The Hospitality and Tourism Market Business Case Study Assignment

Description: This assessment requires students to form a team of three to four participants.

The team is to produce a written Business report and a PowerPoint presentation for the following case study

Gold Coast is considered the 'theme park capital of Australia' being home to the likes of Dreamworld, White-water World, Wet'n'Wild Water World, Warner Bros. Movie World, and Sea World. In October 2016, tragedy occurred at Dreamworld, Australia's largest theme park which has been in operation for almost 35 years. Four people were killed on the Thunder River Rapids ride. This accident may possibly impact local Gold Coat tourism, though it is too soon to tell. There has also been a rippling effect with similar rides being shut down in the USA after this tragedy.

The amount of publicity via the internet due to the accident has been overwhelming; it has also impacted employees of the company. It obviously has been a very emotional time for the Dreamworld and the overall Gold Coast community.

Your group has been employed by park management to help them find possible solutions, especially in the future marketing for the venue. In particular, management is struggling to determine the best strategy to deploy to embrace and respect the tragedy that has occurred as well as focus on the upcoming summer season. As of this writing, the management has put its season and annual passes on hold.

The following areas are to be highlighted in the development of the strategy:

• The current micro- and macro-environment on the tourism industry to the Gold Coast (including global scenarios)
• The current situation (as this is an ongoing development to which no resolve has occurred)
• The impact the incident at Dreamworld has had on the theme park immediately and possibly in the future (e.g., negative publicity, culture of the organization, etc.)
• The impact the incident at Dreamworld has had on the overall tourism industry on the Gold Coast and how it may impact the upcoming tourist season
• The market segments for the park
• Develop a set of strategies for targeting, positioning, attracting new customers and building loyalty consistent with the market segments identified taking into account the impact of the incident at Dreamworld.
• Make recommendations to the management.

On completion, your group is required to give a 10-15 minute presentation to the class.

Note: If the Dreamworld case study is too overwhelming for your team due to the very sensitive nature of the accident, with lecturer approval, you may use any of the other nearby theme parks - White-water World, Wet'n'Wild Water World, Warner Bros. Movie World, and Sea World - who have also been affected by the incident from a local tourism perspective.