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Alton Towers: Resort or Not

oldgitben said:
Id say yes it is a resort. But a poor one at present, I dont think its anywhere you could spend more than 2 days without running out of things to do.

Do I ever call it Alton Towers Resort? No. It sounds ridiculous. Alton Towers is an amazingly strong brand, and chucking one word on the end makes it seem cheap and less impressive. Im sure this is why we originally had the Alton Towers Hotel, and now have the Alton Towers Waterpark (as it was seen people didnt see Cariba Creek as its own entity).
So why they seem to insist upon using the word seems silly to me.

Id say you have Alton Towers which is the theme park. Then the resort side which is the hotels, golf, waterpark and spa. Surely that way would make much more sense to other people too?
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Without sounding offensive, your response is massively light minded. From a marketing perspective, why not slap resort on the end of Alton Towers? It's essentially screaming to everybody that encounters the brand "WE'RE NOT JUST A THEME PARK, WE HAVE MORE TO OFFER". To the average Tom, Dick or Harry a 'resort' sounds exotic and desirable.

Regardless of how strong the brand is, the park wants to let everybody know what it has to offer in the simplest way possible. Adding 'Resort' does this without the need to spend X amount on telling everybody there's much more to Alton Towers than just a theme park.
 
AirFAN said:
From a marketing perspective, why not slap resort on the end of Alton Towers? It's essentially screaming to everybody that encounters the brand "WE'RE NOT JUST A THEME PARK, WE HAVE MORE TO OFFER". To the average Tom, Dick or Harry a 'resort' sounds exotic and desirable.
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Because this action has precious little effect on anything, as pretty much everyone just ignores the fact the logo now says Resort and carries on calling it Alton Towers. It's much the same as taking up half the park map with the resort, anyone who is looking at the map more or less ignores the hotels, because they're only interested in the theme park. (It of course also doesn't help that the waterpark, etc. looks extremely bland on the park map anyway and barely acts as any enticement).

And to the few people who do notice the token "resort" bunged on the park's logo, it just comes across as a bit desperate, since any resort that is worth its mustard, has enough confidence in its attractions that it doesn't feel the need to jam a report into its logo because otherwise the world might miss the fact it is. (Butlins, Center Parcs and most of the Disney franchise are excellent examples here... all of which clearly are resorts, but none feel the need to include it in their titles)

Effectively the token effort of adding the word 'resort' to the theme park's logo is Alton Towers paying lipservice to actually marketing the hotels, Cariba Creek, The Spa and Extraordinary Golf in any meaningful way. And it has been many years now since any of these facilities have recieved decent marketing attentions, which is what has led to the falling occupancies in the first place.
 
Squiggs said:
AirFAN said:
From a marketing perspective, why not slap resort on the end of Alton Towers? It's essentially screaming to everybody that encounters the brand "WE'RE NOT JUST A THEME PARK, WE HAVE MORE TO OFFER". To the average Tom, Dick or Harry a 'resort' sounds exotic and desirable.
Click to expand...

Because this action has precious little effect on anything, as pretty much everyone just ignores the fact the logo now says Resort and carries on calling it Alton Towers. It's much the same as taking up half the park map with the resort, anyone who is looking at the map more or less ignores the hotels, because they're only interested in the theme park. (It of course also doesn't help that the waterpark, etc. looks extremely bland on the park map anyway and barely acts as any enticement).

And to the few people who do notice the token "resort" bunged on the park's logo, it just comes across as a bit desperate, since any resort that is worth its mustard, has enough confidence in its attractions that it doesn't feel the need to jam a report into its logo because otherwise the world might miss the fact it is. (Butlins, Center Parcs and most of the Disney franchise are excellent examples here... all of which clearly are resorts, but none feel the need to include it in their titles)

Effectively the token effort of adding the word 'resort' to the theme park's logo is Alton Towers paying lipservice to actually marketing the hotels, Cariba Creek, The Spa and Extraordinary Golf in any meaningful way. And it has been many years now since any of these facilities have recieved decent marketing attentions, which is what has led to the falling occupancies in the first place.
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You've made a lot of strong statements that aren't based on anything tangible - just your own opinion. How do you know people ignore the logo or the hotels on the map as they're 'only interested in the theme park'?

You're right, some people will look at the 'resort' and think it looks slightly desperate. It's only because of the preconceived perception you have of Alton Towers and the idea of advertising a holiday destination as a 'resort' that causes you to dislike the move, adding resort to Alton Towers clearly ruins the idealised image you have of the park.

"any resort that is worth its mustard, has enough confidence in its attractions that it doesn't feel the need to jam a report into its logo because otherwise the world might miss the fact it is. (Butlins, Center Parcs and most of the Disney franchise are excellent examples here... all of which clearly are resorts, but none feel the need to include it in their titles)". Here's a question for you - what comes first, a product or a brand? Arguably you need a good product to create a brand which in turn continues to (hopefully) create commercially successful products. Alton Towers have invested tirelessly in marketing to advertise the theme park - arguably the introduction of Nemesis made Alton Towers what it is today. In your own words, people "looking at the map more of less ignore the hotels". Alton Towers don't want to be known as a theme park, they want to be known as a resort, something Disneyland Paris invested millions in over years to establish itself as a resort. Disneyland Paris is synonymous as a resort, Alton Towers is not yet. Your argument holds little weight. Calling Center Parcs 'Center Parcs Resort' is like adding 'theme park' to the end of Thorpe Park.

The park don't want to market everything the resort has to offer by adding 'resort' to its logo, they just want to raise awareness of the fact it is a resort.
 
The use of the word 'resort' when referring to Alton Towers instantly cheapens the whole brand.

However I wouldn't say that people take no notice of the hotels on the map because they do. Indeed, many people turn up to the park not knowing that there are hotels at all. But by the time they leave I doubt there are more than a few who are not aware of the hotels/waterpark/golf.

:)
 
CoasterCrazyChris said:
The use of the word 'resort' when referring to Alton Towers instantly cheapens the whole brand.

However I wouldn't say that people take no notice of the hotels on the map because they do. Indeed, many people turn up to the park not knowing that there are hotels at all. But by the time they leave I doubt there are more than a few who are not aware of the hotels/waterpark/golf.

:)
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Especially as the hotels take up a disproportionately large amount of the map!
 
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