Alton Towers coaster crash hits Merlin’s revenues and visitor numbers

THE owner of Alton Towers has reported an 11.4% slump in revenues at its theme parks over the summer following the June rollercoaster tragedy. Merlin Entertainments said numbers visiting Alton Towers were ‘significantly reduced’ after the accident on June 2. Other UK parks were also affected. 

‘As anticipated, this has continued over the summer peak season, exacerbated by relatively poor weather in the UK in August, resulting in like-for-like revenues in the Resort Theme Parks operating group declining by 11.4% year on year,’ the company said in a trading update for the 36 weeks to September 5.

The group’s other divisions performed better, with Legoland Parks revenue growing by 6.7% and its Midway Attractions by 2.6%.

Chief executive Nick Varney, said: ‘The performance of our Legoland Parks operating group has remained strong, with very positive guest satisfaction. However, this has been offset by the impact of reduced visitation across the Resort Theme Parks operating group, primarily at Alton Towers Resort, and euro weakness impacting visitation at our London attractions.’

Go Holiday news : www.govillasandcottages.co.uk

All your holiday needs: IN PRINT - ON-LINE - DiGiMAG - SMARTPHONE -TABLET - BLOG - TWITTER - G+ - FACEBOOK

Picture Credit:http://www.flickr.com/photos/84806883@N00/10598723563">SAM_1783</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/">(license)