Buyer found for Hard Rock Park

Oh, I agree.

"FPI MBE is a group whose members collectively have more than 100 yearsin the attractions and entertainment industry and are committed to thesuccessful reopening and operation of the Hard Rock Park,'' thestatement says.

So does this mean there are 10 people with 10 years experience each, or 50 people with 2 years experience?

There were a ton of people with a lot of experience in first iteration of the park as well, but unfortunately they weren't empowered to make any of the important decisions.

So, moving forward from here, what do the new owners do differently?

Personally, I see 2 changes that are a definite;

1. Lower the ticket prices. $45 dollars was too much for the overall park experience. I took my time going through the park, over the 4th of July weekend, and still had it done in 4 hours.

2. ADVERTISE!, and not just within a 50 mile radius of Myrtle Beach. Advertise like your Disney; Get the park some recognition. On our driving trip down to Myrtle Beach, we didn't start seeing any type of advertising, until we got into South Carolina. Was I just not seeing it, before SC?

Nah, the price wasn't wrong, the message was. If you want to use personal experience we paid $40 and stayed 13 hours.

People go expecting a theme park. The place only has 14 or 15 rides. If you expect a theme park, you're going to be disappointed. Advertise what it is - an experience...a day surrounded by the Hard Rock™ attitude. Rides, shows, shopping, eating, environment, people all of it making a day. Go there to do any one of those things and be disappointed. Go to do tham all and you'll never want to leave.

The thing is advertising to a wider radius (even with the right message) might not help either. Who is going to travel any real distance for a one-day experience? Their audience is the normal theme park/attraction radius along with trying to pick up visitors who are in the area already.

Is that enough to sustain the park?

It could be. Here's a snippet from the Area Chamber of Commerce:

Grand Strand leisure travelers spent an average of $118.80 per person per day, and group business travelers spent an average of $208.11 per person per day. Furthermore, visitors typically use their own car as their primary transportation (89%). Most Grand Strand visitors (56%) stayed in hotels, while 24% stayed in condos and villas.

Edited: can't cut-and-paste the table. But they've ranged from 12-14M visitors more or less, over 2000-2006.