Belmont Park Rides & Attractions Marketing Research Report Jessica Boyle, Luiz Gonçalves, Aamir Munshi, Alan Pleat, Katya ​ ​ Zubovskaya GSBA 550: Marketing Research Dr. Andrea Flynn University of San Diego School of Business Fall 2019 Executive Summary a) Managerial Decision Problem What is the consumer perception with respect to the current selection of rides and attractions at Belmont Park and what actionable changes could be implemented in the future to bring back consumers? b) Summary of Methods Our research design methods included both exploratory and descriptive research. During phase one of our project we employed exploratory research by conducting in-person Belmont Park surveys with thirteen groups of park guests. These surveys were conducted with visitors at Belmont Park during the weekend on September 28 - September 29, 2019. With our interview guides ready, we were able to get qualitative in-depth insights from these groups of interviewees based on their current and past experiences. This approach ensured that we had a clear understanding of the managerial problem at hand and enabled us to focus our attention on key aspects of the in-park experience based on patterns in guest feedback. During phase two of our project we employed descriptive research methods through the application of an online survey administered electronically through an online questionnaire to members of Belmont Park’s email distribution list. This research method enabled us to test out our exploratory research findings in a more structured and statistically backed format. c) Conclusions and Recommendations Through our exploratory and descriptive research methods we were able to develop several conclusions and recommendations regarding the Belmont Park Rides & Attractions in-park experience. Our first conclusion is that a majority of park attendees come to the Park in groups with children. Second, Belmont Park customers visit the Park in order to create special family memories. Third, guests of the park want rides and attractions that are oriented towards both adults and children. Fourth, guests with children value a relaxing park environment. Fifth, parents consider a safe environment an important part of their overall satisfaction with the Park. Sixth, the beachfront/boardwalk is just as important to attendees as the rides and attractions offered. Seventh, thrill rides and family-friendly rides are more important to park guests than arcade games. Our first recommendation for Belmont Park management is the offer adult and children separate and collective ride and attraction experiences. Second, offer family ticket packages. Third, introduce a fusion ride between thrill rides and family friendly rides. Fourth, marketing efforts should spotlight family moments at the Park. Fifth, social media organic posts and advertisements should highlight the boardwalk/beachfront location. Sixth, reduce the space allocated to arcade games and instead use that space to build more thrill and family-friendly rides & attractions. 1) Problem background and definition ​ ​ a) Overview of the problem ​ ​ According to the Global Attractions Attendance Report published by the Themed Entertainment Association, attendance at the top 20 North American theme parks grew by 4% (6.1 million people) in 2018 (Rubin, 2019). This increase is mainly due to growth among the top operators, such as Disney, Universal, and SeaWorld. The growth in this industry is being attributed to these franchises’ creative use of IP in a storytelling environment, made immersive with state-of-the-art technology (Rubin, 2019). For example, BumpArcade rolled out a way to ​ turn ordinary bumper cars into a new kind of ride, where bumper cars drive over lit up elements on the floor, collect points, and engage other players (Poelking, 2018). CAVU Designwerks introduced an innovative drop tower, where there are now two towers with two teams, each controlling the other’s drops via massive screens (Poelking, 2018). Disney’s brand new ride is the Star Wars Galaxy Edge, where the visitor is fully engulfed in the world of Star Wars through dozens of personalized--both digital and physical--experiences to explore along the way. All these rides strive to give the user more control of their experience through digitization and virtual reality. It seems that the future trend of amusement parks isn’t just about what you do—it’s also ​ about elaborate photo backdrops and immersive experiences, providing guests with settings that facilitate their online personae (Rubin, 2019). Belmont Park is older than most of its amusement park competitors. It opened in 1925, the same year that its main attraction, the Giant Dipper, was built. The Giant Dipper is now the oldest coaster on the west coast--one of only two antique wooden roller coasters on this side of the country--and was designated a National Historic Monument in 1990. The mission of Belmont is “to create the iconic San Diego beachfront experience through family memories, genuine service, and endless fun”, as stated by