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Texas Water Park Schlitterbahn Success
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1 Comments ::  :: South Padre Island |
Texas Water Park Schlitterbahn Success
Schlitterbahn has three waterparks in Texas: New Braunfels, South Padre Island and Galveston.
Jeff Henry was driving to Galveston a few weekends ago when something on a billboard he saw along Interstate 45 bothered him.
The outdoor advertisement was meant to promote Wasserfest, the indoor season for Schlitterbahn Galveston Island Waterpark. But from the billboard alone, Henry didn’t have a clear idea what Wasserfest was, he said. The thing is, Henry created the advertising campaign.
“The first thing I thought of was a German festival,” Henry said, co-owner of New Braunfels-based Schlitterbahn Waterparks. “Then I remembered that I thought up that name. Our advertising message needs to change ... we need a more positive, clear message.”
Since Schlitterbahn opened its $30 million waterpark in March 2006 on 26 acres of Scholes International Airport land, the tourist attraction has lured more than 1 million visitors.
That’s The Ticket
Earlier this year, trade publication Amusement Today bestowed the coveted 2007 Golden Ticket Award upon the 70,000 square-foot indoor island waterpark. Hundreds of enthusiasts and amusement park aficionados, through a survey, ranked the island attraction as the No. 1 U.S. indoor waterpark.
But Henry wants more. And his challenge in Galveston is the winter season, he said.
“The winter season is not as good as we hoped,” Henry said. “People don’t know we’re open.”
The island park has gained industry attention for its convertible roof and wall system that closes or opens parts of the complex depending on the weather.
During the winter months, the indoor park is a balmy 84 degrees. Wasserfest, which began in September, is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
Like To See It Go Up
But the indoor attraction, which includes four tube slides, three speed slides and pint-sized slides for children, among other attractions, so far is attracting about 500 people a day. Henry wants to see that number double in the next year, he said.
“We’ve challenged our sales and marketing group,” he said. “We’d like to see it go up.”
Among strategies, Schlitterbahn plans to work more closely with island hotels to offer packages, he said.
The island Schlitterbahn is the third waterpark for the Henry family, which opened original Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels in 1979.
The growing empire has another park in South Padre Island. And Jeff Henry lately has been immersed in the opening of a fourth park — a $750 million entertainment complex in Kansas City.
But what makes the island Schlitterbahn different from other parks is its relationship with outside investors.
Anrem Corp., an affiliate company of island-based American National Insurance Co., is a majority owner of the Galveston park. Henry family members and others also have ownership stakes. Schlitterbahn provides all creative and management services, however.
The June 2004 revelation of American National’s involvement, surprised city officials who had negotiated for months with the waterpark to lease airport land, for which Schlitterbahn pays $157,453 a year.
American National’s role had been under wraps for 10 months. The insurer said American National, whose chairman of the board and CEO is Robert L. “Bobby” Moody, a member of one of the island’s most influential families, wanted to show it “cared about the island’s future.”
Neither the Henry family nor Anrem officials would divulge sales figures or discuss whether they’ve seen a return on their island investment.
Henry, who is known as the creative genius behind the rides and who, as a teenager, built his first river tube ride, seems to have a pathological aversion to the talk of money and its limits.
Define Successful
Is it the island park successful?
“Define successful,” he said.
Is it profitable?
“I think success means that people who are buying the tickets and coming through the gates are leaving satisfied and happy and enough are coming to meet our financial commitment,” Henry said.
For years, if Jeff Henry wanted to get his creations and ideas financed, he talked to his brother Gary, who works the numbers.
In the industry, Jeff Henry is the guy floating along in a tube, dreaming up bigger and better rides and obsessing about how to keep visitors from standing in long lines. Gary Henry, observers say, is the guy who figures out how to pay for it.
“Jeff Henry is the innovator, the guy that kind of goes out on a limb, comes up with wild and wacky ideas,” said Gary Slade, editor and publisher of Arlington-based Amusement Today. “Gary’s the level-headed finance guy; if it’s too close to over budget, he says, ‘chop 10 feet off it,’ reel it in.’”
Schlitterbahn parks are successful because there’s always a Henry family member in the parks overseeing or viewing operations, Slade said. The genius behind the parks can be seen in the floating rivers, where visitors can control the time they’re in the water, rather than their time being controlled by 18-second rides, he said.
“You can literally stay in the river system all day,” Slade said.
Also, the park makes the rare move of allowing families to bring their own picnic baskets, excluding alcohol and glass containers.
And the Henry family pays attention to details few others think about, Slade said. In South Padre Island, the ground and initial walkway to the ticket booth is made of hand-cut stone shipped from Brazil.
“Jeff wanted the stone not only for the beauty of it, but he thought it was very soothing on the feet,” Slade said.
Working with outside investors doesn’t cramp his style, Jeff Henry insists. Schlitterbahn retains design control, he said.
“We don’t have a high-level of guidance from the partnership,” he said. “The entire Moody organization has some of the finest people I’ve ever worked with. They’re honest, straightforward and consistent.”
Still, Jeff Henry knows his creative style and visions for the island park make accountants squirm.
“They describe me as ‘Chinese Water Torture,’” he said. “I always want to add more stuff ... dripping water, can I do this?” he said. “We’re constantly in growth mode.”
Henry last week swatted down persistent rumors that Schlitterbahn is buying island real estate to add to waterpark attractions. But he said the park will continue to add rides and amenities.
One More Creative Idea
“He is a very creative individual and, as with all creative individuals, they sometimes don’t feel constrained by practicality,” said Mike McCroskey, executive vice president of the island waterpark and President of Anrem.
“He’s always got one more creative idea to enhance.”
Schlitterbahn, which is German for “slippery road,” opened at a fortuitous time, said Slade, who expects attendance to grow.
In 2005, the move by Six Flags to shut down Astroworld and Waterworld, along with the departure of another area waterpark, left an amusement park void.
It also left the island’s Schlitterbahn sitting pretty, Slade said.
“They got a little bit of a good luck break,” Slade said. “When they originally built the park, attendance may have been tourism-driven, but it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if their local base from Houston visitors has come way up.”
What’s good for Schlitterbahn will be good for Galveston, Henry said. Hoteliers must promote the park and market the island beyond conventions, he said. Conventioneers are more likely to drink, not swim, he said.
“When hotels figure out how to market the waterpark, package with us in cooperation, you’ll see hotel rooms start to fill and sales tax increase and a healthier economy.”
By Laura Elder
The Daily News |
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ByMike @
Monday, December 17, 2007 6:33 PM |
Schlitterbahn's Success has been a real benefit for the real estate markets and tourism on South Padre Island and Galveston Island.
A Major Water Park - during the hot summers on the Texas coast - is a perfect fit. |
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