esselworld.com

Esselworld liegt in Mumbai in Indien.
Esselworld wurde 1989 eröffnet.
Der Park gehört der Pan India Paryatan Ltd. (PIPL),
Vorsitzender von PIPL ist Herr Ashok Goel.
Esselworld liegt ca. 40 km nordwestlich von Mumbai (hiess ehemals Bombay) und umfaßt 64 acres.
In einer zweiten Ausbaustufe wurde der Vergbnügungspark um den Wasserpark Water Kingdom erweitert.
Besucherzahlen 1,8 Millionen / anno

Einen ausführlichen Bericht von Preston Merchant gibt es bei der Publikation der IAAPA
Fun World (August 2003)
Passage to India
funworldmagazine.com Passage_to_India_pt1.html
Interessant sind in diesem Bericht vor allen Dingen die multikulturellen Aspekte des Parks.
Der Park legt sehr viel Wert auf einen edukativen Charakter.
Auch die Nachbesserungen, die notwendig waren, das europäische (weltliche) Bild, welches die britischen Parkplan im Kopf hatten, an die indischen Familienverhältnisse anzupassen, lesen sich überraschend. Eine Trennung in Kinder- und Erwachsenenbereiche, wie sie bei uns üblich sind, ist bei indischen Familien nicht gewünscht.

Eine Parkkarte aus dem Jahre 2003 zeigt:
themeparkbrochures.com essel2003.html

Attraktionen:
für die Großen:
Bump'em Cars (Autoskooter)
Cadbury's Zyclone (Italo-Achterbahn)
Manikchand Enterprise (Huss-Enterprise) Foto
Manikchand Rainbow (Huss-Rainbow)
Rock-n-Roll (indische Luna Loops-Variante)
Senior Dodgem (noch ein Autoskooter aus italienischer Produktion)
Slippery Sultan ((Wasser?)-Rutsche aus Indien)
Thunder (Doppelranger)

für die Familie:
Arctic Ring (Eislaufhalle)
Crazy Cups (Teetassen-Karussell aus italienischer Produktion)
Fuji Aqua Dive (Shoot the Chutes aus indischer Produktion)
Fun Net (Kletterseile)
Haunted Hotel
Hedge Maze (Heckenlabyrinth)
Highway Cars (Auto-Parcours)
Maxivision (180° Cinema)
Monster (Octopus-Ride aus den USA) Foto
Prabal - the Killer (altes russisches Kriegsschiff als Museum vor Anker gelegt)
Road Train (Dotto Zug)
Riki's Rocking Alley (Disco/Bowling-Bahnen neu ab Oktober 2003)
Tilt-A-Whirl (aus US-Produktion)
Zipper Dipper (Holzachterbahn - gebaut in Indien, geplant von Blackpool Pleasure Beach)

dazu gesellen sich Kinderattraktionen

Fotoserie

Thunder
(c) funworldmagazine.com

Zitat

Running an amusement park in India is not exactly a joyride

By: Gouri Shukla

Loud, excited shrieks fill the air as the famed thriller ride - the roller coaster spirals upside-down in Mumbai's amusement park EsselWorld.

Even investors and promoters in the country seem to echo the euphoria. Consider this. About 400 new small or big parks are expected to come up across India by 2010 - a sizeable increase from the current number of 55.

According to the Indian Association of Amusement Parks and Industries (IAAPI), the total investment in the amusement business is expected to grow three-fold by 2005 from Rs 1,000 crore invested in 2001.

Park promoters may be bullish about their new ventures but a peek behind the scenes shows that managing an amusement park is definitely not a roller-coaster ride, given the odds the business faces today.

For starters, IAAPI says that gestation periods are as high as two to five years for even a bare minimum investment of Rs 10 crore on a park. And these aren't one-time investments - because over a three- to five-year timeframe, the rides have to be replaced given the wear and tear.

Annual turnovers of these ventures are not a big deal either, if one considers the costs incurred against the profits. Take the case of Appu Ghar - India's first amusement park that was set up in 1984.

According to industry estimates, with an initial investment of Rs 10 crore, its present turnover is Rs 16 crore. Pan India Paryatan's (PIP) ventures in Mumbai - Esselworld, the city's first amusement park started in 1989 and Water Kingdom started in 1998 - were set up at a cost of Rs 80 crore and have recorded a turnover of Rs 40 crore with profits of just Rs 1 crore.

