IAAPA's Outlook Report & Scott's Return

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From our studios in Los Angeles and
for the last time in Abu Dhabi.

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This is Green Tag Theme Park in
thirty I'm Philip, he's Scott and today

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we're gonna talk a little bit about
some trends and then we're going to get

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a little recap from Scott as he
by the time you're listening this is flying

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back home and or by the time
you listen to this, I will have

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just landed yea back in Tampas well. Yeah, and it's uh, well,

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we'll get into all that in just
a moment. Let's talk about get

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into all that. Lets so we'll
start off first with this study that AYAPPA

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released ahead of the upcoming submer travel
season. AYAPPA announced today that it's twenty

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twenty two to twenty twenty six Global
Theme and Amusement Park Outlook report forecast a

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seven percent boost in attendance for North
American theme parks, with an estimated three

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hundred and eight point five million in
twenty twenty three estimate attendance globally for all

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the North American theme parks attendance.
Consumer spending is also anticipated to increase this

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year, with an estimated fifteen percent
increase in North America, bringing it to

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nearly thirty two billion to be spent
in twenty twenty three if realized. The

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domestic attraction industry will have regained losses
due to the pandemic, and they quoted,

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we expect the market in twenty twenty
three to fully recapture the lost spending

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in twenty twenty and the amount of
investment plan for our region supports the demand

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that we're seeing. They outlined five
trends that they saw, but I just

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want to stop there and get some
feedback on the numbers. When I was

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reading this, I was like,
well, somebody should tell the economists.

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You keep saying that we're in a
recession. But it kind of it does

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kind of echo for me something that
I've heard a lot about the pandemic,

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where basically it accelerated some trends and
paused other trends. But on the arc

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of things, if you look at
them where we were and where the trends

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were in twenty nineteen and then where
we are now, it's kind of like

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things are equaling out. And we
talked about this theory as well, the

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kind of like the great equalizing,
like there may have been a pandemic drooped

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like a sag and then a bump, but overall, you know, should

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equal back out to kind of where
we were on track four. And that

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seems to me what they are arguing
here, which is that things are going

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to get back to normal. And
as we have talked about it also previously

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that twenty nineteen was an upswing.
So overall the tours industry has has been

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increasing up to twenty nineteen, and
I think this report is suggesting that things

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are getting back to normal, not
the not the pandemic boost normal, but

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the normal that we were seeing in
twenty nineteen. That tracking, Yeah,

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I think that makes I think that
makes total sense. I mean, just

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let's take let's take let's look at
a different example. Um, you know,

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after nine to eleven, when people
weren't traveling, UM, local theme

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parks were booming because nobody wanted to
travel, So parks that had a strong

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local, strong local appeal, we're
doing quite well. And then as things

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got as people felt safer and safer
to fly and travel, then that went

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back and normalized and equalized itself out. Immediately post pandemic. In certain areas,

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there were huge spikes in attendance because
it was like, oh good,

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we can get out and we can
go do stuff. I think that may

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have been premature in some areas,
but I think that, you know,

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we're still we're still feeling some of
that, and I think people are starting

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to recognize, oh, I can
go out and do stuff in IRL in

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real life. So yes, I
think that's exactly what they're saying. And

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I think that's exactly what is happening. And it comes as really no surprise

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to me, because you know,
there is there is a great sense of

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equilibrium in pretty much everything. So
yeah, we're going to hit it.

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We're going to get back on track. Yes, COVID was was a huge

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stumbling block, but it's not something
that's going to shut down the industry.

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And I think the numbers are starting
to prove that. And seven percent is

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I think, very very healthy.
But you know, then again when you

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look in the context of like where
it was in the pandemic bomb But I

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mean, I think it's good,
it's a good number, it's it's healthy,

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it's trending in the right direction.
It's trends of my direction. So

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they identified five top trends that guests
can look forward to when making summer plans.

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I thought we would go through those
trends and discuss what we think of

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them, not as if we are
like have our own research that we're arguing

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anyway, No, this is this
is This is two guys from the industry

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talking about what Ayappa has put a
great deal of time, effort, and

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money into um So clearly they have
significantly stronger data points to create these trends.

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But this is just kind of our
So the first one is competitive socializing.

