We’re into our third edition of The Week and as we get further and further into 2021, things are starting to look brighter and brighter for the visitor attractions industry.
Of course everything isn’t perfect, far from it. But new innovations to combat Covid are being thought up all the time and the global vaccination campaign is really starting to pick up steam.
Take a look at Israel, which is a world leader when it comes to the total amount of people vaccinated. The country has immunised more than 60% of its entire population and the results are starting to show, with a 95% protection rate. That’s not just good news for Israel but also for the entire planet.
If the vaccination programme proves to be as successful as it’s been in Israel, we could soon see things starting to return to normal, or at least new normal. If that happens, then attractions can finally reopen, maybe even at full capacity.
Ahead of that, there are a number of programmes in place to get the attractions sector moving again. These include Covid-detecting dogs and even more attractions opening up their facilities as mass immunisation hubs. All of this and more is included in your seven day dose of visitor attractions.
Welcome to Planet Attractions. Welcome to The Week.
Elon Musk took social media by storm this week by increasing the value of a currency created as a joke by more than half of its entire value.
Using a Shiba Inu dog as its mascot and based on a famous meme featuring the animal, Dogecoin as a currency has risen by more than 800% in 2021 so far.
Dubbing it “the people’s crypto”, Musk tipped off his 45.6 million followers about the currency, which is currently valued in total at about US$5.89bn (€4.89bn £4.29bn).
So why is a visitor attractions publication telling you about how a billionaire drove up the value of a cryptocurrency?
Social media.
This is just one of a number of times that Elon Musk has hit the headlines for his use of social media. Whether it’s talking about the amazing innovations he dreams up or he’s posting a doge meme based on the Lion King, you know the person sending all of this is Elon not an automated machine or a hired PR.
Musk presents himself on social media, not as a multi-business billionaire but as Elon, the person behind Space-X, behind Tesla, and that’s why he resonates with his audience. It’s time for visitor attractions, some of the most fun places to be on the entire planet, to do the same.
S-O-C-I-A-L
Don’t get me wrong, it’s great that your attraction uses the latest lingo, utilises fun emojis and reacts to trending hashtags. But you know who else is doing that? Every single other corporate account on social media.
The thing that will make you stand out is remembering the SOCIAL part of social media.
Having a voice and having individuality is the key to standing out and it's the key to using the most important tool you have to reach your audience. Whoever is running your social accounts, drop them a message right now and tell them to have fun with it.
If you want to see what adopting this tactic does, take a look no further than the Museum of English Rural Life in Reading, UK, which in 2019 increased its social following from 9,700 to more than 134,000 (now 157,000) over the course of that year.
How did, what admittedly might not be everyone’s dream attraction suddenly garner a global audience wanting to see what it had to offer? An old picture of a sheep and a funny caption.
Adam Koszary, the man behind the account at the time, posted an image of an Exmoor Horn aged ram, with the caption "look at this absolute unit".
It wasn’t long after that the museum found itself trending worldwide on Twitter, with Koszary taking that momentum to engage MERL with a completely new audience in a way a museum like that hadn't seen before.
During this run, Koszary engaged with Harry Potter author JK Rowling over a drawing of a chicken in trousers. A few months later, he would message the British Museum, asking for its best picture of a duck, cueing a barrage of duck pictures from major museums all over the world.
He was so successful in fact, that the aforementioned Elon Musk hired him as social media manager for Tesla following an exchange between the two where Musk changed his Twitter profile picture to that of the Exmoor Horn ram, while Koszary change MERL’s picture to one of Musk himself, retorting "two can play at that game".
Today, Koszary has taken his talents over to the Royal Academy of Arts in London, where its pinned tweet has more than 41,500 likes and 5,700 retweets.
Unlike Musk’s speciality, social media isn’t rocket science, so stop treating it like it is. Social media is about putting a real-life engaging person in front of a keyboard and having them be your voice. Find that person and let them speak for themselves.
Be like Adam Koszary, be like Elon Musk, be like Doge. Be what everyone else isn’t.
First up in the news this week, could artificial intelligence be the next great innovation in rollercoaster design? Everyone has their favourite rollercoaster. For some, theming is essential with rides like Hagrid’s Magical Motorbike Adventure or Expedition Everest topping the bill. For others, height is the key with a ride like Shambhala providing the ultimate thrill. Some just love a wooden coaster or maybe a fast launch. But is there a perfect rollercoaster and can artificial intelligence…keep reading
Meanwhile, Taylor Swift has found herself in a legal dispute with Evermore, a first of its kind theme park based on role play experiences, after its owners said the name of the singer’s new Evermore album belongs to them.
Based in Utah, US, the park says that the release of Evermore the album caused confusion about its links to the theme park. This is evidenced, says the operator, by the "dramatic departure from typical levels" of traffic on…keep reading
Disney’s latest release has already arrived at Epcot, with a new attraction, The Soul of Jazz, exploring the history of the musical art form in America.
