2014 TEA/AECOM Theme Park Index Released

The Themed Entertainment Association and AECOM announced today that the 2014 TEA/AECOM Theme Index and Museum Index is available to download.
This definitive, global attendance study by the economics practice at AECOM identifies industry trends and calendar-year visitation numbers for theme parks, water parks, museums and the top theme park group operators. This year's full report (in PDF form) may be downloaded directly by clicking on this link.

“We are pleased to collaborate with AECOM on the 9th annual TEA/AECOM Theme Index and Museum Index,” said TEA president Steve Birket. “This annual study is an essential resource for identifying growth, increasing awareness, and celebrating excellence in the visitor attractions industry.”

Worldwide growth:

4 percent for theme parks, 3 percent for waterparks, 2 percent for museums.

“The industry continued its post-recession attendance growth at a healthy rate of 4 percent for the top theme parks globally,” said John Robinett, AECOM senior vice president, economics, Americas. “That growth reflects a post-recession rebound in all regions: Europe at 3 percent, the Americas at 2 percent and Asia at 5 percent.”

Waterparks showed similar global growth of around 3 percent. “The waterparks sector continues to expand in Latin America and Asia, with great potential in the Middle East,” said Robinett. "This year’s study also includes European waterparks for the first time, revealing a significant market in Germany.”

In theme parks and waterparks, worldwide trends to watch include Asia growth, Middle East resurgence, resort-style development, and the initiatives of the large, established operators. “Asia will keep growing and raising the bar for quality,” said Robinett...

Attendance growth at the world’s top museums in 2014 was considered a bit slow at under 2 percent, in comparison to the performance of parks and waterparks. “Museum attendance worldwide is very sensitive to the schedules of blockbuster traveling exhibitions,” said Robinett.

The Americas: 

Top operators stay on top, museums reinvest and reinvent.

“Growth at U.S. theme parks was concentrated in the top nine parks — all Disney and Universal properties — underscoring the growing dominance of the major operators,” said Brian Sands, AECOM vice president, economics, Americas. With little fluctuation in ranking from the previous year, the top six North American parks are all Disney parks, with The Magic Kingdom at Disney Orlando Resort in the number one position. The 7th through 9th positions are held by Universal Studios parks.

“Comparing attendance growth at U.S. theme parks and waterparks with that of Latin America shows a stable, mature market versus a dynamic, younger one,” said Sands. The U.S. top 20 theme parks grew 2.2 percent from 2013 to 2014, while the top 20 waterparks came in at 1.6 percent. Latin America’s top 10 theme parks, on the other hand, grew 5.1 percent — helped by double-digit increases at Beto Carrero World (Brazil; 10 percent) and Parque Mundo Aventura (Colombia; 23.5 percent). Even more dynamic was the nearly 6-percent growth of the top 10 Latin American waterparks; double-digit performers were Wet ‘N Wild São Paolo (25.6 percent) and Rio Water Planet (14.3 percent).

Some key figures from the TEA/AECOM 2014 Theme Index & Museum Index: 

• 392 million visits to attractions run by the top 10 global theme park groups, up 5.1 percent
• 223 million visits to the top 25 theme/amusement parks worldwide, up 4.1 percent
• 138 million visits to the top 20 North American theme/amusement parks, up 2.2 percent
• 123 million visits to the top 20 Asian theme/amusement parks, up 4.9 percent
• 107 million visits to the top 20 worldwide museums, up 1.6 percent
• 75 million visits to the top 20 EMEA museums, up 0.8 percent
• 60 million visits to the top 20 EMEA theme/amusement parks, up 3.0 percent
• 58 million visits to the top 20 Asian museums, up 9.1 percent
• 54 million visits to the top 20 North American museums, down 2.6 percent
• 28 million visits to the top 20 worldwide water parks, up 2.8 percent

The TEA/AECOM Theme Index and Museum Index is a collaboration of the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) and the economics practice at AECOM, a global provider of infrastructure and management-support services

PARK ATTENDANCE NUMBERS: ©2015 TEA/AECOM. All rights reserved.