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Merlin London Midways Down On Visitor Numbers

I certainly believe there is some truth in this certainly for the London midways. In particular these are highly dependent on foreign tourism and this has dropped since the attacks last year. If you look at the advice the US government is giving out on travel to the U.K. for example you can see why tourist numbers may be dropping:

“Exercise increased caution in the United Kingdom due to terrorism.

Terrorist groups continue plotting possible attacks in the United Kingdom. Terrorists may attack with little or no warning, targeting tourist locations, transportation hubs, markets/shopping malls, local government facilities, hotels, clubs, restaurants, places of worship, parks, major sporting and cultural events, educational institutions, airports, and other public areas.”

Regarding midways in other locations they are not all dependent on foreign tourism (Birmingham, Manchester etc) they are aimed at the domestic market and I believe this as well as developing areas such as India are where the new midways are going.

The investors seemed to accept this explanation from Merlin, it’s when they attempted to explain a drop in Resort theme parks visitors on terrorism that they lost confidence.
 
These Midway's must surely nearly be at capacity? Any time I'm there is a horrendous crush of crowds with queues all over the place. Was barley able to see the fish through people's phone screens and the queue for the eye was crazy, without fast pass (free with MAP) I doubt we would've bothered. This was a cold sunday in February.

The small like for like decrease could have been caused by any number of things, I'd accept that terrorism might be a factor, but it's not what is keeping me from returning.
 
The only midway's that me & the missus do more than once is the Sealife centres - even they are a little samey. Madame Tussauds are pretty much the same celebrities in each one. The Dungeons vary but I would only do each one, once. We don't spend long in the Sealife centres and wouldn't make a special trip to visit one but if we are within the area then we would do them only because they are included in the pass. When I decided not to renew I wouldn't step in to any of them again unless it was with Nephews/Nieces or one day, my own kids to keep them entertained.
 
Sauron97 said:
I doubt it.
Merlin truly is (and always has been) a company destined for failure.
Click to expand...

Interested to see how Midway has performed at Interim Results (2 Aug). Particularly given that their two key stated adversaries have been largely absent.

Wandered down to South Bank earlier, it was an absolute zoo. Queues for the Eye at 20:30 will still being managed across the path and into Jubilee.

It seems that 55 is the magic number this year. £55 gets you a Merlin's Magical London ticket which scores you entry to the Eye, SeaLife, Shrek, Tussauds and the Dungeon (over a 90 day period). Presumably some synergies with the river cruise and Big Bus too.

If you're in town from afar and want to 'do' some fairly iconic London stuff, that is an absolute bargain.

This is why (in part) that I have faith in the cluster strategy, it's a shame that there aren't multiple set ups like London in the portfolio, but there is some interesting stuff in the pipeline, it seems.
 
I guess we will see come August.
It's interesting that you mention the observation of queue's on the London eye, because whilst I don't visit London much now at all, I did visit a fair amount a few years back. When using the annual pass, we very rarely bothered to go in the Dungeon, sometimes went in Sealife, but nearly always went on the London eye, despite it being the shortest and 'simplest' of the 3 midway experiences. We just went straight off to the Natural History museum after that/ This is one persons experience, but it may be telling.
Fair enough on the clustering. The original Dungeon was in a very unusual location and deciding to move it near the other attractions makes it a whole lot more convenient. The 55 pound pass thing sounds worryingly similar to the devaluing of Alton Towers with their own annual pass. Far too cheap for what it is, even if its bringing a decent turnover in the short term.
My lack of faith is in the product offering itself. Instead of adding something eye catching that you would consider a USP and being in 'London' , they've added drop towers and mirror mazes and courtroom bits where the same jokes are repeated every time. The best parts of the Dungeon are the old elements like Jack the Ripper and The plague section, those were good investments. Sea life london is just .. well, I can't even remember it that clearly because there's nothing really that allows me to distinguish it from others. The only sea life I've ever been to that I can remember clearly is Birmingham one local to me. It's got a very well made and unusual building, and the layout for it is superb with the mangrove areas, sea turtle areas, so on and so forth.
 
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