IAAPA Expo Asia 2024: Takeaways

WEBVTT

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From our studios in Los Angeles and
Tampa. This is Green Tach Theme Parking

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thirty. I'm Philip and I'm joined
as always by Scott Swinson of Scott Swinson

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Creative Development. Scott, we are
back, We're home. You're home.

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Yeah, we're both. We're both
in our homes for at least the recording

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of this show. So that's great. It's so exciting. Of course,

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I just came back from Ayapa,
Asia. I had a little detour on

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my way back in Hong Kong and
I got to see the world of Frozen

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there, which is great. So
I thought we would start off by just

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talking a little bit about the show, and we're gonna we're going to try

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and condense this into a very short
really like top level Overview. We might

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do a bonus episode or some sort
of longer episode on it later because I

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do have recordings. If anybody would
like to specifically, if you would like

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to know stuff about it or hear
more about that, just you know,

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let me know so that help help
us decide. But we didn't want to

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dedicate too much time to it because
there's other news it came out, but

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it's important, so I'll read here
excerpts from the press release and also excerpts

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off the interview with The Bangkok Post
from the chairman. So Iopa exo ASA

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concluded last week, having return to
Thailand after seventeen years, The show welcomed

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six hundred and twenty three verified attendees, three hundred and fifty two exhibiting companies

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and three one hundred and eighty seven
qualified buyers from twenty two thousand, four

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hundred and eighty companies. Next year's
i APPA Asia will be July first through

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third in Shanghai. So far,
one hundred and sixty eight companies have already

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signed up. In an interview with
The Bangkok Post, the chairman said,

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in fact, Asia is now the
largest market for amusement and water parks in

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the world, with China alone accounting
for more than half of all new park

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openings worldwide. This year, amusement
park spending is expected to increase by sixteen

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point five percent within the region,
with double digit growth projected through twenty twenty

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seven. However, this growth also
presents challenges for industry players, with the

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need to constantly innovate and adapt to
changing consumer preferences while ensuring safety protocols in

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a sustainable development and responsible tours and
practices. There's so I don't disagree with

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those statements, but I think there's
a lot in there. There's a lot

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in there. I think he kind
of though. The reason I chose these

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quote so is I think it was
a pretty relatively honest interview that I think.

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I think if you understand more of
what he's saying in that about the

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challenges, specifically about adapting and whatnot, that's such a term that I heard

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echoed throughout the convention. Was just
adapting, you know, which is something

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we've talked about to just right side. We've even reported, we've even reported

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on the show in the past that
there are there are towns and cities that

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don't want tourism or are trying to
do things to dissuade tourism, so that

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that kind of adaptation is going to
be necessary, especially culturally. It seems

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as the as these expansions happen,
yeah, changing consumer preferences, right,

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he says, changing consider preferences.
One of those preferences could be, you

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know, they don't want to have
tourism in every area, they only want

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it in certain areas because they want
to have their own culture without you know,

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without tourists in it, I mean, and then safety protocols, I

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mean that happened. We've talked about
that as well. Sustainable development system as

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in not just sustainability, but also
as in what is sustainable now? Like

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the business models of twenty zerosand yeah, do not work in twenty twenty four,

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So what is the new model?
So I think if you if you

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know, it's like to the Bangkok
Post, it sounds all positive, right,

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but if you know, if you
know, like us and we know,

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then I think you can understand more
of the context of what he says

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by these ways. Sure, and
you know we've said on the show many

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times, data can be used to
promote one side or the other. I

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think it is interesting it just looking
at this quote and maybe I'm maybe I'm

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diving into deeply into it, but
is now the largest market for amusement and

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water parks in the world, the
largest market based on what criteria? We

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haven't heard you know it because because
again when I did a little because that

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rang a little I won't say false
to me, but it rang a little

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unsubstantiated. Perhaps, So I poked
around just a little bit and and found

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that, you know, when it
comes to when it comes to growth,

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First of all, North America is
still at this moment, based on all

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the research that I could find,
is still the number one. But their

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growth, yeah, they're they're at
a between nine and ten percent growth.