Skimpy profits are not the only problem - there are other niggling issues as well. "Most investors over-estimate the footfalls and returns without considering factors like location," says Rajan Shah, secretary general, IAAPI and managing director, Arihant Industries.

Consultants point out that most amusement parks are built on government-leased land allotted for entertainment purposes. Not all amusement parks get as lucky as Appu Ghar, which was allotted a plum location in New Delhi.

Most get land on city outskirts. Esselworld was set up on an island near Marve beach, on the outskirts of Mumbai's mainland, and easy access was an issue.

"As most of the parks are located away from the city, customers have to travel a bit to reach them. So there is constant pressure to create consumer pull so that the experience is worth it," says Anuj Puri, managing director, Chesterton Meghraj, consultants to the upcoming Unitech project in Noida.

PIPL tried to work its way by advertising through television commercials in channels like Zee with the jingle "EsselWorld mein rahoonga main, ghar nahi nahi jaoonga main!" ("I want to stay in EsselWorld, and never, never go back home") in end-1993.

As a result, footfalls increased from 7.5 lakh in 1989 to 13 lakh in 1994. But then, footfalls plateaued to around 11 lakh post-1995. So consumer pull had to be supplemented - by the classic concept of "value additions".

"Innovation is what drives this industry. We have to keep introducing new attractions, rides and entertainment every year," says Ashok Goel, director, PIPL.

However, this spells an additional strain on financial resources in the form of recurring investments - which are anywhere in the range of Rs 6 crore to Rs 20 crore. As most of the rides are imported ready-to-assemble machines, import duties are as high as 65 per cent.

Investments vary depending on the type of rides - according to industry sources, while basic rides like slides cost about Rs 1.5 crore to Rs 2 crore, high-thrill rides like roller coasters cost between Rs 2.5 crore to Rs 3.5 crore; in fact, advanced rides like the six-loop roller coaster cost nearly Rs 9 crore.

But innovation and value-additions are necessary evils. Look at what happened those who didn't - like, say, Fantasy Land, an amusement park in Mumbai. Now, this was located within city limits but could not draw visitors. Industry observers say that this was because the rides were not upgraded and changed periodically.

Now look at how PIPL stemmed the rot that was setting in in Esselworld. The company invested Rs 40 crore in a new water park, Water Kingdom, just next to Esselworld in 1998. Water Kingdom managed to stabilise the footfall slide to 13 lakh from 11 lakh.

There are also recurring maintenance and safety costs to be considered. "Maintenance does not just pertain to infrastructure but ensuring smooth operation of rides, shorter queueing time, cleanliness and, most importantly, safety," says Goel.

PIPL's claims that a good 30 to 40 per cent of operating costs are for maintenance and safety. When PIP installed a computerised system in Esselworld and Water Kingdom to ensure hourly safety checks and necessary corrections per day, it ran up a bill of Rs 8 crore.

"But it was crucial. Even a single incidence of mishap or accident can ruin the reputation irreparably," says Nilesh Mistry, public affairs manager, PIPL.

Another pin-prick for amusement parks are their source of revenue. In the case of the Indian amusement parks, 80 per cent of revenues come from gate fees while for international parks like Disneyland in the US and Blackpool in the UK, about 70 per cent of revenues come from the hotels, merchandise and food courts within the park. In India, high entertainment tax (varying from 15 per cent to 120 per cent from state to state) also takes its toll on the parks.

So how do amusement parks override these factors and build a profitable business model? If introduction of new rides and attractions is necessary, one has to find a cost-effective way of doing so.

"A promoter could invest in multiple parks in different locations and swap or alternate rides and attractions," suggests Puri of Chesterton Meghraj.

Investors seem be realising growing wise to this idea. Says Rakesh Babbar, director, IAL, "We are considering the exchange of certain rides between the Noida and Rohini parks."

However, as he himself admits, there is a problem. If the USP of each park is different, you can swap only as many rides.

But then, sources close to the Unitech project do say that there are plans to enter into such exchange agreements with a south-based amusement park.

Then, revenue has to pour in from sources other than gate tickets. For that, Indian amusement parks have to follow the international revenue model.