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When friends visit places like drive shack
or top golf, the purpose of

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getting together is to have fun,
but here there's a layer of competition between

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everyone. At the same time,
we find these activities result in more meaningful

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connections with guests because the attraction offers
a combination of action and downtime to allow

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for conversational and quality time together.
When I read this, obviously I thought

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of haunted houses, and obviously I
thought of something that again I always have

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a little Scott in my brain,
with Scott saying where the guests need time

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to decompress, And we talked about
this as a reason for having midways,

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and the whole concept of a screen
park in that whole idea is that and

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we even talked about this with several
guests over the years of when they're designing

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their Halloween experiences. Basically, the
individual mazes can act as a trial or

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you know, some sort of thing
to succeed in together and you can make

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fun of your friends if they fall
over or get scared or whatever, and

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then you go back into that you
have that downtime decompress scenario where you can

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share your your experiences and talk about
it, and then you go back and

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do another one and come back.
So that's what I thought of when I

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saw this. I'm not a top
golfer or a drive shacker, but how

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are you the sky? Well no, no, I am not um but

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but to me this shaker anyway.
This is the next step in a trend

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that we've been talking about, a
long term trend that we've been talking about

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for quite some time, and that
is that guests are looking more and more

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for things to do, not things
to look at um by This is the

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gamification step, this is the competitive
step. And so it makes total sense

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whether you're talking haunted attraction or whether
you're you know, whether you're even talking

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theme park. You think about you
know, going back in Madridae. You

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go back to the day to Mario
too. Super Mario is a perfect example.

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But I mean, even in the
simplest form, you have a race,

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you have racing roller coasters. You
have two coasters that leave the track

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or leave the station at the same
time, and you have two groups of

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people who are cheering on that their
story is going to somehow go faster than

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the other one. And um so
even that level of basic competition is something

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that I think, um they're they're
discussing here, but I think it goes

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even further than that, because it's
not just a one off competition. It's

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it's not just a ride or an
attraction. It's going to a place where

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throughout the course of their entire stay
they can continue to socialize and playfully,

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playfully be competitive against one another.
Um. There are several several parks and

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experiences throughout the world right now who
are including some level of gamification throughout the

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entire experience, throughout the entire park. There's one that just opened here in

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the UA that will have a level
of that as well. So all right,

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my NBA is here, kids,
I don't know, Okay, got

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it? That's what it is.
Number two, technological enhancements. The pandemic

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accelerated technology development around the world,
and the same can be said for endancements

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within the global attraction industry. I
op A member Parks and attractions have made

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significant efforts to enhance mobile apps and
make experiences easier easier for guests by adding

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more technology to positively affect the visitor
experience. You can order food and drinks

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with the push of a button,
or you can schedule your next ride with

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a simple click on your phone.
Is it simple anyway? Okay, So

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again another trend that's been going for
a while. And I actually wasn't thinking

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as much of the those you know, Genie plus ordering type of things.

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I was thinking, like the I
was thinking, how it's easier to walk

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into a Disney park now than it
is to get through the tea or the

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TSA checks when really they're kind of
checking for the same things. And I

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was just thinking, oh, well, you just walk through and AI checks

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it. And and Scott mentioned last
episode about all the facial recognition software.

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I mean, I was seen along
those lines because I do think that the

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app debacle has you know, sometimes
it's easier and sometimes it's fine. Well,

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and I think there's a there's a
phrase in here that I think we

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really need to focus on, and
that is adding more technology to positively affect

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the visitor experience. We have to
really make certain that as this technology continues

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to open up and continues to unravel
or play out, depending on which way

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it goes, that we make certain
that it truly is reducing friction as opposed

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to adding a different kind of friction
through throughout the parks. Throughout the parks

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here on Yas Island, they are
now you you can now the moment you

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get in UM put your credit card
on facial recognition so that you can paid

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for everything just by looking into a
green. Yeah, that is something that

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is becoming more and more popular here, and I think you're going to see

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that kind of fluidity, that kind
of comfort. I think what happened,

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I think what happened with Disney.
It became too complex and just too difficult.

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And as we talked a couple episodes
ago, that you know, some

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of the reservation concepts are are going
to be eased, some of the reservation

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trauma hopefully will also be eased.
So I think I think that's what they're

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suggesting again. I think they're they're
starting to they're starting to take advantage of

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what they've learned that technology is not
the end, it is the means,

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and as long as it continues to
make the guest experience simpler, I think

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it's going to be embraced and I
think it's going to actually benefit both sides.