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So that's that's double digits. That's
ish. It's pretty close. And by

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perhaps extending it through twenty twenty seven
perhaps makes that, you know, tips

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that from the nine point two three
percent growth that they're looking at over the

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next two years, by going to
twenty seven, it may take it into

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double digits. So I can I
can go with them on that, but

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I think it's I just think it's
interesting that you know, of course,

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of course, when you're when you've
gathered everybody into your region and you're there

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to promote the industry. I mean
that is that is the purpose of IAPPA

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is there. It's an organization designed
to support and promote the attractions industry.

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That is its goal. It's it's
not there to to to tear down the

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industry. It is there to support
the industry in any way that we possibly

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can. And so with that in
mind, I think that these statements,

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as you say, Philip, are
fair they're not wrong. They are perhaps

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they may not perhaps be giving the
full story. They are giving the they're

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giving information in a vacuum in some
cases. But I also think that it

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does show that there is growth in
this region. It does show that this

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is not you know, people were
saying, oh, China will never recover.

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Well, this is saying that is
not the case. This is saying

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they are recovering. And uh,
you know, it's as we were talking

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about before we started recording, it's
an unusual place to have this particular expo

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because it is not the place of
the most growth, so you know,

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and perhaps it was. I mean, that could be for one of so

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very many reasons. Yeah, it
could have been it was the cheapest.

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It could have been that the chairman
has a park there, It could have

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been that the the it was.
It could be something as simple as it

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was their turn in rotation, you
know, because it's been several years since

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it's been there, and you know, maybe there is a plan set out

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as to where it's going to be. But as as you mentioned, it's

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gonna be in Shanghai next year,
correct, yep, And that's gonna be

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you know, that's gonna be super
popular, just because I think Shanghai is

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is more of a I think it's
more of a destination. Yeah, and

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it's also it's easier to get to. I mean this, you know,

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I just talking to everybody. The
attendees were confused as to why it was

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in Thailand because not easy to get
there, and it's not as a developed

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as a tourism set as some of
the other areas in Asia. But you

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know, like you said, there's
probably one hundred reasons why. And also

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you know, I don't know that
it would ever, you don't know when

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it, Like you said about the
rotation. You know, there's so much

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development plan for the other more developed
regions like China and Japan, you know

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in Singapore that it may not make
it back there for a while. So

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I think it, you know it. But yeah, you're right. I

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mean this was the year to do
it. This was the year to do

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it in Bangkok because they the next
you know, five years is going to

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be something grand and glorious to visit
in other areas of Asia. So yeah,

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that is that is very possible.
Yeah, So again I think it.

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Even what he's saying, I don't
know how he gets away with saying

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Asia is now the largest market for
amusement unless he means by market like but

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maybe potential mark. I don't I
don't know what he means by that.

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I don't agree with that, but
I don't I don't agree with that it

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I think whatever he means, maybe
he means it in a different way,

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but to me, currently it is
not currently the largest market. You know

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that the North America is still the
largest established market. But those people that

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didn't attend IAPA Asia because they think
that it's pointless are also wrong because the

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growth is happening. And that is
something that I people echoed, was I.

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You know, I talked to a
lot of vendors. I talked a

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lot of attendees, and I heard
that echoed over and over. You know,

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the vendors had surprisingly good shows,
all of them did. They didn't

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necessarily close a bunch of sales and
like big you know, big building,

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dark rides or whatever, but they
had leads. And now it's more just

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a question of what he hinted at, which is what we've talked about,

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and that is the right sizing component. Like a lot of a lot of

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discussions, but need to figure out
where's the capital coming from to do this

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expansion, and what is the business
model going to look like? You know,

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so not like it's going to happen
right now, but potential. So

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a lot of like excitement about the
potential for next year and the year after.

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So that's what I sensed. And
even in the numbers here, like

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I'm sorry, even in the numbers
here, I'm not trying to say that

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it was a you know how,
but I just I just want the content.