Belmont Park’s director of marketing Michelle McKee. As one of only a handful of beachfront amusement parks in the nation, it aims to attract tourists, but also be a place that locals return to regularly. Last year, approximately 40% of park patrons visited only once, which corresponds with the high tourist attendance. However, Michelle also stated that Belmont believes that a portion of this 40% is also locals who come to the park once but don’t see reason to return. Belmont currently offers customers the option to purchase a one-time day pass, monthly passes, or annual passes. Customers can also purchase a ticket for just one-ride. “Buy one, get one” promotions have been utilized in the past with minimal results. Up until a few months ago, many of the rides and attractions were being operated by an external partner. Now that Belmont operates most of the rides and attractions themselves, the park’s administration has been using Placer.ai software to determine how people engage with the park. They have also employed past student groups, who have been successful in compiling preliminary data. Surveys revealed that customers feel the weighted value of the rides is only 3.7 (fair) out of 5 (excellent). The feedback has also been given that customers would like rides and attractions to be more “modern,” and to appeal to younger audiences. Approximately 65% of the groups that visit Belmont consist of 4 or more people. Additionally, previous data has shown that there is not a lot of cross-over between customers who come for the rides and attractions, and those who come for the boardwalk restaurants. Belmont’s ideal setup would be that the rides and attractions lead customers to also make use of the park’s retail and dining (both in-park dining and boardwalk restaurants) offerings. Comments left on online platforms such as Yelp and TripAdvisor reveal additional insight about the customer experience. Some complaints reference the recent change in the arcade, saying it is now much more expensive and harder to win, therefore not as much fun (TripAdvisor, 2019). Several people during the summer months complained about annoying crowds and long lines (Yelp, 2019). A specific recent case details that a client and her husband felt humiliated after being called “too big” for the ride car in which they were in and were asked to move from the line (TripAdvisor, 2019). Some of these complaints are more recurrent, while others are rarer and more extreme, but all of them point to potential pain points. b) Decision Problem ​ ​ For this research, the managerial decision problem was: “Who are the key customer personas and target persona who visit Belmont Park for rides and ​ attractions and what elements of the current selection of rides and attractions are most engaging for the target persona?” c) Research Problems ​ ​ To help this study to answer the decision problem, decision problems were created: · Customer satisfaction levels with current selection of rides and attractions ​ ​ · Customer views on the quality/experience of rides and attractions ​ ​ · ​Most valuable characteristics/aesthetics of rides and attractions for customers that would bring back consumers · ​Customer perception of the price paid for the current rides and attractions vis-a-vis competition 2) Summary of Phase I – Exploratory Research a) Research Design ​ ​ The Rides and Attractions Team approached the first phase of our project by using exploratory research as the preferred choice over other methods of research design. This approach provided us with many benefits. Firstly, it ensured we had a clear understanding of the managerial problem on hand. After our initial meeting at Belmont Park, exploratory research helped us gain greater insight into how customers actually experience the park. Secondly, exploratory research works best in the initial stages of a project, given its flexibility in terms of developing a decision problem and formulating a hypothesis. Exploratory research does not “box in” the researcher - rather, it allows us to ask open-ended questions and provides the freedom to follow the path the respondent’s answers might lead to. With an open mind, we began to investigate whether the perceived problem was really the actual problem. We believe this is extremely important, because if the problem is incorrectly identified at the outset of the project, the recommendations generated at the end will not actually address the real challenges being faced by the client. Lastly, exploratory research design was helpful given the small scale of the research in terms of the limited duration we had on hand (only a few hours on one weekend), no budget allocation and a limited sample size. b) Primary Data Collection Method ​ ​ The primary data collection method we used was in-depth interviews. These were conducted with visitors at Belmont Park during the weekend on September 28-29, 2019. With our interview guides ready, we were able to get qualitative in-depth insights from the interviewees based on their current and past experiences.