The exhibition will take guests on a musical tour of America with tour guide Joe Gardner, the protagonist of Soul. Visitors will explore several influential American cities that were key in the formation of jazz music, including…keep reading
Our quote of the week comes from AdventureLAB CEO, Klaus Sommer Paulsen, who has taken a deep dive into museums engaging with their audience through digital.
The modern museum is not just a reminder and celebration of that which has been, it’s a celebration of how the knowledge from our shared backstory helps us find...keep reading
Named the funniest social account in the fan-voted Clamshell Awards, Screwy Loops, aka Chris Davenport, is a highly-entertaining YouTube host, who combines comedy and theme parks for some really engaging content.
Debuted in November 2006, Chris’s channel has more than 14,000 subscribers, with more than 2.3 million views across the channel.
See him in action below, where he ranks every ride at Thorpe Park from worst to best.
For those who were hoping to attend Coachella - the world-famous California music and arts festival - it’s bad news, as the event has cancelled for the second year in a row due to the ongoing effects of the global pandemic.
The largest trade show in the world for carnivals, the annual IISF Super Trade Show and Extravaganza features rides, food supplies and equipment, concession trailers, electrical supplies, insurance companies, novelty items, plush toys, jewelry and much more.
The show will go-ahead in person this year inline with COVID-19 guidelines. The event takes place in Gibsonton, Florida, US.
This conference event is going online in 2021, with Moving on Up designed for mid-career museum professionals who are ready to take the next step.
Its hosts, the Museums Association, says the event will give attendees the confidence, contacts and ideas to think innovatively and creatively about how they can progress their career and be a change-maker in the sector.
Could plastic bubbles be the future of live music? 80s psychedelic rock band The Flaming Lips certainly seem to think so after staging two COVID-safe concerts where both the band and concert-goers were encased in their own plastic bubbles.
We’re in extraordinary times right now and this website is a direct result of that. Featuring a team of world-class attractions journalists and behind-the-scenes team of equal calibre, we need your support to make Planet Attractions happen.
We believe that everyone deserves equal access to accurate and compelling content, so we won’t hide anything behind a paywall.
We’re here to support both the industry and the consumer and to achieve our goals, we would love it if you could support us right back.
So how can you do this? It’s easy. Just contact our sales team [email protected] and let us know about your company. We will create a package tailored to your specific needs and deliver that in the way we believe will benefit you the most.
You can also support us at no cost to you. All you need to do is follow our social channels.
Most importantly, once you’ve subscribed, make sure to go on these social channels and engage! We’re building a community and we love being able to bring you all together.
We’re into our third edition of The Week and as we get further and further into 2021, things are starting to look brighter and brighter for the visitor attractions industry.
Of course everything isn’t perfect, far from it. But new innovations to combat Covid are being thought up all the time and the global vaccination campaign is really starting to pick up steam.
Take a look at Israel, which is a world leader when it comes to the total amount of people vaccinated. The country has immunised more than 60% of its entire population and the results are starting to show, with a 95% protection rate. That’s not just good news for Israel but also for the entire planet.
If the vaccination programme proves to be as successful as it’s been in Israel, we could soon see things starting to return to normal, or at least new normal. If that happens, then attractions can finally reopen, maybe even at full capacity.
Ahead of that, there are a number of programmes in place to get the attractions sector moving again. These include Covid-detecting dogs and even more attractions opening up their facilities as mass immunisation hubs. All of this and more is included in your seven day dose of visitor attractions.
Welcome to Planet Attractions. Welcome to The Week.
Elon Musk took social media by storm this week by increasing the value of a currency created as a joke by more than half of its entire value.
Using a Shiba Inu dog as its mascot and based on a famous meme featuring the animal, Dogecoin as a currency has risen by more than 800% in 2021 so far.
Dubbing it “the people’s crypto”, Musk tipped off his 45.6 million followers about the currency, which is currently valued in total at about US$5.89bn (€4.89bn £4.29bn).
So why is a visitor attractions publication telling you about how a billionaire drove up the value of a cryptocurrency?
Social media.
This is just one of a number of times that Elon Musk has hit the headlines for his use of social media. Whether it’s talking about the amazing innovations he dreams up or he’s posting a doge meme based on the Lion King, you know the person sending all of this is Elon not an automated machine or a hired PR.
Musk presents himself on social media, not as a multi-business billionaire but as Elon, the person behind Space-X, behind Tesla, and that’s why he resonates with his audience. It’s time for visitor attractions, some of the most fun places to be on the entire planet, to do the same.
S-O-C-I-A-L
Don’t get me wrong, it’s great that your attraction uses the latest lingo, utilises fun emojis and reacts to trending hashtags. But you know who else is doing that? Every single other corporate account on social media.
The thing that will make you stand out is remembering the SOCIAL part of social media.
Having a voice and having individuality is the key to standing out and it's the key to using the most important tool you have to reach your audience. Whoever is running your social accounts, drop them a message right now and tell them to have fun with it.