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But it can't just be for the
company because they can move crowds around,

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or because I think that has to
work in tandem with because it's not

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going to work at all if the
guests don't embrace it. So the guests

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have to find a way to We
have to find a way to make it

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easy enough for the guests to just
embrace and utilize the same way they would

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use a park map. M Well, we let's move on since we've talked

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about that one in several episodes ago
and too much so okay. New hotels

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and resorts, many parks and attractions
have taken steps to make their properties a

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multi day destination to add value to
guests as its Attractions around the country have

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added new accommodations and resorts to their
properties or plan to open them soon.

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See last week's episode about the Star
Cruiser. Well, you know that's the

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one that didn't didn't that day tested, didn't quite work out. But but

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Universal Orlando continues to build hotels.
You know, this is something that when

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when the Walt Disney World resort in
Orlando first started, the idea was to

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capture as much of the vacationers guests
spend as possible, which is why they

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were very robust in the way that
they built that. They they expanded the

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build of hotels Swan and Dolphin.
You know, we're a perfect example.

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They couldn't afford at the time to
build hotels quickly enough, so they actually

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outsourced those two properties in the in
the beginning. So you know, the

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idea here is, as you say, making it multi day, but also

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making it so that the experience continues
overnight. I think a perfect example of

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this are the Legoland hotels having I've
never stayed in one, nor do I

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have children to play in them,
but I have walked through them, I

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have you know, toured them,
and it's a way to say, Okay,

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we're going to go to the parks
and have fun, and then we're

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going to go back and continue the
fun, and then we're going to go

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back to the parks the next day. Here, the Warner Brothers World in

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Abu Dhabi on Yas Island has the
Warner Brothers Hotel, which is literally across

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the courtyard that leads into the building. And one of my favorite things they

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do is extending the guest experience.
So at breakfast there are costume characters who

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meet you do a meet and greet
outside the breakfast buffet. And then at

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night, this is my favorite,
after the park closes, Bugs and Daffy

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appear in their pajamas and their robes
and they they are there to say good

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night to the kids. So it
helps make it a seamless experience. From

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it's clear there's a clear connectivity between
the parks and the intellectual property and what

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goes on in the hotel, and
I think that's really the key there.

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And it doesn't have to be as
complex obviously as Galactic Star Cruiser. It

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can just simply be here's a thematic
element that continues over now. Granted,

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WB also has gigantic video monitors that
are multi stories tall that you know,

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run specially created snippets of the Warner
Brothers um stock footage and footage from their

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films. And their animation, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. But I think

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that making it so that you don't
just go for the day and you have

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the opportunity to go for two days, to actually have a vacation or a

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staycation if you're local. Um,
I think I think that's I think it's

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a great trend and I'm excited to
see it come into its its own I

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just want to I don't know.
I mean, I think the report is

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just saying new hotels and resorts.
I think that we are both advocating for

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those new hotels and resorts having the
additional layer of having a continued, continuing

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the guests experience. I don't feel
like that's implied in the report, but

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that's that's I think are saying it. And I do agree with that because

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I think that's what that I think
that's where the opportunity is. And I

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think the opportunity is there for both
small and large brand and alike. You

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know, I think that I think
anybody can do it like and I think

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we have seen it even in seasonal
things like of course back to the Halloween

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thing because that's my beat, but
Horror Knights last year, adding the like

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museum and the extensions for the horror
knights into the people staying there at the

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resorts, you know. I mean, I think the power of that is

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that it may me want to go
to those resorts. And I had never

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you know, I'd never even dreamed
of that before because this is not how

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I do things, and it kind
of made me want to. But I

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think even smaller, smaller amusements and
attractions can look at that, even if

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you're a zoo or an aquarium nearby, or just some sort of extension for

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that. Yeah, and for me, I actually I interpret this slightly differently.

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I think this does actually say that
you extend the experience, not just

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a place to sleep. So whether
it is because it's coming from my APPA,

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you know, if it were coming
from the hoteliers of the world,

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then I would say probably not.
But it's coming from my app. I

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think it's something that is um is
saying, find ways to make the experience

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a little bit more seamless between the
park and the hotel. And if you're

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not a Disney or a Universal where
you can build your own hotels, then

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you know, so many parks have
started to do this, and I think

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it's something that you can continue to
do. Work out partnerships with local hotels

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so that your brand can extend into
their hotel. So that you know,

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something as simple as everything everything,
every room key has your logo on it,

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which has done pretty commonly around the
around the world. To can you

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invest in a play area that's that's
your ip in the around the pool of

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the of a of an outside hotel
creates a win win scenario. So yeah,

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I think we're going to see more
and more of that and just more

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places for people to stay so that
it's not just a one off. Okay,

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so we're on one, two,
three, four, number four.

