As if the industry didn't already have enough worries: After the amusement parks in Germany slowly recovered from the consequences of the corona pandemic, there was a roller coaster accident at Legoland in Günzburg;

31 people were injured, one of them seriously.

In Klotten in Rhineland-Palatinate, a woman had an accident after falling off a track;

she did not survive.

The accidents hit the German amusement parks in a phase of ongoing uncertainty.

In 2021, visitor numbers were around 65 percent below the pre-corona level.

Industry sales are likely to increase significantly again this year, at least to around 80 percent of the value of 2019. That is the forecast by Chris Merklein, industry analyst for the market research company IbisWorld.

Exact sales figures for the industry are not available.

In his estimation, many operators are afraid of another closure in autumn and winter.

"The parks have adapted to hygiene measures and could cope reasonably well with slight tightening, such as limited visitor numbers," he says.

According to Merklein, small businesses in particular would be hardest hit.

lighthouses in the country

If you were to add up all the facilities in which people spend their free time, you would get a four-digit number in this country.

The Association of German Amusement Parks and Leisure Companies (VDFU) represents the largest companies in the sector.

These include the Association of Parks, which are visited by at least 100,000 people every year.

There are more than 100 of them in Germany, employing a total of 150,000 people and attracting an average of 40 million guests a year.

Almost every fifth guest comes from abroad.

The managing director of the VDFU, Jürgen Gevers, emphasizes the economic importance of its member companies: "Amusement parks are often located in structurally weak, rural areas and are tourist beacons and regional job engines there." Around 15 percent of all visitors go to the Europa-Park in Rust, Baden-Württemberg .

Measured by the number of visitors, it is the largest adventure park in Germany.

In addition to the industry leader, the oldest amusement park also comes from the Ländle.

The Tripsdrill adventure park will be 100 years old in seven years.

Risky investments

Like Europa Park Rust and Tripsdrill, most of the industry is owner-managed.

Since most operators are responsible for a park, market concentration within the industry is low.

"The four largest operators of amusement parks together have a market share of 31.7 percent," says industry insider Merklein.

He is observing the growing popularity of the parks: "Until the Corona crisis, the number of visitors to German amusement and theme parks increased almost steadily, despite price increases for admission tickets." The smaller parks are also benefiting from this.

In the long term, however, they would have a hard time.

"In order to be successful in a highly competitive market, providers must regularly invest in new attractions." However, these are expensive, and the smaller the park, the riskier the investments.

If you make a mistake, you can quickly disappear from the market.

According to Merklein, many small businesses had to go through this painful experience during the pandemic.

He therefore expects market concentration to increase over the next few years.

According to industry circles, the large parks in particular enjoy high profit margins above the 15 percent that is considered the average value.

However, only a small part of this ends up in the pockets of the operators.

Instead, direct reinvestment is often made, either in new crowd pullers or to build up reserves for the future.

Association leader Gevers is currently observing three rising cost factors: energy, wage and construction costs.

"The acute shortage of workers poses enormous challenges for some amusement parks to be able to maintain gastronomic service offers," he says.

New technologies as bright spots

Disrupted supply chains are also putting a strain on the industry.

“The delivery times for groceries and consumer goods, but also for merchandising items, have increased enormously.

I just recently spoke to an operator who already had to place orders for next January.” Politically, Gevers hardly feels any momentum.

Many swimming pools, zoos, wildlife parks and other leisure facilities are subsidized by the municipality and also benefit from reduced VAT rates or the VAT exemption for entry fees.

"Our member companies pay 19 percent and don't get a cent."

Nevertheless, Merklein and Gevers are positive about the future.

The reason for this is the constant further development of the industry.

Examples include the combination of virtual reality and traditional rides, apps that provide an up-to-date overview of parks with virtual maps and queues, and investment in indoor attractions to attract visitors year-round.