It's a race to the bottom. I say that as a new Merlin shareholder (strictly for investor reasons and NOT fanboyism). If it was working, I could understand the thinking behind wanting to position Heide as the "Value" park among the German heavyweights. But I really don't think Merlin have put that much thought into it, otherwise they wouldn't have done the exact same thing with Alton Towers.
I think making £38m out of a RTP estate like theirs is pretty lame actually. The over selling of Annual Passes and rock bottom day ticket prices means Merlin have forced themselves to find Margin else where. So in come the cuts and the unsustainable, and frankly unhealthy, over reliance on accommodation, as if it's some magic porridge pot that has no end.
I simply don't buy the notion that somehow, if you charge less for admission, guests will mindlessly flock into restaurants and gift shops desperate to hand over fist fulls of cash. I certainly don't, I visit more and spend less with my MAP.
People spend money in Theme Parks because they've made emotional decisions, not rational ones like "we saved a few quid on entry little Johnny - No tuna sarnies for us, Burger Kitchen's the way we roll now!". I'm willing to bet that if Merlin did a survey of would be customers, most of them wouldn't have a clue what admission to a theme park costs.
To use the supermarket analogies again, most stuff sold in Waitrose comes off the same production line as the stuff sold in Tesco. But Waitrose get away with slapping a posh label on it and a hefty price tag. It's because they offer an experience, they entice your eyes, they have more staff on hand to help, they have a brand and a business model people love. That's why people spend more in there, because it's a decision made out of emotion (even if that's sometimes snobbery) and not always rationale.
Merlin seem intent on marching towards a Ryanair style model in their RTP'S and for the life of me I can't figure out why as they seem to be painting themselves into a corner.