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Yes. Sustainability something else you've talked
about. When people are traveling this summer,

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they can feel good knowing so many
attractions and destinations are turning more of

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a focus on enhanced sustainability efforts.
This includes better use of recycle made products,

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efforts to decrease food waste, and
a larger focus on the clean green

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energy I have. I guess my
glass on this one is maybe half full.

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I don't I don't disagree that this
is a trend. I'm almost like,

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I don't. I guess it almost
feels more like it should be ubiquitous

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at this point, so I'm not
sure. I mean, I'm like,

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oh, like like as in these
items in particular, they mentioned like the

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recycle made products, decrease of food
waste, and energy. Maybe maybe not

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the energy one, but I think
the at least for too, should almost

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be ubiquitous. Um. And I
still feel like there's a little bit I

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still feel like the attraction industry as
a whole hasn't quite figured out where where

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we should be on the whole concept
of sustainability. We talked about this last

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time, like should there be sustainability
standards of some kind? Um? When

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I pulled my readers or audience about
that, most of them agreed that there

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should be some standards. So I
think because of all these that's why I'm

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like halfle on this. I'm like, well, you know, like I

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don't I don't see recycle made products
and decreasing food waste. I that almost

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feels like soop to me. That
doesn't feel like sustainability to me, So

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I think that would be my I'm
not sure what it is commentary. You

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just just confuse me though, because
you just said I know, I know,

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I know sop And yeah, SP
not not sustainability, but there should

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be standards. The s in SP
is standard, so I think it's important

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to recognize that these sps are forms
of sustainability. UM. And I will

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give you a perfect example here.
Uh the there is a park on Jazz

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Island that has no plastic bags in
any of their story. In fact,

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they have no bags period other than
purchasable. And again, I know what

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people are going to say, it's
just another way to add an additional additional

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revenue. But the purchasable and this
is not one from them, but it's

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it's commonplace here in the UAE that
you buy plastic bags. If you buy

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a bag, you buy a plastic
bag, or you can buy a reusable

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bag like this one. And but
but that's ubiquitous. I can't you can't

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do that in California, but I
promise you that you go to the rest

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of the world, and that's something
that is foreign and unusual and unique.

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So you're right, there needs to
be standards. There needs to be standards

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that are more broad, broad sweep. UM. Here there's not there's not

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a single park. There's not a
single park on Jazz Island that has plastic

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spoons or forks, they're all made
again. Also also a thing that is

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yeah, also a thing that is
ubiquitous here. But you live in California,

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which is by far significantly further ahead
when and here in the UE is

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as well significantly further ahead. But
you also visit you know, parks around

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the around the country, and you
can't tell me that those things standards are

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in place there last time I went, when I was at Epcot last week.

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You know, I think maybe it's
just Epcot, but I think all

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these things are also there. And
maybe you know, if you go to

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a zoo, it might not be
well, I don't know, I don't

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know. I guess I agree with
what you said. I think you're you're

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phrasing it is a better way of
putting it. Like we do need to

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kind of develop these, I think, into standards. I guess what I

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would like to see is a little
bit more like if this, if it's

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like a pyramid, and where like
here here's the good practices. I think

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that these things would be the the
bottom baseline of it, like the baseline.

275
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Yeah, like these should be the
baseline. And I think like the

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solar farms at Disney is trying to
build and the World Expo talking about how

277
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much of their of all their energy
is generated by the buildings themselves. You

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know, I think those would be
some of the higher ends that I would

279
00:21:21.319 --> 00:21:25.480
want to see. And it would
be more like a like a I don't

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know, just like a I don't
know, I don't know that I guess

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anyway, that's my god. I
would I would like just and this may

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exist, I think it. I
think it would be lovely to see a

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00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:41.000
sort of an endorsement, uh yeah, certification of how of what level um

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parks ye are sustainably are thin.
It's like we have for buildings, you

285
00:21:45.680 --> 00:21:48.759
know, like we have for building
code normally, but but for the traction

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00:21:48.920 --> 00:21:52.640
as a whole, right, like
the entertainment as a whole. Yeah,

287
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I think that we agreed. So
so anyway, but I opp is still

288
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correct in that it is a trend. Clearly we are talking about trended.

