Amusement Park of Bangladesh

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A common word synonymously used with amusement park is theme park (Walsh, 1990). However, a theme park can be regarded as a distinct style of amusement park. According to the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions ‘A theme park is an amusement park that has themed attractions, be it food, costumes, entertainment, retail stores and/or rides’ (Wong & Cheung, 1999, p.320). Although theme parks were thought of offering visitors one major theme, today most of them contain multi-themes in terms of different attraction points or themed areas (Wong & Cheung, 1999).

The history of evaluation of amusement park suggests that amusement parks evolved from European funfairs that were created for people's recreation (Gary, 2005). By the 18th and 19th century, different funfairs were arranged and they had evolved into places of entertainment for the masses, where the public could view freak shows, acrobatics, conjuring and juggling (McClung, 1991).

The second influence for the development of amusement park was the pleasure garden. One of the earliest gardens was the Vauxhall Gardens, founded in 1661 in London. By the late 18th century, the site had an admission fee for its many attractions. It regularly drew enormous crowds, with its paths being noted for romantic assignations, tightrope walkers, hot air balloon ascents, concerts and fireworks provided amusement (Wroth, 1896).

World's fairs and expositions were another influence on the development of the amusement park industry (Wroth, 1896).The first World fair began in 1851 with the construction of the landmark Crystal Palacein London, England. The purpose of the exposition was to celebrate the industrial achievement of the nations of the world and it was designed to educate and entertain the visitors (Midway, 2007).

In 1955, Disneyland opened to rave reviews, and completely changed the landscape of the amusement park industry (Milman, 2001). No longer did guests want a group of rides in a field by a lake, they wanted an entire perfect world to take them out of the real world for a day. The thrills of theme parks are often obscured from the outside by landscaping, re-enforcing the feeling of escape.

Amusement parks of modern days may be classified into many categories. Some parks merely contains a number of thrilling rides, some parks give more priority to nature, while some parks give importance on education or picnic (McClung, 1991).In modern significance, the amusement park is appearing as a developed form of rising tourism industry. It has become one of the integral parts of tourism sector. Over the last hundred years, Amusement Parks have become a top destination for many travelers. In the U.S alone amusement parks were able to attract 351 million visitors in 2011. (Theme Index, 2011).

The number of amusement park tourists grew for the fourth consecutive year in 2013. The amount of money spent by these tourists rose by 3.9% at a global level, and by over 10% within South East Asia (Oxford Economics, 2013). It is clear that the growth in amusement park demand from emerging markets continues with pace, as large rising middle classes, especially from Asia and America are willing to spend money on amusement sector. The sustained demand for amusement park together with its ability to generate high levels of employment continues to prove the importance and value of the sector as a tool for economic development and job creation.

Marketing Strategies and Marketing Mix:

Marketing strategy literature indicates that market segmentation, positioning and, fully-integrated marketing mix strategies are major components of a successful marketing strategy for today’s businesses (Webster, 1992; McDonald, 2002).

Drucker (1968) noted that marketers use numerous marketing mix tools to elicit response from the target markets. These tools include: Place, Price, Products and Promotions also referred to as 4Ps of marketing (McCarthy, 1964). Marketing mix decisions must be made for influencing the trade channels as well as the final consumers and in return sales. Typically a firm can change any of the marketing mix to achieve the desired response from the potential buyers. For instance, a firm can change its price, sales force size and advertising expenditures in the short run. It can develop new products and modify its distribution channel only in the long run. Kotler (2000) indicated that the 4Ps represent the sellers’ view of the marketing tools available for influencing buyers. From the buyers’ point of view, each marketing tool is designed to deliver customers’ benefit. Lauter (1990) suggested that the seller’s 4Ps correspond to the customer’s four Cs that include: customer solution, cost, convenience and communication.

Winning companies will be those who can meet customer needs economically and conveniently and with effective communication. Marketing mix is a controllable factor that the marketing manager can take to solve a marketing problem (Bekowitz (et 91), 1997).

The amusement park industry falls in the category of service marketing (Kruczec, 2010). A significant body of literature has revealed that the 4Ps of the marketing mix have come under criticism by many marketing scholars from the perspective of service marketing. Collier (1991) argued that the 4Ps traditional model should be expanded to become the 7Ps services management. Smith and Saker (1992) argued “For services businesses like amusement park, the expended 3Ps (people, process and physical evidence) are strategic elements, which affect companies’ performance.

Service Product is defined as the extent to which a service organization develops a comprehensive service offer to meet customers’ needs and requirements in highly competitive markets. It is operationally defined as high quality and branding of services (Aaker, 1996) introducing new services (Edgett and Parkinson, 1994) and superior customer service (Reichheld and Sasser, 1990).

Service Priceis operationally defined as the extent to which a service organization practices pricing policies and activities in setting a service price (Zeithaml, 1985).

Service Distribution is defined as the extent to which a service organization uses distribution channels and activities in setting a service distribution strategy (Friars, 1985).

People is defined as the extent to which a service organization is customer oriented in practicing its business; putting the customer at the heart of business activities (Drucker, 1968).

Service Process is defined as the extent to which a service organization has systematic procedures for a successful service delivery process. The process dimension