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I just want people to understand that
didn't attend I just want them to

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understand the context, which is he
said there's forty six basically forty six hundred

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attendees, and AYAPA Expo in Orlando
has thirty six thousand. Yeah. You

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know, it's interesting because I think
that a lot of these a lot of

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these regional expos or well regional expos
I guess is the best way I can

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describe them. I think that they
may serve their purpose in drawing a spotlight

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to the different regions so that people
can understand a little bit better what the

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global picture looks like. I think
they are important to get some of the

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smaller local vendors who may not be
able to afford or be able to attend

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for whatever reason, the Orlando Expo. I think this gives them a chance

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to at least be seen and continue
to grow. But you know, when

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you when you started reading the numbers, I was like, this is a

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teeny tiny little little thing here,
like by comparison. And you know,

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don't misunderstand me. Sometimes sometimes small
things connected with a larger organization are they're

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sort of like the sort of like
the farm team in baseball. Did I

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just make a sports reference? Oh
my gosh, But it's sort of like,

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you know, you you have those
like major baseball teams will have those

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teams, those smaller teams that play
in a smaller league to develop talent,

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to continue to expand and give broader
roots to to the people who are in

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the industry. And uh and I
think it's important to you know, one

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of the big pushes for IAPPA,
and has been for the last couple of

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years, is to make the eye
in IAPPA far more important. They want

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to make certain that it is recognized
as international and this we can see not

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only in how they are continuing to
attempt to make the regional festivals more robust,

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but opening a new office in the
Middle East, moving and changing i

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APPA Honors so that that moves around
to different locations, so it's not just

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it's not just Orlando and the rest
of the world. They're really making an

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effort to be more inclusive worldwide.
And whether it is a gigantic show or

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not, which this clearly is not, it's still a way to get a

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foothold in there, and it's still
a way to give people a sense of

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ownership within the organization and make it
so that their voices are being heard in

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a gathering of people from around the
world. Hearing new voices and the importance

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of growing regional talent is one theme
that I saw over and over, so

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exactly right, Scott, Like,
I went to the Young Professionals Forum even

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and you know, I heard a
lot of stories and it was again,

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it is exactly what you're talking about. It's a lot of people who I've

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actually, you know, I go
to Iyapa Asia whenever I can, so

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I've gone several years and it's one
of those it's still small enough of a

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show where I go and I meet
people that I saw before that I have

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like that I didn't really you know, It's one of those things where like

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I didn't really remember them, but
they remembered me or vice versa, and

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we have only seen them at this
show. And it's almost reminds me of

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a transworld in a way, you
know, the Halloween Show, where you're

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like you see them and these are
people that can't make it out to the

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US, but you know they maybe
they're a you know, one of them

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is a coordinator for Ocean Park and
obviously you can't make it out to Ayapa

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Asia because he's not an executive,
but he's a rising talent, you know.

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And and all of the people,
the young professionals for him, they're

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all interns or they're trying to start
off, they're just starting and they're all

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they're trying to grow their knowledge and
grow their stuff. And I think for

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that that's essential. And the farm
team, it's the farm team. And

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I think this is I think this
is part of the reason that that Iappa

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has now opened their new office in
the Middle East, because that is another

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expanding market and where people are eager
to learn and grow. So yeah,

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I for that purpose, I think
it it it is It is exciting.

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Is it is it a show that, like speaking for me personally, is

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it a show that I feel I
absolutely have to attend in order to learn

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more about that market or expand my
business into that market based on my current

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business model and my current client load. No, it's not, it doesn't.

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It doesn't make sense because it is
so small and because I have very

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few leads there to start off with. However, the leads that I'm getting

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internationally are coming from the Orlando Expo
because those are the ones who are in

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a position to hire me to do
what I do. And uh, you

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know, as we were talking about
earlier, as as the Asia market is

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is coming back, how much of
that is going to really require assistance from

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outside from a creative standpoint, and
how much is going to be done internally?

