A.J. Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 (edited) The TEA and AECOM have released the 2017 annual attendance report and Theme Index! Click HERE to check it out! The TEA/AECOM Theme Index and Museum Index is a collaboration of the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) and the economics practice at AECOM, a global provider of technical-professional and management-support services. This calendar-year study of global attractions attendance is a free resource for park operators, land developers and the travel industry. Top worldwide theme parks, amusement parks, water parks, museums and theme park group operators are named, ranked by attendance, and industry trends are identified. The global market is studied as a whole, and each of its main regions is also studied separately: the Americas, Europe and Asia. There is also a table of the top waterparks in the world and in the United States, and of the top global chain operators. The study is published in late May or early June of each year. It is distributed electronically via TEA’s and AECOM’s websites, and a print edition is created by AECOM for additional distribution at trade events. TEA and AECOM have collaborated on the Theme Index since 2007, although the study itself has been in existence for much longer. It began as an attendance report of major U.S. theme parks, produced by ERA (now part of AECOM) with Amusement Business magazine (now defunct). Over the years, this study evolved to add waterpark figures and address the international scope of the industry. The Museum Index was added for the 2012 study. Inclusion in the annual Theme Index is a benchmark of success among operators. AECOM obtains the figures used to create the TEA/AECOM Theme Index through a variety of sources, including statistics furnished directly by the operators, historical numbers, financial reports, the investment banking community and local tourism organizations, among others. To be included in the study, a facility in general must be gated (entry ticket required). North American parks must have annual visits above one million. To be included on the top chains list, a chain operator must have theme parks in its portfolio. Every year TEA and AECOM hear from parks desiring to share their attendance increases and earn a place on the list. Operators who believe their properties should be included in the Theme Index are encouraged to contact the AECOM office in their region, after studying the current edition of the Theme Index and familiarizing themselves with the criteria. The more feedback and information received, the more accurate this report will become. Now, discuss! More images from the release will be coming shortly. Top 25 Amusement / Theme Parks Worldwide Edited May 17, 2018 by A.J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopper39 Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 Who wants to take bets on what the attendance increases at Disneyland and Hollywood Studios will be next year after Galaxy's edge opens? Wait that report is like 2 years away. Either way if Avatar increased Animal Kingdom's attendance by 15% (1.7 million) I wouldn't be surprised if Hollywood Studios jumps anywhere from 20-50%. It's going to be insane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cparkes92 Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 Who wants to take bets on what the attendance increases at Disneyland and Hollywood Studios will be next year after Galaxy's edge opens? Wait that report is like 2 years away. Either way if Avatar increased Animal Kingdom's attendance by 15% (1.7 million) I wouldn't be surprised if Hollywood Studios jumps anywhere from 20-50%. It's going to be insane. AK will probably go up even more in next year's report because Pandora opened Memorial Day weekend 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livai Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 data from the merlin parks are false. gardaland has lost a lot more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.J. Posted May 17, 2018 Author Share Posted May 17, 2018 data from the merlin parks are false.gardaland has lost a lot more The data isn't false, but it may be inaccurate. They're not out to favor certain parks over the others. When an operator doesn't share their information, AECOM and the TEA have to estimate. Their methodology for their attendance estimations is detailed in the Frequently Asked Questions section at the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopper39 Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 I have always wondered how "accurate" some of the numbers really are. With Disney for example if you have a 4 day park hopper and you go to two parks per day does that count as 8 different admissions (2 for each park) or does it count as 4 admission from the same person? In In the past I've checked the numbers Disney states in their annual reports and they're nearly if not identical to what is reported in the TEA report, so those numbers must be good enough that they're comfortable reporting them to shareholders but still I'm curious internally how they measure attendance and what those numbers are versus what is reported here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 (edited) data from the merlin parks are false.gardaland has lost a lot more Yeah, sorry... No. Try again. Their methodology for their attendance estimations is detailed in the Frequently Asked Questions section at the end. And it has been unofficially reported to me to be VERY accurate by people I know who know but already allowed to say they know. Edited May 17, 2018 by robbalvey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southpuddle Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 ^^ I