Funworld June 2010

HOW BRAZIL’S BEACH PARK KEEPS GUESTS COMING BACK YEAR AFTER YEAR
by Marion Hixon

The past 25 years have been good to Brazil’s Beach Park, a 180,000-square-meter (1.9 million- square-foot) waterpark resort located 15 minutes outside the city of Fortaleza, Ceará, which drew 685,000 visitors to its waterpark last season and 1,117,000 to its two on-site hotels. The park has maintained steady growth throughout the years and, as of late, seen a boom in regional business. Park officials attribute the success to three tenets: adding new attractions on a consistent basis, maintaining ticket prices, and hosting memorable special events.

In 1989, four years after cafés, retail stores, and restaurants were established on the beach area of the current facility, three waterslides were installed to create Aqua Park; seven years later in 1996, Beach Park Suites Resort opened with 198 rooms; and in 2008, Beach Park Acqua Resort was added with 220 rooms and complimentary waterpark admission for overnight hotel guests.

Profit Strategy
Beach Park (www.beachpark.com.br) has found success in expanding at a steady pace. “Since 1989, the waterpark has opened a new attraction every two years,” says Milton Parente, waterpark director. That means Aqua Park now has more than 20 attractions, including areas and guided activities for kids, restaurants, snack bars, water volleyball, pools, slides, and thrill rides.

The management team at Beach Park is aware there are always low seasons for sales, regardless of ride originality and regional exclusivity, but park managers been successful in keeping their business model and ticket sales consistent. “Seasonality is a challenging aspect of the business,” says Murilo Pascoal, general manager at Beach Park. “However, we have learned that we must always add value to our products. Based on that knowledge, we never lower our prices—not even in our lowest period of sales. Instead, it’s important that we focus on special events—such as school group visits, company meetings, and birthdays—during the low season, adding value to the product or creating new products entirely.”

Staying true to this hold-steady model, the park experienced rapid growth for the past five years. “The Brazilian economy is doing very well, which has certainly helped to increase our attendance,” Pascoal says.

Attractions at the Park
A key to the park’s rollout of new attractions is offering enough to satisfy little ones. Beach Park’s most popular children’s areas are “Arca de Noé,” “Ilha do Tesouro,” and the “Acqua Show” structure. “Acqua Show” contains 78 features like tubes and cannons throughout the splash grounds and features a giant bucket that drops more than 475 gallons of water onto visitors.

For adults, Beach Park incorporated several scream-inducing waterslides. At 41 meters (134.5 feet) high, the “Insano” is one of the highest slides in the world and was featured in the “Guinness Book of World Records.” The slide sends riders down at 104 kilometers per hour (64.6 miles per hour) in only four to five seconds.

The park’s most recent addition, “Ramubrinká,” opened in 2009 and consists of seven slides descending from the top of a 78-foot-tall tower into a 132,000-gallon pool. “It’s an attraction for those who enjoy high emotions,” says Parente, adding that each slide provides a different experience due to its form, speed, and tube type.

It was important to Beach Park executives to include rides and attractions that cater to multiple age groups, though, because the entire resort property encourages families to enjoy the park together. “Our park is designed for all ages and interests, so everyone has a specific way to enjoy it,” Parente says.

Among the most popular family rides are the “Aquabismo” waterslide; the “Correnteza Encantada” lazy river; and “Maremoto” wave pool, containing 3 million liters (more than 792,000 gallons) of water.

Fresh Ideas in Public Relations
Besides investing in attractions, park management found an unexpected source of income in public relations and management over the past few years (2007’s waterpark attendance of 510,000 rose to 530,000 in 2008, and to 685,000 last season). In 2009 alone, Beach Park spent R$8 million (US$4.5 million) on media opportunities and special events. It’s not unheard of to use a destination resort as the backdrop for local television programming or as the highlight of a travel/tourism show, but Beach Park has capitalized on this type of promotion in the past few years. The operators know the tricks of the trade and treat the park as their own personal celebrity.

“The television programs don’t pay us to use the park; it’s just good free publicity,” says Marcelo Vieira, the public relations manager who coordinates filming at Beach Park. “Sometimes they contact us, but often I’ll visit their offices to pitch the waterpark or resorts as a good backdrop location,” he says, adding the park often provides complimentary food and beverage or a hotel room for production crews during filming. Coverage included “Mañaneras,” a travel program on TV

Argentina (www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1gwFmzJRRk), and “Domingo Legal,” a Brazilian current events show (www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1gwFmzJRRk).

Vieira says the payoff on such publicity is fairly tangible. Phone calls start pouring in, and the number of visits to the facility’s web site soars on days when Beach Park is featured on television. “I’ve watched our guests’ reaction to seeing the park on TV,” he says, recalling an episode of the Latin American soap opera “Malhação,” which featured Beach Park and aired during his work hours. “A bunch of teenagers were in the lobby and got so excited and kept saying, ‘Let’s go to the waterpark! Let’s go to the waterpark!’ It was such a cool experience, although I think they expected the actors to be in the park.”

The resort has also become known for specialized events like bike races, marathons, and concerts, for which the operators contract outside vendors to produce. Making it a multiday event allows families to accompany participants, and overnight stays bring additional revenue.

“Running next to the sea or through the waterpark is what makes these events stand out from the rest—it’s all about our location,” says Vieira. “The night before the race, we give the riders or runners a special dinner at the beach or inside the waterpark. And we try to involve all ages—sometimes we hold a race for adults on Saturday and a shorter kids’ event on Sunday.”