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And I don't think we know the
answer to that yet. I think

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we're still in the in the process. I think it's I think it is

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less likely that I will be,
for example, pulled into a project in

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China than it is that I will
be pulled into a project in the Middle

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East. Yeah, to to kind
of finish on this segment or try and

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get a little bit so just to
wrap up my my thoughts about it,

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it's, as we've already mentioned,
it's a much more intimate show. And

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we've talked previously about the pros and
cons of intimate shows, so we don't

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need to go into that. But
I did notice that all this, all

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the big vendors that you would see
at Ayappa, most of them are still

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there. You know, you still
sad the Ta, you still had the

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RWs, you still had Tate,
you had Sally Dark Rides, I mean,

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you know, Whitewater. All those
people are still there, just with

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different smaller boosts and it's more intimate. So I did notice you Actually,

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for me, I got time that
I've never gotten before really to develop a

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stronger relationship with some of those folks. And you know, again in same

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turn, they got the time to
talk with leads that maybe they wouldn't have

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scheduled in Orlando, you know,
but now they got a chance to talk

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with those leads and talk about ips
that you know, potentials. So there

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is that, what you know,
whatever, there's there was a lot of

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excitement as I as I said,
a lot of excitement, but maybe just

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not for the current thing. None
of the vendors were negative. All the

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vendors I talked to were positive about
like surprisingly, like they were all surprised

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at you know, how how many
good conversations they had the show, and

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that's always a great thing. And
they kind of all of the vendors,

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at least the larger ones for the
most kind of understood that, like the

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you know, the recovery has to
begin somewhere, you know, it's kind

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of a thing where maybe the time
this year will pay off in several years

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with the leads develop. But they
were all happy with it. So all

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that aside, it is still an
Iopi expo. So it did have elements

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like iapis. There was education,
not just the show floor, there was

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education. There was also EDU tours
all around there. It was a big

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it was a lot of programming,
you know, for the size of the

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show. It was I did the
Edu tour which took us to Pataya and

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it was Pataia and it was like
a thirteen hour bus tour. But we

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had three main stops at the We
stopped at the Grand Center Point Space Pataya

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and then Nanuk Garden and the Ramayana
Water Park. And again we don't I

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don't want to go too much into
the details about this, but the thing

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that was some of the big takeaways
for me to echo the themes we've been

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talking about the Grand Center Point Space. It's a space themed resort and water

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park, and it was it was
pretty credible. I mean, this is

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like basically the shtick is that it's
a private water park. And I found

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out later they never said this on
the record, but I did find out

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later after some poking around, that
the area that this is in is used

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to be kind of like a red
light district and they're trying to kind of

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reinvest in it, and so that's
why they did the whole thing. So

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it's basically a private hotel with a
private water park where you know, you

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can't get in, I mean you
know, like you have to be a

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guest staying there and everything, and
so it kind of makes that walled garden

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effect. And it was. It
was really funny because actually on stage,

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in response to one of the questions
about if they would ever open the water

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park up to the guess, this
is such an awkward moment. It was

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hilarious. It was he said he
basically he said that he doesn't have to

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worry about his kids being stolen,
and that's someruthing they're trying to keep and

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everybody is like, is that a
thing? Like? Is that is like

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do you normally worry about your kids
being stolen at water parks? And uh

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so he had to walk that back
a little bit, but it was kind

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of like it's one of those things
where you're like, it was an interesting

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So anyway, the biggest takeaway for
me is that this this company that operates

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the space themed place. First of
all, the theming was excellent. You

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had uh it was a little bit
of a uh you know, as as

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things are. There were definitely there
was an area where they were floating rocks,

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so and then there was an area
where there was a giant man eating

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plants, and there was area where
there was pirates, and you were kind

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of like, oh, little Shop
of Horrors and Avatar and pirates, but

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that's okay, Space pirates, yeah, space pirates, yes, but it

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was it was exit. Theming was
excellent, The hotel was excellent. Uh.

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This place has twenty six other properties, including several malls, and on

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stage they talked about the need to
really differentiate their properties by doing excellent theming

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and really stepping it up. The
next to me, I foresee, places

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like these in this area are going
to be the ones, like the places

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that are trying to create you know, theming and a story to a private

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audience, you know, in areas
where they already have access to property.

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I think these are going to be
the folks that eventually develop FECs or you

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know, larger full scale theme parks
or put a dark ride you know in

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a mall or something. I think
that's where we're going to get. On

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the other end, there was the
nuke the Garden, which is they say

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it's an eight hundred acre botanical garden. I swear that it is larger than

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that because I can't. I literally
am like, this cannot be only eight

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hundred acres. I don't see how
that's again. I'm like, our numbers.

