News: Parks fight back against industry slump

Posted at 12:19 PM EDT (1619 GMT)

Jun. 28th, 2004 -- Various amusement parks throughout the United States are offering new discounts this summer in an attempt to increase attendance.

Parks such as Paramount's Kings Island, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Paramount's Great America and Six Flags Great Adventure are introducing new plans this summer to offer discounted tickets to park visitors. Web ticket buying is being encouraged by some of these parks as they offer discounts to people who purchase their tickets online in advance of visiting the park.

Some parks, however, are doing the opposite by raising their ticket prices this year. The two Universal Studios parks in the country have increased their admission tickets twice already this season, resulting in a 5% increase in price from last season.

These price fluctuations are the result of the post 9/11 industry slump as amusement parks try to recover from lost business. Fewer visitors are coming from overseas and more Americans are reluctant to visit potential terror targets.  Amusement Business reports that attendance has dropped by almost 2% in the 50 most visited parks in the country in 2003.

For more information, including a list of some of the discount offers being offered by parks this summer, visit The Detroit News.