Hotels give Premier room for growth

Premier Parks has expanded into the hospitality industry in its quest to maintain its targeted 20 percent annual growth.

"We're looking at quite a number of opportunities, both in hotels and campgrounds," said Premier President Gary Story. "Obviously there's a small service industry that springs up around parks that does well. Since that is our traffic, we can offer attractive packages with both hotel rooms and tickets to our parks."

Premier has established hotels at its Buffalo, N.Y., and Cleveland parks. It is considering adding hotels at all 31 of its properties. Such an expansion would not only broaden Premier's revenue stream, but enhance its primary business. The Oklahoma City-based company now draws its 40 million annual park attendance from within a 90-minute drive of its facilities. Marketing packages linked to hotels and campgrounds could allow Premier to attract overnight visitors 300 miles away. "Having a hotel onsite is just extremely convenient," notes Traci Blanks, Premier's senior vice president of marketing. "You can come to the hotel, spend the night, and walk out of the hotel and be in one of our theme parks." That would also put Premier more in pattern with industry leader Walt Disney, which builds several lodging options into its parks as part of its convention and vacation marketability. Premier actually started experimenting with lodgings two years ago with the construction of the Lodge on the Lake, a 186-room luxury hotel alongside its Buffalo park. That hotel has been rebranded the Six Flags Hotel following Premier's $1.86 billion acquisition of the famous chain in April. Premier also has acquired a campground at the Darien Lake park with 2,000 berths. Blanks said the hotel has proven a success so far. "I could envision it with 500 rooms," added Story. Last year Premier acquired the Woodlands Aurora Inn, which lies alongside its 110-year-old Geauga Lake amusement park. The 145-room facility near Cleveland accompanies a 400-birth campground Premier has just purchased. "You'll see us taking advantage of more hotel opportunities," predicted Story. "We will have several coming online in the next half-dozen years." Some could open this year. "We're working on a number of projects as we speak," he said. "It's a worthy business to invest in."

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