TravTalk Middle East Online Magazine
Over the past few years water parks have become an essential element and tourism driver for the GCC countries. Jeremy Gray, Vice President, Business Development, WhiteWater shares with TRAVTALK the actual shaping of this key revenue driver over the years. The water parks can also be a perfect vacation spot for parents and children, he adds.
TT Bureau
Water Parks as a tourism driver
Providing a space where the entire family can spend time together, water parks are a major tourism driver for countries around the globe. With a wide variety of attractions, these venues can offer something for everyone from grandparents to toddlers. For instance, a multi-level aquatic play structure’s ground level interactives enable older family members to participate without having to climb stairs, whereas tricky teens can enjoy racing water slides or a thrill-seeking AquaLoop drop slide to challenge their bravery. Water parks can be the perfect vacation spot for parents and children as they offer a balance of relaxation and excitement giving parents the chance to sit and relax with the family’s belongings while the children explore and enjoy the rides.
The rising trend of hotels & resorts
Over the past few years there has been a surge of hotel water parks as the staycation trend grows and online bookings become the norm. To stand out from the competition, hotels have turned to aquatic amenities to draw in guests looking for extra benefits. Hotel & Leisure Advisors partnered with WhiteWater to analyze data on the performance of various market segments of hotels against benchmarks. The research revealed hotels with aquatic equipment generated 119.9% more ADR than those without and created US$100 more RevPAR. With these proven ongoing financial benefits, the hotels will continue to invest in water amenities
beyond the swimming pools.
Future predictions
The KSA has the opportunity to create the advanced water parks in the world as it builds its developments from the ground up. This gives operators the ability to add technology from the beginning to make the water parks easier and safer to run. For instance, WhiteWater’s software arm, Vantage, can be integrated with the attractions to create personalization so that while the guest is riding the water slide their favorite song is played and they ride through ‘rings’ of their favorite color.
Parents can use tech to their benefit and work to put parameters on which rides their kids can ride, ultimately limiting access to scarier
rides not suitable for children.It will be interesting to see how the opening of giga-projects like Qiddiya shape the water park industry. With 23 rides, the venue will be revolutionary in the aquatics industry. Qiddiya could set the precedent for water parks to have a mix of wet and dry attractions and leads to the revolution of surf parks within the GCC.