289
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So anyway. In the final one, number five here is inclusive environments.

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I APPA has seen an increase around
the industry to create more inclusive environments for

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guests around the world. A notable
example of this is from the team behind

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Pepper Pig theme parks which are certified
autism centers. We have also talked about

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this agnauseum and I think even when
I was at the Spring Topifs that we

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talked about here on the show,
they had a they had I forget what

295
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it's called, but where you have
the the dance party but you have headphones

296
00:22:33.960 --> 00:22:40.839
on, oh the yeah, the
silent disco, Yes, the silent discos,

297
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and they had they had they had
a they had accessibility options for that

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they I mean, you know,
and that was a pop up the event,

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you know, in a mall parking
line. So I think that that

300
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that this definitely is a trend if
we're not not just like it doesn't have

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to be a trend where it's a
whole park Pepper the Pig. I mean,

302
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I think we're seeing the small instances
of them break out, you know,

303
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even again the Halloween breaking breaking back
to Halloween, even the Halloween stuff

304
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where you're having the the options for
scary and you're having the kid friendly things

305
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and the daytime stuff. There was
several Haunts that that did an Autism Day

306
00:23:17.079 --> 00:23:21.079
last season as well, even where
they they did a whole different version where

307
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there was trained actors that were active
scaring in different ways, and the effects

308
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were turned off, I mean,
the sound effects turned off. I mean,

309
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so I do agree. We see
a lot of push for this UM.

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So I'm just wondering again if we're
going to get again, just like

311
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in the previous one, if we're
going to get to a standard sometime at

312
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some time in the future. Well, and I think this one's a little

313
00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:48.000
trickier simply because it is exclusive to
whom exactly. I think we have to

314
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I think we have to recognize what
the audience is because, you know,

315
00:23:52.839 --> 00:23:57.359
using your example of Halloween, what
is you know, an autism friendly haunt

316
00:23:59.160 --> 00:24:07.039
is not a an eighteen year old
um eighteen year old out with his buddies.

317
00:24:07.119 --> 00:24:08.880
Once he wants something more emptense,
he wants something, you know,

318
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that's going to push the limit.
So I think we have to keep that

319
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in mind. I think the most
important thing to recognize with these these you

320
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know five trends is they do not
they're not siloed because if you look at

321
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so many of the things that are
happening in the industry, so many of

322
00:24:25.039 --> 00:24:30.359
the things I've experienced here, it
uses the cross utilizes these so using technology

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00:24:30.440 --> 00:24:37.039
to create competitive socializing in an inclusive
environment. You have to these are these

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00:24:37.079 --> 00:24:41.799
should be things that that maybe you
know, if you're developing something new and

325
00:24:41.839 --> 00:24:45.079
you're looking to stay with the AYAPPA
recommended trends. UM, when you're in

326
00:24:45.079 --> 00:24:48.559
your brainstorming session, make sure that
you don't put forward an idea that doesn't

327
00:24:48.559 --> 00:24:52.599
take at least three or four of
these boxes. Oh I like that,

328
00:24:52.240 --> 00:24:56.839
so you know, use it.
Use them as a tool, not as

329
00:24:56.880 --> 00:25:00.599
a mandate or not as a If
I do this, I'll be successful.

330
00:25:00.839 --> 00:25:04.240
But use them as a tool to
help you, UM, stay on trend

331
00:25:04.640 --> 00:25:12.400
with with what this research shows.
Stay on trend. Well, Scott,

332
00:25:14.680 --> 00:25:22.079
Okay, you are finally returning home
now from your long sojourn, and tell

333
00:25:22.200 --> 00:25:26.200
us what are you thinking? What
are your thoughts? By time people are

334
00:25:26.200 --> 00:25:30.839
listening to this, you will be
back in the States. Well, so,

335
00:25:30.240 --> 00:25:33.559
so just if you if this is
the first time you're listening and you

336
00:25:33.559 --> 00:25:37.519
have no idea what we're talking about. Oh, that's right. I just

337
00:25:37.519 --> 00:25:41.440
assumed everybody listening to the right we
might have picked up some new ones,

