicts which hinders the growth of the community they belong. Further, these programs imposed by KEMAS are to ensure the spirit of unity and love are being inculcated in the mind of its people and to provide guidance and support to make the adult participants develop the concept of self-improvement.  In this manner, it can be said that the adult learning style that the KEMAS utilized is more about the self-directed approach. In addition, the Community Development Division (KEMAS) has imposed non-formal education activities that prioritize teaching-learning process in group of participants which are held in places and times suitable to the adult participants. The core curriculum or the syllabus of these non-formal education includes 3Rs (reading, writing and arithmetic) and discussions about family life, economy, civic responsibilities, religion and health.  Herein, all these teaching-learning process are done to the most appropriate location.             In order to promote the objective of the Ministry of Education, the government has been able to provide marketing communication approach through print advertisements in educational journals, magazines, newspaper, and through the use of TV and radio advertisements.  Community Development Division (KEMAS) aims too improve the quality of living of the people in different communities of Malaysia. Hence, they also conduct seminars and workshops about the importance of education and literacy.  In order to adhere to such needs, KEMAS tries to use different approaches and methods to promote their program.  The number of individual participants mainly depends on the curriculum given to the problems encountered daily.  However, in places like Sabah, the geographical status of this region, the distance and lack of constant communication discourage some individuals from attending their classes. In addition, extreme poverty is also considered as an obstacle that hinders an adult to attend his or her classes.  For them, it is better to spend their time working to earn money than to attend their classes.  In order to solve this problem, KEMAS authorities try to send representatives and teachers to teach those individuals.  The efforts to improve the literacy of adults include hammering reading habit and escalating access to global information. This approach is imposed through a nation-wide reading campaign upgrading of the textbooks and other reading materials in public libraries and the establishment of new libraries. In addition, Community Development Division also ensures that the teacher or representative who would teach adults is well-trained and efficient enough.             With the use of effective marketing communication approach, it can be said that Malaysian government and the Ministry of education has been able to provide the message of the importance of education and literacy to the people, specifically adults.   Conclusion Marketing communication approach is said to have many benefits among different products, organizations, events. Through an effective communication, the message is being relayed to the target audience effectively. Furthermore, this will also permit the clients to easily determine the essential information about the events may it be sporting, community and cultural events.  Analysis shows that each of these events has been able to use unique but effective marketing communication approach. Both the Beijing Olympics and Hong Kong Arts Festivals have used integrated marketing communication approach to market the events while the KEMAS community development program used the traditional approach to market their messages to the public. The three has been able to have successful marketing campaign because of their comprehensive marketing communication approach.   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

As of now, tourism is considered as one of the most important industries in the world

Part 1: Marketing Report Introduction As of now, tourism is considered as one of the most important industries in the wo...

UK THEME PARKS

UK Theme Parks   History  A collection of rides and other entertainment attraction which are assembled for the purpose of entertaining a generally large group of people is called amusement parks or theme parks. An amusement park is more than just a simple city park or playground because an amusement park is meant to cater variety of people from different age group from adults, teenagers, and small children, different social class, different life styles and different gender An amusement park has two types. It may be permanent or temporary, usually periodic, such as a few days or weeks per year. The temporary amusement park with mobile rides is called a funfair or carnival. On the other hand, a permanent amusement park is termed as a theme park which is a more narrowly defined category of an amusement park. Theme parks are permanent facilities that use architecture, signage, landscaping to help convey the feeling that people are in a different place or time. Often a theme park will have various ‘lands’ or sections of the park devoted to telling a particular story. In other cases, an amusement park often has rides with little in terms of theme or additional design elements. Most significantly, theme parks are the highest quality form of an amusement park since it has more to offer than other parks and entertainment. In Europe, amusement parks evolved from Pleasure Gardens which used to exist for the recreation of the people, while charging a fee. Amusement parks have existed for hundreds of years as fairs, festivals, carnivals, circuses, expositions, and pleasure gardens. They have often existed in city & town squares and in public and private gardens. Although these venues provided pleasure seekers with leisurely activities and family settings, many provided curiosity & thrill seekers with oddities, freak shows, and even public executions.   