Indoor Amusement Centres: the next big revenue generators
So you want to build an Indoor Amusement Center (IAC) as part of your hotel, shopping mall or mixed-use resort destination development? Indoor is not new, but there is a new surge of activity — especially in the field of edutainment – which refers to technologies and software products that combine education with entertainment in some exciting way.
Take hotels. They no longer are a place to lodge and sleep. Previously, when husbands attended a conference, some wives were lucky to accompany their spouses, but in most family cases mum and the rest of the children stayed back at home. But if the hotel also has a family entertainment center or water park, there is a strong reason to bring the whole family on what would otherwise be just a business trip. So hotels that offer high entertainment value and a conference center are especially appealing for parents to mix family fun with a business trip. It’s a case of coming for the meeting and staying for the entertainment.”
Meeting planners prefer hotels and resorts that offer unique experiences that enable them mix business which is the order of the day, with a little fun. In the beginning, hotels were built close to an amusement centre, shopping mall or golf course. Location mattered. Not longer, now it is both location and proximity. A hotel with an amusement centre located one kilometer away cannot call itself a property with family-friendly facilities. Hotels that add fun facilities onsite build a strong advantage. Firstly, when one gets it right, it is a powerful magnet to attract customers – even those from nearby hotels with one’s competitor set. Secondly, bringing normally outdoor fun activities indoors reduces the impact of seasonality where the weather factor becomes irrelevant – resulting in more customers.
Investing in family entertainment opportunities is something that is year-round and covers the full spectrum of age groups from 6 years to over 60 years. Indoor Amusement Centres (IAC’s) are designed to provide entertainment in the form of bowling and other avenues such as arcades, laser tag, go-karts, bumper cars and party rooms. Investing in a IAC is ideal for the savvy investor, as it can easily provide a return of investment in less than four years, with an operating cash flow of upto 40%. The business model is set in a way where it typically even outperforms other retail businesses during poor economic periods.
Choosing the right amusement facility to add to your hotel or resort is a decision that involves many factors. Factors such as affordability cost of installation and operation vs income generated and return on investment period. Other questions to ponder are: What would the annual maintenance cost be? Can repairs be carried out swiftly? Does my manufacture support me with timely after sales service?
As the arms race for customers gathers momentum, hotels will have to look at new ways of competing for business. What better way than to do with an Amusement Centre… which is indeed a perfect WOW fit.
Advertorial done by ‘Hospitality Sri Lanka’ - for CSML India
Please visit www.cmslindia.com for more details. |
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