Internationally, food courts, theme hotels, merchandise stores in the park share a fixed percentage of revenues apart from rent charges with the company. In India, the park owners usually invest in the food stalls and other entertainment avenues like video game parlours and discotheques within the park.

"The best solution would be mixing commercial ventures like shopping malls, food joints and cinema halls with amusement park projects. This would generate additional revenues and offset the operating costs to some extent," explains Puri.

These leisure activities are classified as family entertainment centres (FECs). So while the amusement parks remain locked up during the monsoons, the promoters can fall back on the retail ventures and indoor entertainment facilities that the FECs provide as steady sources of revenue.

At Unitech, for instance, the retail and entertainment zones is what will steady the rocking boat. "We are expecting rentals from leasing out the retail space to contribute a steady 35 per cent to the revenues, while 60 per cent will come from the ticket sales in the amusement park," says Ajay Chandra, co-promoter, Unitech. Moreover, the company is confident of cross-over footfalls from visitors to the retail venture.

Will buckling up with retail and entertainment ventures manage to give amusement parks a new high?

(c) Businees Standard, 27.05.2003

Zitat

Riding on a high
With projected investments of Rs 3,000 crore, amusement parks may be the next big thing in the entertainment sector

By: Yusuf Begg

It may seem that amusement park owners are all set to take entertainment- starved Indians, literally for a ride. With the industry still at a nascent stage - "only 5 per cent of the market has been tapped," says Arunkumar Muchhala of Mumbai's Suraj Water Park - a number of new players are ready to take the plunge, while existing ones are set to expand.

Says Balwant Chawla, vice president, Indian Association of Amusement Parks and Industries (IAAPI) and CEO, Polo Amusement Park: "In the next three years there will be close to Rs 3,000 crore investments with around 100 more theme parks coming up." These figures, together with Rs 2,000 crore already invested in the 70-odd operational theme parks, make it the most happening sector in the entertainment industry.

While Sahara India is set to start a 100-acre amusement park in Amby Valley, Haldiram Foods International is putting in Rs 10 crore for its project in Nagpur and Roy Wonderland Amusement Park Rs 32 crore for its theme park on the fringes of Hyderabad. There are groups, such as Unitech and Agri Gold that have plans to set up multi-centre parks.

While Unitech has set its sight on Rohini (Delhi) and Noida, Agri Gold is setting up parks in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Vizag. Polo Amusement Park, one of the pioneers in this field, is all set to go international with its project in Gold Coast, Australia. Its $2 million-project is spread over 75 acres.

While Chawla and his company, are going global, they are also planning to add to the existing rides at their Fun 'n' Food Village on the southern outskirts of Delhi. These include a snow park, an ice skating rink and a ski slope. Muchhala has already added a theme-based restaurant to his amusement park and hopes to get 80-ft waterfall operational by next month.

Is the amusement park sector just another bubble waiting to be burst? "No way," says Ashok Goel, president, IAAPI and director of EsselWorld and adds, "we have seen phenomenal growth over the last few years. And at a compounded annual growth rate of 35 per cent, the industry is in an upswing."

Most players hinge their optimism on the fact that the market is yet untapped and the growing desire of consumers for entertainment. "Even in smaller cities the annual footfall is near 10 lakh," says Goel.

Will the stampede to set up amusement parks lead to a glut? Explains Chawla: "This is a capital intensive industry and only the players with deep pockets will make it. There is no question of making profits immediately." While infrastructure and facilities take up all the investment, earnings come in mostly through ticket sales.

This means that a major share of the earnings is regularly ploughed back into the park. "Innovation is the key word in this game. You have to regularly upgrade rides, otherwise ticket sales will taper off," explains Muchhala.

Most players in this sector are unanimous that high import duties and skewed entertainment tax are the major impediments. Most of the rides are imported as local manufacturers are shy of making "high thrill" equipment. Retorts N D Rana, chairman, Saya Amusements Manufacturing Ltd: "Park operators are unwilling to pay for innovative rides. Its not cost effective."

While multiplexes are becoming youth hangouts, theme parks (including family entertainment centres, such as, bowling alleys and video arcades) are associated as places entire families visit. And that's what amusement park owners are plugging at. However it's best to hold on tight to the rails, as the rides might become a rollercoaster or worse, just slip sliding away.

(c) Business Standard, 12.03.2003
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