Resort World Sentosa free essay sample

1. History Background of the Industry The very first outdoor theme park built in Singapore is Escape Theme Park. It was opened in May 2000 at the East side of Singapore, Downtown East, Pasir Ris. It has attracted over 4 million people since its opening. However due to redevelopment of Downtown East, Escape Theme Park was ceased on 26 November 2011. The first water theme park in Singapore was Wild Wild Wet. It opened in June 2004 at the same location as Escape Theme Park. Wild Wild Wet has received several awards since it’s opening. Universal Studios Singapore (USS) was set up at Sentosa, Waterfront station. It is the largest theme park in Singapore and has attracted 2 million visitors in the first nine months of their opening. USS celebrated their 10 millionth visitor in April 2013. Recently, there was another water theme park build at Sentosa. Adventure Cove was opened on 22 November 2012. It has more rides available than Wild Wild Wet. Since then, it was seen as a worthy competitor to Wild Wild Wet. 2. Industry in Detail – Players (Firms/Companies), Brands, Trends Universal Studios has the highest market share in Singapore as they offer unique rides that no other theme parks have. Their main competitors are Adventure Cove and Wild Wild Wet. However, both Wild Wild Wet and Adventure Cove are of the same type of theme parks which provides only water rides. With similar attractions, both have a split share of the market. Barriers to enter There is a very high barrier for entry in the theme park industry as it requires a lot of financial capital as well as land space. Singapore being a small country has very limited space. It is not easy to find an ideal land to set up a theme park. It also takes time to clear away the land to build a theme park which requires a large space. Competition / Brand competition There is not much intense competition in this industry as three firms are mainly promoting their services through advertisements and price promotions. USS has very unique rides and is also a very well-known theme park all over the world. Hence, they do not have to worry much on the competition against Adventure Cove and Wild Wild Wet. On the other hand, Adventure Cove and Wild Wild Wet will have more tough competition against each other as both provide similar rides and that now Wild Wild Wet is undergoing expansions so that they will have the same standard as Adventure Cove. Issues facing the industry With no issues with the government, only issue they face is that each firm could see a cut in their profits as there are already other firms showing interest in the theme park market here in Singapore, an example would be Disneyland. Disneyland being the biggest player in this industry is finalizing their plans to open a theme park in Singapore. With much more experience than any other companies, it is also higher recognized by all hence they would not have troubles making a claim on the market share. Long term prospects (profit / loss) With the expectation of increasing visitors in the theme park industry, there will be a profiting in the long run as these theme parks are considered one of the tourist attractions in Singapore. 3. Product Differentiation How the various firms / product brands / services compete with each other? Product/Service comparison Comparing the 4 firms in this industry, we found that there are two main categories for the product/service provided. Universal Studios Singapore and Escape Theme Park provides its customers with mechanical thrill rides while Adventure Cove and Wild Wild Wet provides its customers with water thrill rides. Location Location-wise, the four firms are divided into two areas, Sentosa and Downtown East. Sentosa is an island off mainland Singapore and is a tourist attraction. So Universal Studios Singapore and Adventure Cove have a large number of tourists at their location that they can attract as visitors. For Escape Theme Park and Wild Wild Wet which is located in Downtown East, Pasir Ris, A local heartland. They are more appealing to locals who seek to distress with their family over the weekends. Services Being in the theme park industry, all four firms provides a similar main product which are thrill rides. But inside the parks, they do provide different services that increase their value as a firm. For example, Universal Studios Singapore provides users with a shopping and dining experience. They have mascots and characters from movies that the customer can take pictures with too. For Adventure Cove, they have a package ticket where visitors can visit the aquarium that is also part of the company that runs the theme park. Escape Theme Park and Wild Wild Wet both have restaurants within their compounds. All these extra services make each theme park more differentiated from their competitors. Physical Characteristics of the product/service Both Escape Theme Park and Universal Studios Singapore provides mechanical thrill rides for its users and Wild Wild Wet provides Water Thrill Rides. The different rides between the different parks are mostly similar. The main difference is the size of the rides and the complexity of the ride.  Universal Studios Singapore has bigger and more complex mechanical thrill rides than Escape Theme Park. And Adventure Cove has bigger and more complex water thrill rides than Wild Wild Wet. Product Image For product image, Universal Studios Singapore is carrying a well-known and established theme park brand name: Universal Studios. Universal Studios is a film-making company that has expanded into the theme park industry and now has 4 different theme parks with one of them being the one in Singapore. Adventure Cove is opened by Resort World at Sentosa brand name, which is also responsible for the theme park and resort at Genting in Malaysia. So they are experienced and well known in South East Asia. But for Wild Wild Wet and Escape Theme Park, They are opened by NTUC club, a local corporation without any prior experience in the theme park industry. Price – sensitivity of consumers and suppliers to changes in price For consumers, price is not really a main issue in considering the theme park they want to go to. Theme Parks are not something that customers go to daily or even regularly. They usually go on holidays or for a celebration. Customers look more into the services, the rides that they are interested in and the location of the theme park. Promotion – advertisement In promotion, all the firms are more inclined in advertising what rides they have and boasting its own rides. Not as much to do product comparison with their competitors and how they are better than the competition. They also provide promotion to encourage visitors to come again. Like Universal Studios and Adventure Cove provides annual passes for a certain price. This annual pass can be used by visitors to return any day of the year except for public holidays and the weekends. Wild Wild Wet provides a reward program for people that are a member of NTUC, the corporation that runs the theme park. This benefits them as NTUC is a large corporation in Singapore and with the reward program, they are able to attract visitors. 1. Recommendations A new theme park in Singapore would be difficult because of the high barrier for entry. It is still possible to set up one if there are a lot of financial capital is available and an ideal land space is acquired. The  best idea for a new mechanical theme park in Singapore would be an indoor one, with Orchard Road as the location. Right now, only USS is offering a mechanical theme park and with only one competitor available we would have a better chance in succeeding and sustaining. So the theme park in our plan is a 2 – 3 floors of theme park built on top of an existing shopping center at Orchard Road. What can the firm / the brand do to excel in present market condition? Orchard Road is a tourist spot with a lot of local traffic too. This enables us to reach both markets that the other firms are targeting. We could promote the theme park through advertisements in media, at tourist brochures, maps, and linking up with restaurants and stores in the shopping center to provide discounts for shared customers. Both these promotion techniques would propel us to be one of the main players in the local theme park industry. What are your team predictions for the future of these players in the market? For the current players of the industry, their business will definitely be impacted by a new player, maybe a cut in profit. But with the rise of tourism, we are sure there will be enough customers for all the players including us to be profiting and sustain in this industry.