YOUR FORUM FOR PLAY, SPORTS UND LEISURE AREAS
Givskud Zoo and Safari Park in Denmark was opened in 1969 and has become an important attraction for tourists from near and far. In 2010, the zoo registered nearly 280,000 visitors passing through its gates.
As part of its master plan and growth strategy, Givskud Zoo constructed a gigantic playground in 2011 designed to appeal to youngsters across all age ranges from 1 to 16 years. The playground was installed on a central site and has been upgraded using brand new play equipment developed by the company Kompan for use by all age groups, from toddlers to teenagers.
The zoo knew exactly what it was doing; this extensive investment was made on the basis of an awareness of the behaviour of the zoo's customers. Morten Andersen, Communications and Marketing Manager of the zoo, explains: "Our safari park is an attraction where families come to spend the whole day. Not that far from us there are other venues that have a similar appeal for families, such as Legoland. And there is a shopping mall nearby that competes for the attention of our local visitors. Although a visit here represents an enjoyable day trip that is very attractive to families, we have noticed that none spend the whole day just observing our animals."
According to Andersen, the public spend only a third of a time they are at the zoo watching the animals; the other two-thirds are used for other group and leisure activities. "To maintain our position as an entertaining place to come for the day, we must ensure we have appropriate enticements available that can be used during that two-thirds of the time when people are not busy looking at animals," he points out. "We need a new attraction every year because 65% of our visitors have already been here at least once over the past two years," reveals Andersen, adding: "And that doesn't have to be new animals; the modernisation of our other facilities is at least as important if we want to arouse the interest of our customers and retain it."
For Andersen, the playground is an important part of the zoo's resources that appeal specifically to families. "They represent, after all, the largest group among our visitors and they come here to spend quality time together as families. The adults can watch their children playing happily and contentedly on the playground ‒ and there's nothing like this for making parents happy too."
The construction of the new high-quality playground in a central location of the safari park has already paid dividends in the form of increased takings. "Another thing we noticed was that visitors to the playground seemed to enjoy a bite to eat while there. So we came up with the idea of installing a pancake stand next to the playground. The result is that visitors now spend an additional 10 Kroner (€1.35) per visit on average and we have seen no corresponding reduction in profits in other areas," discloses Andersen.
"People have also tended to remain here for longer since we opened our new Kompan playground. Not only that, but our figures show that the peak times at our various sales outlets have changed. As a direct consequence of our investment in the new playground, we have increased the turnover in our cafeteria, in our grill restaurant and at our pancake stand," he concludes.
Image: Kompan