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Do numbers mean the same thing to
you that they mean in the dictionary.

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But it definitely has to be larger
than eight hundred acres. But they

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also have an event center where they
have twenty seven conference rooms, like like

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full scale conference. I mean,
it is a huge this is a huge

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space, have all sorts of stuff
there. And this was almost the opposite.

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This is like the new Garden is
like uh, sprawling gardens that's there

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for the public and for the local
people. That's a nonprofit garden. Basically,

286
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they do sell plants and they sell
landscaping services to the city basically,

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or they kind of and they do
event centers, so it's a much more

288
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open approach. But I thought the
most interesting thing that that owner said because

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we got to ride around in carts
with the owners and then I got to

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meet elephant, which was the highlight
of my trip, but it eloquent,

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was the highlight of your trip?
Well? It was, so he shaked

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my hand, He shook my hand
with his trunk. It was really cute.

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So anyway, the thing he said
that I thought was most interesting is

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that basically he's like, you know, when in doubt, just add dinosaurs.

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It's kind of his statement, which
you know, and he always referred

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to them as like dinosaurs, not
like statues, but like, you know,

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we have lots of an animals and
I'm like, you mean you mean

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statues. He's like, lots of
animals and lots of dinosaurs like statues.

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He's like, no, no animals. I'm like, no, these are

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statues. So anyway, that was
a but it was just interesting that basically

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he was saying that they really wanted
to create a place for families, but

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in order but like families, you
know, kids are not interested in tackle

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gardens, and you know, so
he had to they have to bring in

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animals and make it more of a
play cooperative play area and make it more

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exciting in that way to make it
more for families, because they want it

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to be kind of like a regional
gathering place for families to be able to

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do stuff. And soa same kind
of sentiments with different approaches. And I

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think these are going to be just
like we talked about in America, like

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these developing segments, it's going to
be like family activities, you know,

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for the family that are kind of
safe spaces that are for different levels of

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income. So that was same thing
with the water park had just opened a

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new kids play area and that was
the big thing there about that, you

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know, the themed area at the
new kids park. So just a really

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interesting looking at all the family the
different levels of family ply well and in

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listening to you describe these, I
think to me it's most interesting that with

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all three of these, they're not
just looking at the theme detraction industry.

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What they're doing is they're looking at
the events industry. They're looking at the

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hotel industry, they're looking at they're
finding different ways to generate revenue so that

319
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they can be part of the theme
district. They're blurring the lines as to

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what the themed, theme, attraction, themed entertainment world really is. And

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that may be out of necessity because
again, they can't just do a standalone

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park. They have to make it
a resort hotel, or a botanical gardens

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with a gigantic event center or you
know they sell they're a plant. You

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know, they're a garden center in
essence, because they found ways to generate

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additional revenue that ties back into the
story that they're trying to tell or the

326
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experience that they're trying to create for
their guests. So again, I think,

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as we said earlier, I think
holding this event here kind of shows,

328
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Okay, here's the beginnings, here's
where things are starting to grow,

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here's the grassroots. And it'll be
curious to see how these things continue to

330
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expand, because I mean, let's
face it, you know, even ocean

331
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parks started much smaller than it was
or then it has become. So I

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think it's I think it's important to
recognize that all of these spaces that you

333
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mentioned. Although they're not what we
think of in North America as a theme

334
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park, they are themed experiences that
will continue to grow, and whether they

335
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become FECs or small theme parks or
even major theme parks over time, time

336
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will tell. But it's important to
recognize that that everybody has to start somewhere.

337
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Yeah, I think you're exactly right. Everyone has to start somewhere.