Amusement parks have been around a lot longer than way back their roots which date back to the 1300′s. Around this time ‘pleasure gardens’ began appearing on the outskirts of major European cities. They are most likely the same with the modern amusement parks which offers live entertainment, fireworks, dancing, games and some small gentle rides. Dated back, they are extremely popular however, with the emergence of political unrest many of these parks had closed. There have been a few which has survived though and some are still thriving today, such as Bakken Park, north of Copenhagen, is the world’s oldest operating amusement park pleasing crowds since 1583.   Theme parks have become a symbol of a new wave of leisure places. Especially designed and built with leisure in mind these provide a ‘complete’ experience in terms of facilities for all ages and a particular storyline to the whole site. The geography of theme parks can be summarized by considering the three kinds of places where these have been developed: city fringes, holiday areas and historic estates ( 1995;  1991).   A number of theme parks are sited on the fringes of cities and their urban motorway peripheries, exemplified by Chessington World of Adventures and Thorpe Park, in the south and west of London and just off the orbital M25 motorway. Other theme parks have been located in traditional holiday areas sometimes as part of the revamping of these areas as the more traditional sites such as piers and sea fronts became less popular, as in the example of Pleasurewood Hills in East Anglia.   In the south-west of England there are several theme parks, including Flambards, which capitalizes on the TV series of that name and is located without any particular local reason other than to capture the market of people in the area on holiday. Another type of theme park location is that attached to a historic landed estate, which is the case of Alton Towers in Staffordshire although the house has been demolished.   These theme parks have a landscape that combines children’s stories with history and fantasy. Sometimes they draw upon local landscape features. This is especially the case of Center Parcs. These are larger than theme parks and provide ‘complete’ holiday places, including residential facilities. In general these are located in attractive countryside but where they can be hidden from ‘spoiling the view’, although all are imaginatively designed ( 1993). The first two Centre Parcs were built in Thetford Forest, Norfolk and in Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire during the 1980s. Further parks of this kind have been developed at Lockinge Forest in Kent, near Bath and in the southern approach to the Lake District. A theme park is a term which is an abbreviation of themed amusement park which essentially offers amusement rides and other entertainment which includes unique themes and story.   In Great Britain, entertainment which primarily offered and provided amusement rides are usually found in the seaside resort. Even today, there are still many important attractions in the seaside resorts which has still amusement rides that ranges from small temporary collections of rides or fun fairs to permanently established parks of all sizes including both historic and modern sites. However, traditionally the concept of a “theme park” only refers to inland locations that have charge an admission fee that allows both access to the place and on the amusement rides and entertainment and facilities exclusively and seaside parks are in exclusion. People’s perception also of theme parks should be a place which is permanently established and there are no rides that are mobile and travel as part of a carnival. The term also contains the word “park” which implies that the venue will mostly be of an outdoor nature. As well as rides a “theme park” must also offer some attempt at having themes, where visitors enter non-natural environments and atmospheres which have been purposely created to offer a particular experience. Whether it’s on the basic level of presenting clusters of rides and amenities grouped by a common topic or subject, or a more sophisticated level of fully immersive artificially created scenery or sets. A “theme park” must also be of a relatively large scale and include adequate amenities to support day visitors, including catering and retail outlets, as well as guest facilities such as toilets, storage lockers, trained medical staff and cash machines.     Definition of Commercial Leisure               Currently, commercial leisure is predominantly applied to the core uses of this sector characterized by multiplex cinemas, bingo halls, night clubs, tenpin bowling, health and fitness center, pubs and restaurants and casinos. Commonly, in this sector ownership lies predominantly in the private; users tend to occupy new, purpose built developments in similar types of bulky, box like buildings; and the industry is both innovative and quick to adopt new trends.   Conventionally, one or more of these activities are found grouped into leisure parks or smaller leisure boxes, usually with a multiplex forming the anchor development triggering the footfall that attracts other complementary uses to the location. Also, it is extremely unusual to find a leisure park or center that does not have some kind of food offer.             Generally, theme parks are the same with commercial leisure. Theme parks like commercial leisure offers entertainment in which people is expecting when going in the places. It also offers food for the people enjoying around. Theme parks are identified as under in this sector.    Illusion of Choice Choice is a term referred as an alternative or an option.  