Evaluation of Food and Beverage Service Potentials at De Efteling Family Park- Analysis
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
University of Central Florida STARS Harrison "Buzz" Price Papers Digital Collections 10-1-1986 Evaluation of Food and Beverage Service Potentials at De Efteling Family Park- Analysis Harrison Price Company Part of the Tourism and Travel Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/buzzprice University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Report is brought to you for free and open access by the Digital Collections at STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Harrison "Buzz" Price Papers by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Recommended Citation Harrison Price Company, "Evaluation of Food and Beverage Service Potentials at De Efteling Family Park- Analysis" (1986). Harrison "Buzz" Price Papers. 90. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/buzzprice/90 I I I I I AN EVALUATION OF POOD AND I BEVERAGE SERVICE POTENTIALS AT DE EPTELING PAMILY PARK I Prepared for: Paailiepark de Efteling Kaatsbeavel, Tbe Netberlands I October 1986 I I I I Prepared by: I Harrison Price Company 876 Soutb Bronson Avenue I Los Angeles, California 90005 (213) 937-3457 I Copy I 1'3 I Client Confidential. Not to be Released or Duplicated. I Pile in Safe. I I I I I TABLB OF CONTENTS I Page I Section ~ I 1 INTRODUCTION ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 1 2 ~ON()M:IC BACKGROUND •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 4 I Attendance and Investment •••••.•..•••••••••..••• 4 Departmental Revenues ................•.......... 9 Per Capita Expenditures ..•.•.•...•.....•••...•• l3 I Capacity Analysis .•..............•......•.•.•.. l? Profitability and Financial Condition ..•••••.•. 22 Industry Comparables ...... IO ••••••••••• 10 •••••••• 28 I 3 GUIDBLINES FOR A PARK MASTER PLAN ••••••••••••••••••••• 30 The Need for New Goals ......................... 30 I Food and Merchandise Service .••••.•••.•••••.•.• 32 Theming and Product Variety •....•..•.•..••..... 35 Ambience as a Goal .......••.................... 36 I Capacity Constraints ••.•.•...•••...••.•••.• ~ .•• 37 The Need for In-Fillo .......................... 38 I 4 SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS ••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 41 Summary ................................................ 41 Recommenda t i on s ............................................... 43 I Conclusion ........................................................... 48 I I I I I I I I LIST OF TABLES I I Page Table tm....... I 1 De Efteling Attendance During the Major Expansion of 1977-1986 .....•..................... 5 I 2 New Investment and Attendance Gain •••••••••••.••..•••.• 6 3 New Investment in Food and Merchandise I F ac iIi tie s .................................................... 8 4 Revenues and Revenue Distribution For Park, Food and Merchandise I 1980-1986 ......................................................................................... 10 5 Deflated Revenues 1980 to 1986 •••••••••.•.•••••••••••• 11 I 6 Revenues for Food and Merchandise ••••••••••••••••••••• 12 7 De Efte1ing Per Capita Expenditures I 1980-1986 ......................................................................................... 14 I 8 Per Capitas for Restaurant Services ••••••.•••.•••••••• 16 9 Design Day Attendance .•••.••••••••••..••...•••.•••••.. 18 I 10 Average Peak Week ......................................................................... 19 11 Daily Attendance Distribution ••••••••..••.•••..•.•.••• 20 I 12 De Efteling Entertainment Capacity •••••••.•••••••••••• 21 I 13 Sit-Down Restaurant Space at De Efteling •••.••••••.••• 23 14 Profit Center Results 1980-1986 ••••••••••.•••••••••••• 24 I 15 Cash Flow Analysis ............................•....... 26 16 Balance Sheet Trends ....................•..•.......... 27 I 17 Revenue Distribution in Other Parks ••••••••••••••••.•• 29 I I I I I Section 1 I INTRODUCTION I Harrison Price Company was retained on September 30, 1986 in the last month of the 1986 season to investigate and prepare an analysis of the status and potentials of food and beverage I service at De Efteling Family Park. The task undertaken includes I the following elements: I 1. Observe operations at the park, 2. Examine operating and financial reports concerning I departmental operations with emphasis on food and beverage service, and with attention to related opera tions in merchandising, games, rides and other I entertainment. I 3. Evaluate strengths and weaknesses of the s ervice of fered with an objective of expressing appropriate I objectives, goals, enhancements and improvements. I Harrison Price and Mr. Grady Larkins, a noted park designer with extensive background in attraction master planning with particular emphasis on food and beverage service, visited the I park during the period October 10 - 13 during a period o f good weather, the school fall holiday and a time of moderately good I attendance taking into account the season. Attendance o n I Saturday the 11th of October was 7,804; on Sunday 13,511. I De Efteling, which s tarted operation