338
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But also the starting point, you
know, can be a little bit different

339
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depending on the mark. I mean, we've talked about this before, like

340
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the US is just different because bunch
of reasons. But I think it could

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be that the attractions industry in this
area might never look like the US and

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that's okay. You know, it
might develop into an area where the Potanical

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Garden is actually this huge event center
experience thing that you know, we wouldn't

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call a theme park, but it
is a you know, a hole attraction

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for those areas, and maybe they'll
put a ride in or you know,

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do a dinosaur thing. I don't
know, I mean, you know that

347
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that's what I mean. The hotel
might, I mean, I think,

348
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and that's okay, And I think
right now all of them talked about COVID,

349
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but they all talked about needing to
basically write size after COVID and figure

350
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out where their multiple revenue models are
coming from. And now they're looking at

351
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it in a much more sustainable way. You know, where is our revenue

352
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coming from? And doing revenue in
multiple ways. You know, the hotel

353
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owns the mall right next door to
the hotel, and so they can do

354
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a lot of h Yes, they
can do a lot of revenue push right,

355
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And I think which sounds exactly honestly, sounds exactly like Disney, you

356
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know, Disney and Florida. The
idea is once you come to once you

357
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come to Disney, every dollar you
spend goes into Disney's pocket in some form

358
00:25:02.839 --> 00:25:06.720
or another. So you know,
it's it's a similar mindset. It's a

359
00:25:06.759 --> 00:25:11.839
similar idea, although not nearly as
robust, but it's a similar ideas as

360
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North American theme parks in North American
resorts. Yeah. So the last thing

361
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that I want to touch on is
I did attend one of the some of

362
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the education sessions. Obviously, the
education session that I was most excited for

363
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was the presentation from Ocean Park,
Hong Kong about their Halloween Fest and Eva

364
00:25:29.480 --> 00:25:32.960
Young, who you know, I've
worked with her before. I like her.

365
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She's great. She gave a phenomenal
presentation. It went all through the

366
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history since twenty twenty, since two
thousand and one, all the way up

367
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to this year about the Halloween event
there, and really took us through the

368
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history about the growth and whatnot.
I think again the whole theme with this

369
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again. So now we're going to
get into the part where I kind of

370
00:25:53.839 --> 00:25:59.720
like am interpreting what she said.
But you know, basically if I'm going

371
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to inter it correctly and y'all can, I'll probably put a bonus episode up

372
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later with the recording so you can
make do you know, you can do

373
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your own research. But my interpretation
is when they got to twenty seventeen through

374
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twenty nineteen, it was the peak
of their stuff, but it seemed like

375
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the business model wasn't working because they
were spending so much money investing in ips

376
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and investing in big, fancy commercials, and they were only open for twenty

377
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nights and so a lot of it
was corporate parties, and so the revenue

378
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if you look at her chart,
it shows they were still seeing losses during

379
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that time. Then they had to
close her twenty twenty and then when they

380
00:26:30.359 --> 00:26:33.240
reopened in twenty twenty one, they
opened with ten percent of the budget,

381
00:26:33.279 --> 00:26:36.640
so they had to reimagine the entire
event, and they've been slowly building it

382
00:26:36.680 --> 00:26:40.200
back up since twenty twenty one.
She didn't talk too much about any of

383
00:26:40.279 --> 00:26:42.680
this, and it has They've never
discussed it before, so I didn't get

384
00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:48.319
to ask questions about what they were
going to do going forward. But again,

385
00:26:48.359 --> 00:26:52.559
what I'm interpreting is that they just
had to write size and reconsider this

386
00:26:52.680 --> 00:26:57.200
event, and they've been trying a
lot of different things. They've been trying

387
00:26:57.759 --> 00:27:03.000
taking the space and the lease it
to local haunted house producers in exchange for

388
00:27:03.000 --> 00:27:07.240
a revenue share. They've also been
trying to do not event tickets, but

389
00:27:07.319 --> 00:27:11.119
ticket bundles, so you just buy
a ticket to go through the haunt.

390
00:27:11.240 --> 00:27:18.359
And the positive is that they've noticed
that demand is very strong for Halloween.

391
00:27:18.440 --> 00:27:22.319
Like they tried ticket bundles in twenty
twenty one to make sure capacity was controlled,

392
00:27:22.559 --> 00:27:26.400
and the bundles sold out almost immediately, and they did individuals and those

393
00:27:26.480 --> 00:27:32.480
kept selling. They're now back to
six houses and they're trying and they're still

394
00:27:32.480 --> 00:27:34.960
considering how they're going to move things
around, but they're spending a lot less

395
00:27:36.039 --> 00:27:40.519
in advertising and less in IPS and
really you know, just working with their

396
00:27:40.559 --> 00:27:45.559
local team and trying to you know, just slowly add to the event.

