28 Mar 2014

Sport CSR is growing fast

by Liz Terry

With so much focus on the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Olympic and Paralympic sports, the UK’s powerful network of sports governing bodies and voluntary sports clubs, you’d be forgiven for thinking that this represents pretty much the full extent of meaningful sporting activity in the UK. [more...]

10 Mar 2014

Creating wealth

by Liz Terry

In Attractions Management 2014 issue 1 we pause to take a special, in-depth look at Merlin Entertainments, following its successful floatation on the London Stock Exchange in November last year (page 30). Great companies generate whole eco-systems around themselves, with employees and their families, shareholders, investors, suppliers and stakeholders all benefiting from the wealth, energy and opportunity they create. A look at the numbers gives clues to the extent of Merlin's. [more...]

10 Mar 2014

Waterparks make waves in Europe

by Aleatha Ezra

New waterpark projects and additions continue to come online at a steady pace throughout the European market. Take, for example, the investment of €10m (US$13.6m, £8.3m) that PortAventura made in its Costa Caribe Aquatic Park in 2013. [more...]

10 Mar 2014

A space rendez-vous with Rosetta

by Maria Zolotonosa

Can science centres and museums build common tools to cover the most exciting 2014 space events at the European level? Ecsite and the European Space Agency (ESA) are taking on this task with the ‘Hook up with Rosetta' campaign. [more...]

10 Mar 2014

Saving species and engaging people

by Jennifer Fields

The primary goal of zoos and aquariums accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) is to save species and engage people. As poaching has reached its highest level in decades and continues to increase, this goal is more important than ever before. [more...]

06 Mar 2014

Creating ‘wellness cities’

by Kate Cracknell

Recommendations made in January that two new garden cities be built in southern England to ease the UK’s housing shortage have prompted fierce political debate. [more...]

19 Feb 2014

It’s time to build wellness cities

by Liz Terry

Earlier this month, news broke that the UK government is planning to build two new Garden Cities in the south of England to ease a housing shortage. The original Garden Cities - conceived in 1898 by Sir Ebenezer Howard - were planned, self-contained communities surrounded by green space, containing homes, industry and agriculture. Plans for the new settlements seem likely to be guided by this philosophy. [more...]

18 Feb 2014

The floods – learning from Foot and Mouth disease

by Kurt Janson

The analysis from the Met Service and the Environment Agency is grim. They believe that flooding in the UK is going to get significantly worse before it gets any better and that, after the wettest January since 1766, the ground is now so saturated that even if the rain were to stop tomorrow, the flood waters will not fully recede for up to four months in some parts of the country. [more...]

18 Feb 2014

The post-recession return to growth

by Peter Ducker

Following one of the worst recessions in history, the UK is now passing from recovery to bona-fide growth. Instead of the 1.5 per cent it gave us a few months ago, the IMF now expects the UK to grow 2.4 per cent this year, higher than any other European country. [more...]

10 Feb 2014

Physical inactivity kills

by Kate Cracknell

The primary focus of the fitness industry must be addressing physical inactivity. That was the very clear message coming out of November’s ukactive Summit – the gathering place for UK policymakers to discuss sport and fitness. The event saw a well-orchestrated strategic shift away from a focus on combating obesity towards a new focus on inactivity as a standalone issue, with all the key speakers highlighting the challenges in this area. [more...]

20 Jan 2014

Publicity and rising to the challenge

by Eva McDiarmid

There were a couple of reports recently that featured in the national press concerning visitor attractions. Twenty years ago these stories would not have made any waves beyond the local area but such is the growing (very slowly) recognition of the importance of tourism to the economy that such stories are now headline news – especially if it's bad news. [more...]

08 Jan 2014

Industry verdict on Bannatyne’s discounting claim

by Jak Phillips

Bannatyne Group chair Duncan Bannatyne has sparked a lively debate among industry leaders over the issue of membership discounts. [more...]

06 Jan 2014

Time to fight for QOF inclusion

by Kate Cracknell

The campaign to present exercise as medicine has been delivered a blow with the removal of physical activity from the QOF (Quality and Outcomes Framework) – see Health Club Management 2014 issue 1 p10. [more...]

20 Dec 2013

After decades of lobbying, Europe's getting serious about the benefits of fitness and sport

by Liz Terry

When the EU published its European Union Work Plan for Sport 2011-2014, many thought it would gather dust on a shelf in Brussels. However, much work has been done since on policy in this area – including consulting with allied disciplines like health and transport – and Europe is shaping up to be a great champion for the sport, fitness and wellness industries. [more...]

10 Dec 2013

Balancing profit with reputation

by Liz Terry

This year's market research numbers have just been published for the US spa market, showing continuing signs of recovery. ISPA's 2013 US Spa Industry Study, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), found the five main measures of trading: visits to spas, spend per visit, total revenues, staff levels and total number of spas, have experienced growth (see our report in Spa Business 2013 issue 4 page 48). [more...]

12 Nov 2013

Scotland: the place to be?

by Eva McDiarmid

Travel Guide ‘Lonely Planet’ recently named Scotland as one of the top countries in the world to visit in 2014 in its annual ‘Best in Travel’ publication. Wow, for a wee country of just over 5 million souls that is some endorsement. Scotland was actually third after Brazil (World Cup – football!) and Antarctica (100th anniversary of the start of Ernest Shackleton’s infamous ‘Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition). Lonely Planet described Scotland as having a ”jam-packed schedule of world-class events” which make it “the place to be in 2014”. [more...]