338
00:25:41.880 --> 00:25:45.759
some new listeners. You know.
Basically, I've been working. I've been

339
00:25:45.799 --> 00:25:48.839
working on a very large project UM
in Abu Dhabi, and I started working

340
00:25:48.880 --> 00:25:56.599
on it last in November of twenty
two and um I I started working on

341
00:25:56.640 --> 00:26:02.039
it remotely, and then in December
I deployed to Abu Dhabi for two weeks

342
00:26:02.079 --> 00:26:03.880
and then I have been here,
then came home. Then I've been here

343
00:26:03.920 --> 00:26:11.640
since January sixth of twenty three,
and so almost five months exactly. I

344
00:26:11.680 --> 00:26:15.920
literally can't believe it's been five months
ipt of time, I know, but

345
00:26:18.240 --> 00:26:21.960
and I would love, I would
love to be able to go into great

346
00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:25.920
detail as to the project that I've
been working on. Unfortunately, I'm unable

347
00:26:25.960 --> 00:26:29.119
to do that because of my my
NDA. But if you, if you

348
00:26:29.160 --> 00:26:32.720
are in the industry, chances are
good you may be able to figure it

349
00:26:32.720 --> 00:26:34.759
out. I don't know, but
to use a phrase that has become very

350
00:26:34.759 --> 00:26:40.000
popular in my vocabulary, I can
neither confirm nor deny what I will say.

351
00:26:40.480 --> 00:26:44.839
What I will say is the way
Abu Dhabi is laid out, the

352
00:26:44.880 --> 00:26:51.799
way the UAE seems to work in
my firsthand experience, is pretty darned efficient

353
00:26:51.880 --> 00:26:59.759
and very kind and supportive of the
attractions industry. It is it is indeed

354
00:26:59.759 --> 00:27:03.799
a hotbed and will continue to be
such, and it is one that does

355
00:27:03.920 --> 00:27:11.640
not based on my experience here personally, does not impinge upon anyone's personal rights,

356
00:27:11.039 --> 00:27:18.119
does not impinge upon anyone's beliefs um
it is. I realized shortly after

357
00:27:18.160 --> 00:27:22.640
I got here the first time in
December that the UAE, everything I'd learned

358
00:27:22.680 --> 00:27:26.920
about Abu Dhabi was already outdated by
the time I got here. Yeah,

359
00:27:27.000 --> 00:27:33.039
this is this is a this is
a very um. There are still let

360
00:27:33.079 --> 00:27:37.680
me let me put my caveat here. There are still people who who are

361
00:27:37.759 --> 00:27:41.480
very who practice specific behaviors based on
their faith. And as long as you

362
00:27:41.480 --> 00:27:45.519
are respectful of their faith and their
practices, they will be respectful of yours.

363
00:27:47.079 --> 00:27:49.960
Um. The unique thing about this
very young country it is fifty almost

364
00:27:51.000 --> 00:27:53.720
fifty two years old now, um, So it's it's a very young country

365
00:27:53.720 --> 00:27:59.000
that is developing very very quickly because
it's got a great deal of money,

366
00:27:59.079 --> 00:28:03.400
and it's got a great deal of
experience based on looking at other countries and

367
00:28:03.440 --> 00:28:08.079
how they've grown. The thing that
I find most interesting about being here is

368
00:28:08.119 --> 00:28:15.119
it is also uniquely inhabited by about
eighty percent of the population are expatriates.

369
00:28:15.160 --> 00:28:19.599
They are not amati. So it
is a melting pot like you've never seen,

370
00:28:19.680 --> 00:28:26.960
Like I've never seen before and so
I totally I embrace that and I

371
00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:33.240
really like that there. I've heard
significant rumblings that what you see on Yas

372
00:28:33.240 --> 00:28:37.000
Island, which is in Abu Dhabi, the it is basically the theme park

373
00:28:37.079 --> 00:28:44.279
island just outside of the city,
the downtown area. And the cool thing

374
00:28:44.319 --> 00:28:48.200
about what they the way they have
done things here is there is one area

375
00:28:48.240 --> 00:28:52.480
that's a business center, There's one
area that's an arts island. Yas Island

376
00:28:52.640 --> 00:29:00.400
is the the hospitality theme park at
Attractions Island and by the time I'm this

377
00:29:00.599 --> 00:29:04.920
airs, the fourth theme park on
Yas Island will have opened. It started

378
00:29:04.920 --> 00:29:11.799
with Ferrari World and Yas water World, Warner Brothers World and now SeaWorld.