397
00:27:45.599 --> 00:27:48.759
So basically they just right sized it. You know, she didn't again,

398
00:27:48.799 --> 00:27:51.119
she didn't say these words. I'm
interpreting all this, but it sounds like

399
00:27:51.119 --> 00:27:56.519
they're right sizing and they're trying to
really consider multiple revenue streams to you know,

400
00:27:56.599 --> 00:28:00.000
to make it work and still grow
it. It may not doesn't sound

401
00:28:00.039 --> 00:28:03.960
like it may not ever be as
big because again the you know, the

402
00:28:03.000 --> 00:28:08.319
throughput was not doesn't sound like the
throughput matched the twenty nineteen level of spend.

403
00:28:10.240 --> 00:28:11.440
Well, I think I think what
you have to recognize is, you

404
00:28:11.480 --> 00:28:15.799
know, right sizing is what businesses
should constantly do anyway, whether it's whether

405
00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:19.640
it is involved with COVID or not. The other thing that I think is

406
00:28:19.680 --> 00:28:22.839
interesting is, you know, you
say that it may never get back to

407
00:28:22.839 --> 00:28:27.799
the size that it once was.
It shouldn't unless unless the demand requires it

408
00:28:27.839 --> 00:28:32.960
to get to that point. The
other thing I think is important to recognize,

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and again I wasn't there, so
I can't really even interpret, but

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I'm just interpreting Phillip's interpretation, if
that makes any sense at all. Yeah,

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So on one more level down.
But when I hear you talk about

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this to me, when they talk
about leasing spaces out to external haunt producers,

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you know this is something that theme
parks. Again. The pendulum swings

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back and forth constantly, and not
not always with with shows or ell like

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a haunted house, but it's much
more common in areas like well in the

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entertainment side streetmosphere, sending it out
to an outside vendor to handle everything,

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and then when they feel more secure
and want to they've built back the infrastructure,

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they will take it back in house. This happens with culinary almost all

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the time. It happens with merchandise
almost all the time, where they will

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get you know, we're we're going
to have here at Scott World, We're

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going to have Scott's ice Cream Parlor. And then Scott's ice Cream Parlor isn't

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quite pulling it in, so we
lease it out to Dippin' Dots or Ben

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and Jerry's and we have Ben and
Jerry's ice Cream Parlor, and then Scott

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00:29:45.359 --> 00:29:49.279
Scott World becomes more profitable again and
we take it back and it becomes Scott's

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00:29:49.359 --> 00:29:52.079
ice Cream Parlor proudly serving Ben and
Jerry's. You know, I mean,

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these are changes that we've seen.
Any of us in the industry have seen

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this over and over and over again. So will it ever get back to

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it's former size and glory? Who
knows? Who knows? But the important

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00:30:04.799 --> 00:30:08.480
thing is to make it sustainable and
profitable. You have to constantly look at

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00:30:08.480 --> 00:30:11.480
it and go is this the right
spend? Is this the right amount of

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00:30:12.680 --> 00:30:18.680
effort? Are we putting enough into
it in order to make it in order

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00:30:18.720 --> 00:30:21.039
to make it profitable and in order
to make it something that we can continue

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to do. And that, in
a nutshell, is the theme of the

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entire convention. There we go.
Well, I'm glad we got that all

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in because we're out of time,
so on behalf of dang it. I

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00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:33.599
didn't want to take that long.
But here we are. Here we are

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00:30:33.640 --> 00:30:37.279
well you know what. But again, it's an interesting convention, and I

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00:30:37.319 --> 00:30:40.720
appreciate you sharing your take on it, and I appreciate the fact that you

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00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:42.440
know, since I couldn't go,
we were able to touch on it,

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and I have a better understanding of
what it was about. And so with

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that said, hopefully we will see
all of you. You don't travel all

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the way to Bangkok, Thailand.
You can just you know, pick us

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00:30:53.200 --> 00:30:56.480
up anywhere anywhere. You listen to
us or watch us, and we will

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see all of you next week on
Green Tagged Theme Park in thirty