Funworld January 2010

Tattoo artist and surgical implants sales director are hardly the most conventional career routes into the attractions industry. But Johan Tidstrand and Mattias Banker are reshaping expectations and attendance records at the Swedish amusement parks they acquired just three years ago.

Tidstrand, his sister Helena (major shareholders in the Clas Ohlson retail chain), and Banker are the young co-owners of Parks & Resorts Scandinavia (PRS). The Stockholm-based group runs three Swedish favorites: Gröna Lund, the Kolmården wildlife park, and the Skara Sommarland waterpark, as well as an aquarium and the Vildmarkshotellet hotel next to Kolmården zoo. PRS sold the hotel to Pandox AB for SEK160 million (US$22.9 million) in September but still operates the business. The group also owns a 20 percent stake in ABBA World, a touring exhibition celebrating the iconic Swedish pop group, which debuted in London in November 2009 (www.abbaworld.com).

“2009 was a record year for us in every way you count it,” says Banker. July figures showed a 21 percent jump in attendance rates across PRS properties compared to 2008. Overall, the parks attracted more than 2 million visits last year.

For the 126-year-old Gröna Lund, 2009 was “the best year in its history,” says Banker, with visitors up 20 percent. Some 22,500 guests packed into the park on one summer Saturday alone—the day Lady Gaga played the attraction. Skara Sommarland reported an 11 percent rise in visitors in July in spite of wetter weather in 2009. As for Kolmården zoo: “Since 2006, we’ve added over 150,000 visitors. I’d say it’s in the top five [zoos] in the world with regard to making money,” says Banker.

So how do they do it?

Economic Events
The success comes as a huge relief for the partners given the recent global financial instability. “The lowest moment was when the financial crisis hit [in fall 2008],” says Tidstrand. “We didn’t know how it was going to be, and things looked really bad for a couple of months.We were very worried.”

However, the weakened kroner resulted in more Swedes vacationing at home, which worked to Parks & Resorts’ advantage. “People feel they need to do something with their families, so we are seeing more attendance. Customers will come back two or three times a year, but they’re holding on tighter to their money,” says Banker. “They spend money more on quality rather than quantity, so they buy good food, but they’re spending less in our stores.”

Another boon is the influx of international tourists. “We’ve had a lot more tourists, especially from Denmark and Norway since their currency is a lot stronger than ours,” says Tidstrand.

Investment helps drive even more visitors into the PRS parks. During the past three years, the Tidstrands and Banker poured EUR50 million (US$73 million) into their destinations in a bid to woo fickle Swedish consumers. “They are a bit unfaithful,” says Banker. “If there is a better coaster or a better experience in Gothenburg, they will leave. They’ll go where they get the most for their money, and they are extremely picky. If we don’t give them the best service, they will tell their neighbor. If we don’t exceed expectations all the time, they won’t come back.”

Spending Money
Signature rides are a surefire way of generating the buzz Tidstrand and Banker want. “I think 80-90 percent of our extra visitors at Gröna Lund this year are because of ‘Insane,’ our new Intamin coaster,” says Banker. Designed by Werner Stengel, the SEK50 million (US$7 million) ZacSpin coaster features a mad scientist theme created by Gröna Lund’s team and Farmer Attraction Development.

Skara Sommarland, meanwhile, premiered “Tranan” (“The Crane”) this season. The SEK35 million (US$5 million) coaster from S&S Power is 20 meters (66 feet) high, travels at 40 kilometers per hour (25 miles per hour), and puts 900 riders an hour through 2.5 g-forces.

The new attractions are part of a strategic program of investments that has marked PRS as a “major player,” says Banker. He and Tidstrand aspire to Disney-standard themed experiences; evidence of their ambition is all around, from the witchlike stylings of the “Kvasten” (“Broomstick”) coaster and its surroundings at Gröna Lund, to the Asianthemed Tiger World at Kolmården zoo.

“Disney is our guiding star,” says Banker. “Whenever we enter the Magic Kingdom gates, Johan says ‘Welcome home.’ It sounds corny, but it’s true. Maybe it’s impossible to get there, but our ambition is to have the best parks in the world. I really like Tiger World, but every time I’m there I’m still discussing signs, cleanliness, everything. If we can’t add a new attraction, we’ll look at old attractions like the ‘Free Fall,’ [and ask] could we add music or put in colors to make the magic come to life? We will never be finished.”

Banker’s office window overlooks the Gamla Området (old area) at Gröna Lund, which PRS has revamped in classic Tivoli fashion. “Before, you could say that this area was closed after six o’clock because the families went home and the youngsters and thrill riders went elsewhere. Now we could have a couple of thousand people left there until we shut for the night: It’s a phenomenal view. We make more money and people get more value for their entrance fee.”

Raising service levels is another big preoccupation. “Last year we established the Parks & Resorts Service Academy, and every person who works for us has to go through this school,” explains Banker. “We’ve seen a fantastic growth in people having good experiences because they connect with the staff in our parks. That makes us stand out.”

Exciting Prospects
In the longer term, Tidstrand and Banker are waiting on planning permission to develop Gröna Lund’s parking lot into an entirely new area for the park, with designs inspired by the architecture of the 1897 Stockholm World’s Fair. If the scheme wins approval, Tidstrand and Banker hope to unveil the results for the 2012 or 2013 season.

“We think it will be around EU50 million (US$72 million),” says Banker. “For me it’s a lot of money, so we really, really want to be sure that we put in the right rides and theming to attract people. This year we ran around 1.2 million [visits] at Gröna Lund. If we added that area, I would be disappointed if we had anything under 1.45 million (250,000 extra visits). I have high hopes for this area because this is our only space to do a world top 10, or top five, coaster. Maybe [we’ll] put in a 100-meter (328-foot) ‘Star Flyer,’ add an aquarium, and do something with ABBA.”

Life’s Work
Neither Tidstrand nor Banker rules out the likelihood of further attraction acquisitions. “The vision of the former owners of Parks & Resorts was to buy as many parks as possible, but that is not our goal,” says Tidstrand. “It is definitely possible that we are going to buy a couple more parks and it would be a dream to build a new park from scratch, but today it’s important to keep developing the parks that we have.”

It’s clear that for these two lifelong theme park fans, running Parks & Resorts Scandinavia is a true vocation. As Andreas Veilstrup Andersen, executive director at IAAPA Europe, says: “These two guys bought these parks because they really love this business.”

“It gives me goose bumps to hear that because it’s perfectly true,” says Banker. “It’s what we want to do: This is what we live for. We will never, ever sell these parks. This is something we want to leave to our kids. We make money on this investment, but we put every kroner or euro back into the company. We add everything to the people working here, to the attractions, and to the guests. Every day I wake up and I feel happy. Doing this with my best friend is a dream come true.”

Juliana Gilling is a specialist attractions journalist. E-mail: julianagilling@gmail.com.