would assume that if you had a park hopper and visited all 4 WDW parks in 1 day, that each park would receive 1 reported admission. So yes, the numbers are a bit skewed in that not each admission is a “full day” admission, but I suppose that goes for any park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dombot Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 Oh, cool, more stuff for enthusiasts to overanalyze. Whee! Nothing seems out of the ordinary here in my eyes, but dang, Shanghai DL must be an INSANE success to already get eighth globally. It's only, what, three years old? Good for them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 ^^ I would assume that if you had a park hopper and visited all 4 WDW parks in 1 day, that each park would receive 1 reported admission. So yes, the numbers are a bit skewed in that not each admission is a “full day” admission, but I suppose that goes for any park. Yes, the same could be said if someone went with their Cedar Fair pass to Kings Island for opening, spent an hour or two at the park, and then drove up to Cedar Point to get in a couple of hours before closing. Proximity of parks in an area and multiple visits to those parks shouldn't take away a click at the turnstile. I can just as easily choose to NOT visit Epcot during a WDW trip as I could choose to visit both Magic Kingdom AND Epcot. If a park attracts a guest, no matter how long they stayed or how many parks they visited in a day, there is no reason why it shouldn't be counted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superbatboy Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 Ouch, Sea World/Busch bleeding and bleeding Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaellynn4 Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 ^ Fortunately, they reported a 15% attendance increase in Q1 this year. Hopefully it's the beginning of a continuing upward trend. I will say I've noticed more and more of the SeaWorld commercials to actually advertise the coasters and shows of the park instead of solely on their environmental outreach, so hopefully that'll have a lasting impact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking86 Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 Good to see Disneyland Paris bouncing back for their 25th anniversary last year, after their 2016 attendance took a huge hit due to the terrorist attack in 2015, which caused a general decline of tourism in the area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarlaKoaster Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 I love this report. I never read tooooooo much into the statistics, but I love reading the analysis - it's like a theme park yearbook or something and it's nice to recap what's happened over the last year and what the general trends have been globally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
805Andrew Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 I love this report. I never read tooooooo much into the statistics, but I love reading the analysis - it's like a theme park yearbook or something and it's nice to recap what's happened over the last year and what the general trends have been globally. It's one of my favorite annual reports to look at as I love to see the current visitation trends in the theme park industry, and I think its really well done and presented like a nice yearbook. I like that they also put water parks and even museums into the report (I just wish someone tracked zoo and aquarium attendance as well). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBru Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 Interesting that Cedar Point reports/had an estimated 0% change in attendance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbill Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 I sort of assumed they were down so that’s actually not too shabby if true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
805Andrew Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 I'm happy that Knott's is now a top ten US park. They have been making great changes in the last few years and with HangTime opening up they will grow in attendance even more next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrygator Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 The more telling statistics with SeaWorld are not just in the one year or Q1 numbers. Compare the 2008 and 2017 figures. SeaWorld Orlando 2008 - 6.2MM SeaWorld Orlando 2017 - 4.0MM SeaWorld California 2008 - 4.8MM SeaWorld California 2017 - 3.1MM Disney is clearly king so let's compare to Universal's figures Universal Studios Orlando 2008 - 6.1MM Universal Studios Orlando 2017 - 10.2MM Universal IOA 2008 - 5.2MM Universal IOA 2017 - 9.5MM Universal Studios Hollywood 2008 - 4.6MM Universal Studios Hollywood 2017 - 9.0MM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.J. Posted May 23, 2018 Author Share Posted May 23, 2018 I'm not even sure that Universal's figures are a good comparison considering that they invested into what would become one of the biggest I.P.s in theme park history starting a few years after 2008. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopper39 Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 I find it interesting that Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, give or take a 500,000~ visitors, has stayed at approximately the exact same level of attendance for the past decade or so. 2017: 3,961,000 2014: 4,128,000 2010: 4,200,000 2007: 4,400,000 Lots of amazing additions to the park, new attractions, great Halloween Event, festivals, but it doesn't seem to matter the attendance just stays flat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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