379
00:29:11.839 --> 00:29:15.000
Yas Island Abu Dhabi will have opened
by the time this airs, and hopefully

380
00:29:15.039 --> 00:29:21.519
you will have seen a lot of
the information regarding that park. It is

381
00:29:22.160 --> 00:29:27.039
there's some debate as to its size, but if because it is a multi

382
00:29:27.200 --> 00:29:30.359
level park, it is believed that
if you were to take all of the

383
00:29:30.400 --> 00:29:33.799
different levels and stories and lay them
out flat, it would be the largest

384
00:29:33.880 --> 00:29:41.279
indoor theme park in the world.
It is based on the Sea World brand

385
00:29:41.759 --> 00:29:52.400
and it is it is it's pretty
incredible. It's pretty incredible. It so

386
00:29:52.799 --> 00:29:59.160
so now Yas Island has over above
that, there is a gigantic indoor mall.

387
00:29:59.440 --> 00:30:06.000
There is is a multiple structures inside
the mall, like there's a climb

388
00:30:06.039 --> 00:30:11.400
which is an indoor climbing space,
and a parachute, you know, indoor

389
00:30:11.440 --> 00:30:15.920
parachute or indoor skydiving simulator. It
all kinds of that stuff. A phenomenal

390
00:30:15.920 --> 00:30:21.519
world class raceway is here on the
island. There is concert venues, and

391
00:30:22.200 --> 00:30:26.559
of course last year it was just
announced that Warner Brothers World is going to

392
00:30:26.599 --> 00:30:32.880
expand and include the Wizarding World of
Harry Potter. There are other expansions I

393
00:30:32.920 --> 00:30:36.480
know already planned for the island.
So I guess what I can say is

394
00:30:37.400 --> 00:30:44.640
this is a really interesting accelerated microcosm
of the theme park industry. It has

395
00:30:44.640 --> 00:30:48.440
grown very very quickly. It has
grown, it has utilized the best practices

396
00:30:48.480 --> 00:30:56.079
of pretty much every theme park around
and it is at the moment ridiculously not

397
00:30:56.279 --> 00:31:02.960
crowded. So so all of the
stuff that we've been talking about, it's

398
00:31:03.000 --> 00:31:04.920
interesting when we talk about trends,
all the stuff that we're talking about there,

399
00:31:06.359 --> 00:31:10.720
the trends and even the sort of
cutting edge trends are being implemented and

400
00:31:10.759 --> 00:31:14.720
tested here, So if you really
want to learn a little bit about the

401
00:31:14.759 --> 00:31:17.680
industry, this is a great place
to do it. You'll see different kinds

402
00:31:17.680 --> 00:31:21.799
of parks, everything from a great
water park Yas water World doesn't get the

403
00:31:22.119 --> 00:31:26.680
high attendant or high attention as some
of the other parks, but it's it's

404
00:31:26.759 --> 00:31:32.759
breathtaking. It really is amazing.
So my stay here has been incredibly educational.

405
00:31:33.079 --> 00:31:37.559
It has been a great stepping stone
in my career, and I am

406
00:31:37.599 --> 00:31:41.319
so looking forward to coming back to
the United States, not because I am

407
00:31:41.400 --> 00:31:44.599
unhappy here, but because I miss
home and I want to get back to

408
00:31:44.680 --> 00:31:48.279
a lot of my clients back in
the States, and so I will hit

409
00:31:48.279 --> 00:31:52.079
the ground running when I get there. So, guys, that's thank you

410
00:31:52.119 --> 00:31:56.720
for letting me ramble and rant a
little bit and do my Yaz Island Abu

411
00:31:56.799 --> 00:32:00.240
Dhabi commercial. It's not what it
was meant to be, but that it's

412
00:32:00.240 --> 00:32:06.279
been my experience here. So next
time I will be back in Tampa or

413
00:32:06.359 --> 00:32:10.759
maybe on the road with another client
in the States. But until we do,

414
00:32:10.920 --> 00:32:14.400
until we do our next Green Tag
team park at thirty on behalf of

415
00:32:14.400 --> 00:32:16.559
Philip and myself thank you for listening
and we will see you next week.