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How far do theme parks and attractions contribute to social and economic sustainability of destinations?
Edited by Ady Milman, Fevzi Okumus, Duncan Dickson
1 Introduction
The concept of theme parks cannot be removed from the original philosophy and idea developed and implemented by Walt Disney's first theme park, Disneyland, opened in 1955 in Anaheim, California ([6] Clavé, 2007). Disney's vision of the theme park industry has been an inspiration for the past several decades to investors, developers, operators, employees, and consumers. His thoughts can be summarized by the following quote:
[...] Disneyland would be a world of Americans, past and present, seen through the eyes of my imagination-a place of warmth and nostalgia, of illusion and color and delight [...] Disneyland is like Alice stepping through the Looking Glass; to step through the portals of Disneyland will be like entering another world [...] ([32] Smith, 1999).
The paper analyzes the dimensions and practices that have evolved and shaped the global theme park industry. It aims to provide a general overview of the theme park and the attraction industry. The outline includes five sections: the Section 1 defines and explains the characteristics of the global theme park industry. In Section 2, a historical review of the evolution of theme parks from traditional amusement parks unveils the foundations of contemporary theme parks. Section 3 reports on the scope of the global theme park industry in various geographical regions. The overview continues with Section 4 that explains how themes are created and communicated to guests and finally, Section 5 addresses the impact of theme parks on the economic sustainability of destinations.
2 Overview
Theme parks are a relatively new concept of tourist attractions and attempt to create fantasy atmosphere of another place and time. The theme is primarily communicated though visual and vocal statements, as well as other senses like scent and touching. In today's theme parks and attractions, hotels, restaurants and other recreation, and tourist facilities, theming is reflected through architecture, landscaping, costumed personnel, rides, shows, food services, merchandising, and any other services that impact the guest experience.
In contemporary theme parks, the primary theme is used to unify the structure and the organization of the park through physical statements. As a result, modern theme parks attempt...