Choice allows you to channel the natural contrariness of the human organism into safe and non-threatening channels (). Having a choice gives someone an option for what works for him and what does not. However, in this rapidly changing and dynamic marketplace we have today, companies gives an illusion of choice to their customers in order to gain their loyalty and gain competitive advantage. The basic goal of offering all these illusionary choices is to distract you from the big picture and prevent competition from arising (). For example, one can buy 50 different breakfast cereals which are all made by the same two companies. One can buy 50 different soft drinks which are also all made by the same two companies (). By overwhelming the market with all these different products, they basically make it so that any new competitor that arises will be able to get only a percent of the market at best, and that’s if the new competitor is able to get shelf space. But since all the shelf space is already filled with different products from the oligarchists, new entrants would have difficulty in establishing a competitive advantage and hard to get shelf space. Point of departure for market regulation is that enhancing competition helps maximizing social surplus since consumer discipline stimulates innovativeness, quality improvements, and cost effectiveness. These effects however, can only take place if several conditions are met. One of these conditions is consumer rationality. Such rationality is determined by the interaction of consumer psychological characteristics and environmental conditions under which consumers have to make choices. With the illusion of choice, one is deceive from what really works because one would never know. Others may have notice but because of social interaction one would rather buy in on the illusion and do what others do.               Influences like social class, gender, age, life cycle. etc   Gender Gender and women’s issues have been discussed to some extent in leisure research during the past ten years. The value of acknowledging the empowerment of women through leisure as well as a greater understanding of a broader construct of leisure has become evident (1990a). The studies published about women’s leisure and gender issues from feminist perspectives have given visibility to the value of the study of women’s leisure. In addition, the meaning of gender is beginning to inform the leisure literature, not just as another demographic variable to add to the list to be studied, but as a framework for analyzing the impact of socialization and gender relations in “everyday life” for both women and men (1990).   The entitlement or right that an individual has for leisure has been assumed in the study of leisure. Researchers have assumed, for example, that if leisure is to have any valence in women’s lives, they must first believe that they are entitled to it (1986;  1991;  1988). Entitlement to leisure, however, is often highly situational (, 1991).   Life situations, like motherhood and paid work status, appear to be factors that differentiate women’s views on the values associated with and entitlement to leisure. Even though women often say they want and deserve leisure, they may not see the lack of leisure as a significant problem in their lives.   A growing literature has addressed the perceived benefits and outcomes of leisure and recreation (1991), but little of this research has examined the role of gender.   Henderson (1990b) found, for example, that the American farm women she studied had difficulty describing leisure, and subsequently their motivations for involvement in leisure.        Similarly, (1987) also discovered in their Sheffield, England study that women had difficulty discussing leisure because it was a vague and amorphous concept. The notions, however, of enjoyment, pleasure, and the opportunity to “please oneself” were central ideas suggested. The concepts of relaxation and sociability were also frequently mentioned by British women.   Similarly, one of the pervasive outcomes that appeared when American women described their leisure was the chance to recuperate/recover or to just “do nothing” (1991). Feminist researchers (1986;1990;1989) suggest that women’s lives can be made more visible through involvement in leisure. The outcome of empowerment that women experience in having the opportunity to control their bodies, and ultimately their lives through leisure, can result in a heightened sense of control in other aspects of life (1989). The elimination of gender-imposed roles is potentially an important outcome of leisure for both males and females.   Leisure is experienced differently by people in diverse life situations. For example, most working class women have leisure experiences which are significantly different from most middle class women (1985). The individual differences that exist among groups of women or among groups of men may be far greater than the differences between men and women. Thus, the understanding of leisure is highly dependent on the social context in which individuals experience leisure.     Social Class   The tensions around leisure space brought to, the fore two distinct and conflicting definitions and perceptions of the park. While the middle class emphasized passive leisure pursuits, cultural improvement and refined manners, the working class sought active, outdoor recreation, fun, and games ( 1979).   By identifying with a particular social group, an individual often embraces what is valued and rejects what is not acceptable or wanted. According to  (1949), “the status and role of the individual in relation to the means of production and exchange of goods and services gives rise to a consciousness of membership in some social class which shares attitudes, values, and interests.”   