in July of 1951, is now 35 years old. It opened initially as a relatively modest public playground drawing an initial attendance of some 100,000 in its I first year. Pursuing a theme of fairy tale storytelling in a I -1- I I superbly landscaped setting and a policy of constant reinvest I ment, the park's founders over the years evolved a mass attraction with attendance in the range of 1.0 million to 1.3 I mill ion. In 1978, the con temporary history of the park was launched with the installation of the modern, highly themed and animated Spookslot which, in the tradition of the park, brought I out new crowds from a responsive public. Thereafter a steady succession of new investments--the Python corkscrew coaster and I the gondoletta water ride in 1981, the Halve Maen swing in 1982, the Pirana white water rapids in 1983, the De Bob toboggan I coaster in 1985 and the superbly themed and animated Fata Morgana water transported dark ride in 1986 and an extensive supporting I infrastructure--lifted the park to a new status as Europe's leading theme park with an attendance of 2.3 million. I Consistent with its expansive mode of operation and its constantly enlarging customer base, the park corporate structure I was reorganized in 1985 from non-profit status to a for-profit form which will better enable its management to deal with its I fund ing and expans ion requ iremen ts over the long term. In th is context, the park's dominant position in a dynamically changing I marketplace can be maintained and enhanced. As described by management, the main thrust of this analysis I is to review broadly and make suggestions as to what should be done this year and later in food and beverage service (and other I related areas of park operations) to support the short term (next year) and middle term (three to four years) strateg ic goals of I the company which are described informally as follows: I 1. Short Term Goals and Strategy I • To maintain and increase profits. • To define next year's improvement program and its I selected entertainment and/or attractions. I -2- I I • To tighten profit center control. I • To enhance and optimize attendance and per capita revenue generation. I 2. Middle Term Goals and Strategy I • To keep De Efteling on top in the attraction business in Western Europe in the light of increasing competi I tion and changes in the marketplace. • Define an improvement and redevelopment program which I will optimize use of park real estate. I We would like to express our appreciation for the assistance of several members of the park management who toured the site and met with us in open discussion of the issues involved in this I analysis and who prepared much statistical and accounting infor I mation so that we could carry out our assignment, in particular: Mr. IR. R. G. De Clercs, Algemeen Direkteur I Mr. Marc I. M. Taminiau, Director Explotatie Mr. H. W. Muller Kobold, Horeca Manager I Mr. G. Vugts, Controller Mr. Jos. Lejeune, Non-Food and Food and Beverage Controller I Mr. Ton Van de Ven, Head of Design and Development I I I I I I -3- I I I Section 2 I ECONOMIC BACKGROUND I This section of this memorandum report details pertinent park history in attendance, new investment, revenues by depart I ment with particular reference to food and merchandise, per capita revenue data by department, capacity analysis and depart I mental profitability data. I Attendance and Investment As shown in Table 1, Attendance During the Major Expansions I of 1977-1986, De Efteling has experienced a remarkably long term compounded growth rate of 9.4 percent per year in the 35 year I history of the park. In the decade since major park expansion began (1977-1986), the annual rate of attendance growth is a compounded 7.9 percent per year and in the more recent six year I period, 1980-1986, the expansion rate has reached 9.8 percent per I year driven by large investments in several of those years. New investmen t in add it ions to the park is compared to I annual attendance gains in Table 2, New Investment and Attendance Gain. New investment in the seven years 1980-1986 totals F89.6 I million, an average addition of F12.8 million per year. In recent years, attendance has generally been responsive to major I additions but in a declining mode as shown below: Attendance I Increase Cll Inyestment 1981 30.4% F14,400,000 1983 24.4 13 ,300 ,000 I 1985 11.1 13,800,000 1986 6.6 20,000,000 I I -4- I I I Table 1 DE EFTELING ATTENDANCE DURING THE I MAJOR EXPANSIONS OF 1977-1986 I Percent Year Attendance Gain --------- ---------- --------- I 1977 (estimat e fr orr. sruph) 1,160,000 19713 (es timate from g raph) 1,475,000 12 . 7% 197 9 (estimate fron" sraph) 1,365,000 (7 .5) 1980 (actual) 1,315,000 ( 3 .7) I 1981 (actual) 1,715,000 30 .4 1982 (actual) 1,590,000 ( 7 .3) 1983 (actual) 1,978,000 24.4 I 1984 (actual) 1,942 ,0 00 (1. 8) 1985 (actual) 2,157,000 11.1 I 1986 (estimate fr om graph) 2,300,000 6 .6 Compo unil Rat e o f Growth: I 1951 - 1986 = 9.4% per year 1977 - 1986 = 7 .9% pe r year I 1980 - 1986 = 9.8% per year I I I I I I I I I -5- I I Table 2 I NEW INVESTMENT AND ATTENDANCE GAIN I Attendance New Investment Gain I Year (FOOD) (percent) 1980 F3,600 (3.