If you want to see what adopting this tactic does, take a look no further than the Museum of English Rural Life in Reading, UK, which in 2019 increased its social following from 9,700 to more than 134,000 (now 157,000) over the course of that year.
How did, what admittedly might not be everyone’s dream attraction suddenly garner a global audience wanting to see what it had to offer? An old picture of a sheep and a funny caption.
Adam Koszary, the man behind the account at the time, posted an image of an Exmoor Horn aged ram, with the caption "look at this absolute unit".
It wasn’t long after that the museum found itself trending worldwide on Twitter, with Koszary taking that momentum to engage MERL with a completely new audience in a way a museum like that hadn't seen before.
During this run, Koszary engaged with Harry Potter author JK Rowling over a drawing of a chicken in trousers. A few months later, he would message the British Museum, asking for its best picture of a duck, cueing a barrage of duck pictures from major museums all over the world.
He was so successful in fact, that the aforementioned Elon Musk hired him as social media manager for Tesla following an exchange between the two where Musk changed his Twitter profile picture to that of the Exmoor Horn ram, while Koszary change MERL’s picture to one of Musk himself, retorting "two can play at that game".
Today, Koszary has taken his talents over to the Royal Academy of Arts in London, where its pinned tweet has more than 41,500 likes and 5,700 retweets.
Unlike Musk’s speciality, social media isn’t rocket science, so stop treating it like it is. Social media is about putting a real-life engaging person in front of a keyboard and having them be your voice. Find that person and let them speak for themselves.
Be like Adam Koszary, be like Elon Musk, be like Doge. Be what everyone else isn’t.
First up in the news this week, could artificial intelligence be the next great innovation in rollercoaster design? Everyone has their favourite rollercoaster. For some, theming is essential with rides like Hagrid’s Magical Motorbike Adventure or Expedition Everest topping the bill. For others, height is the key with a ride like Shambhala providing the ultimate thrill. Some just love a wooden coaster or maybe a fast launch. But is there a perfect rollercoaster and can artificial intelligence…keep reading
Meanwhile, Taylor Swift has found herself in a legal dispute with Evermore, a first of its kind theme park based on role play experiences, after its owners said the name of the singer’s new Evermore album belongs to them.
Based in Utah, US, the park says that the release of Evermore the album caused confusion about its links to the theme park. This is evidenced, says the operator, by the "dramatic departure from typical levels" of traffic on…keep reading
Disney’s latest release has already arrived at Epcot, with a new attraction, The Soul of Jazz, exploring the history of the musical art form in America.
The exhibition will take guests on a musical tour of America with tour guide Joe Gardner, the protagonist of Soul. Visitors will explore several influential American cities that were key in the formation of jazz music, including…keep reading
Our quote of the week comes from AdventureLAB CEO, Klaus Sommer Paulsen, who has taken a deep dive into museums engaging with their audience through digital.
The modern museum is not just a reminder and celebration of that which has been, it’s a celebration of how the knowledge from our shared backstory helps us find...keep reading
Named the funniest social account in the fan-voted Clamshell Awards, Screwy Loops, aka Chris Davenport, is a highly-entertaining YouTube host, who combines comedy and theme parks for some really engaging content.
Debuted in November 2006, Chris’s channel has more than 14,000 subscribers, with more than 2.3 million views across the channel.
See him in action below, where he ranks every ride at Thorpe Park from worst to best.
For those who were hoping to attend Coachella - the world-famous California music and arts festival - it’s bad news, as the event has cancelled for the second year in a row due to the ongoing effects of the global pandemic.
The largest trade show in the world for carnivals, the annual IISF Super Trade Show and Extravaganza features rides, food supplies and equipment, concession trailers, electrical supplies, insurance companies, novelty items, plush toys, jewelry and much more.
The show will go-ahead in person this year inline with COVID-19 guidelines. The event takes place in Gibsonton, Florida, US.
This conference event is going online in 2021, with Moving on Up designed for mid-career museum professionals who are ready to take the next step.
Its hosts, the Museums Association, says the event will give attendees the confidence, contacts and ideas to think innovatively and creatively about how they can progress their career and be a change-maker in the sector.
Could plastic bubbles be the future of live music? 80s psychedelic rock band The Flaming Lips certainly seem to think so after staging two COVID-safe concerts where both the band and concert-goers were encased in their own plastic bubbles.
We’re in extraordinary times right now and this website is a direct result of that. Featuring a team of world-class attractions journalists and behind-the-scenes team of equal calibre, we need your support to make Planet Attractions happen.
We believe that everyone deserves equal access to accurate and compelling content, so we won’t hide anything behind a paywall.
We’re here to support both the industry and the consumer and to achieve our goals, we would love it if you could support us right back.
So how can you do this? It’s easy. Just contact our sales team [email protected] and let us know about your company. We will create a package tailored to your specific needs and deliver that in the way we believe will benefit you the most.
You can also support us at no cost to you. All you need to do is follow our social channels.
Most importantly, once you’ve subscribed, make sure to go on these social channels and engage! We’re building a community and we love being able to bring you all together.