Class awareness, or subjective social class, refers to the “individual’s perception of his own position in the status hierarchy” (  1973). Those occupying a similar class position also subscribe to a similar configuration of attitudes, values, and interests. Among the multiple criteria around which social groups are formed, class distinctions are also potent in the construction of social identities (1983). Hence, one would also expect class-based identities to exert some influence on leisure preferences. Leisure activities are largely defined by class. Individuals with different incomes and lifestyles have different choices in their selection of leisure activities. But, there are other factors that affect the role income have on leisure preferences, two of which are occupation prestige and education. A high level of income by itself does provide or promote high class leisure activities. Income level, on the contrary, makes no independent contribution toward explanation of variance when the other two measures of social stratification education and occupational prestige is kept constant. Lifestyles are learned through personal experience in a given niche in a given class. What this means is that lifestyle cannot be bought. In winning the state lottery, the lower working class individual does not suddenly become a high class citizen with high class ideas about leisure. Life cycle Leisure behavior is a dialectical process, according to which an individual seeks both stability and change, structure and variety, familiarity and novelty in his or her intrapersonal and inter-personal encounters throughout the life cycle (I1980). Human development is seen as a process of continuity and change, suggesting that “the leisure self” develops throughout life, adapting and renewing itself (1987). The study of patterns of leisure behavior (starting, ceasing and replacing) over the life-span is important from both the individual and societal standpoints. For one thing, such research helps shed light on active versus passive leisure lifestyles and their impact on the person and society. Prevention of a sedentary lifestyle is an important individual and societal issue (1987) and provides an economic rationale for health-promotion programs and active leisure lifestyles. Besides its economic benefits, an active leisure lifestyle seems to have positive effects on human health (1992;1993). Research in this area has led  (1984) to her famous axiom, “use it or lose it.” In other words, if people are not active physically, intellectually and socially, they start losing their faculties and capacities. For example, dendrites that connect nerve cells in the brain stay extended with use, but begin shrinking without use: “Some people like to do crossword puzzles. Some go back to school. Some like to visit neighbors. The main factor is stimulation. The nerve cells are designed to receive stimulation. And I think curiosity is a key factor. If one maintains curiosity for a lifetime, that will surely stimulate neural tissue and the cortex may in turn respond” (, 1984). Although arguments for the benevolence of an active leisure lifestyle are strong, there is evidence, too, that participation in leisure activities declines with age (1981; 1988).  (1976) found that the percentage of people reporting active leisure participation went down from about 80% in the first stage of the adult life-span (age 20-29) to about 20% in the last stage of the life-span (age 75-94). The same study showed that engagement in high-intensity and outside-home activities declines, whereas participation in “home-centered forms of sociability and media-based interaction” remains relatively stable across the life cycle. A different line of research has shown that there is considerable stability to leisure behavior in general ( 1986;  1988). But, by the same token, there appears to be room for experimentation and new experiences as well. It is well established in leisure research that roughly one half of adults’ current leisure activities are begun in childhood. For example, it has been reported that outdoor recreation participation in youth is directly related to adulthood participation in the same activity (1987;  1987). If roughly one half of adults’ leisure activities are begun in childhood, it follows that the other half is begun later in life, and therefore reflects people’s tendency to seek new leisure experiences. It has been theorized (1980) that these tendencies vary as a function of life stages. More specifically, it was hypothesized that the search for novelty and new leisure experiences grows steadily from childhood to adulthood until it levels off and starts to decline in late adulthood. The opposite has been proposed for the tendency to seek familiar and stable leisure forms. This theorizing has received some empirical support (1989) and therefore provides a useful framework for analyzing patterns of starting, ceasing and replacing leisure activities over the life-span. Starting and replacing leisure activities, which reflect the tendency to seek novelty and new leisure experiences, should be at their highest in early adulthood and then decline with age. In contrast, it may be expected that the proportion of people who continue to engage in the same activities indicating stability would increase with age, a pattern which would also be reflected in the proportion of people who cease activities. In other words, given people’s greater tendency toward familiarity and stability with increasing age, more of them may be expected to do the same activities as they get older and consequently, fewer people should cease activities with advancing age.       Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

UK THEME PARKS

UK Theme Parks History A collection of rides and other entertainment attraction which are assembled for the purpose of entertainin...