The entertainment industry in India has been evolving for a very long time and the industry players are looking out for new ways to entertain their customers. Outdoor activities are the next wave in entertainment as it clubs together fun and healthy living. Bhushan Anand Motiani, head marketing and sales, Pan India Paryatan Pvt. Ltd. gives us a glimpse of what 2013 would bring for us on the table in the genre of outdoor entertainment industry.
In the last few years outdoor entertainment has become an active entertainment genre. It seems now fun is serious business. Companies are entering the development of commercial spaces for leisure and India continues to unveil potential in this arena. Rising salary structures, more disposable incomes, dual income families, nuclear families, flexibility in government regulations and the new mantra ‘live life to the fullest’ has triggered a massive growth in the leisure and entertainment industry in India today, giving way to the era of indulgence.
India has a population of 1.5 billion but there are only 120 Amusement Parks and 45 Family Entertainment Centers. This indicates that India has substantial growth potential in this area. In spite of such potential there is still a dearth of options. Some of the factors that are inhibiting the growth of the amusement park sector are the high costs involved in the installation of imported high quality equipments and unreal prices of real estate. The stringent government policies are also forbidding the blooming of this industry.
Currently the Indian Amusement industry is of Rs. 4,000 crore and the leisure industry expects fresh investment of Rs.10, 000 crore by the year 2020. In terms of employment generation, the new amusement parks are likely to create jobs for six crore man-hours per month. Global leaders in entertainment parks and attractions are mulling over investments of billions of dollars in India considering the vast potential in this region. Private equity funds are also aggressively dedicating resources towards this sector.
In this environment of intense competition, fun providers are looking for new ways to cater to their target audience. They are developing the concept of mini fun centers is to marry entertainment and space constrictions in an interesting harmony. The city malls are the new hubs for the blooming outdoor entertainment industry. Setting up of micro fun zones in malls is the new trend that the amusement industry is adapting. The customers are readily available, be it families on their regular weekend outings or people across all age groups who flock the mall. Thus the marketing costs are also reduced as the customers come to you and you don’t need to reach out to the customers. It makes connecting with a larger audience easier in a much smaller space. Now with these forms of entertainment available at malls the fun lovers no more have to travel long distances to indulge in some thrilling excitement.
The entire coming year i.e. 2013 will see a lot of players harping on this concept of outdoor entertainment but experienced players are expected to lead the competition. Overall the entertainment industry is all geared up to offer a pleasant treat to its customers as well as the mall operators, who are expected to make good profits from this associations. The customers now have even better reasons to stopover at the malls and be abundantly entertained by the ample options available.
The Essel World Story
With this entry in to retail – EsselWorld marked the advent of core outdoor activities within reach. It promises to bring more such forms of entertainment across the country and be a part of the mall culture. India has a good potential for such ground breaking concepts in the active entertainment genre. We believe the customer wants it but needs to be made aware of it. The company has taken a step further in its innovation and introduced its first mini fun zone at Inorbit, Pune called FREEZE. Freeze is a snow and ice theme based mini amusement corner which was set up on July this year.
Customers visiting FREEZE will be able to enjoy ice skating at Arctic Circle and also get to enjoy the amazing real snow inside North Pole. The concept also blends a unique themed lounge to compliment these offerings. The format of FREEZE has been conceptualized keeping in mind its adaptability to malls. Spread across 5520 sq. ft., the entire project has been divided into three zones-Arctic Circle, North Pole and FREEZE Bar with unique features and different capacity. Arctic Circle, an ice-skating zone has been designed to accommodate around 30-40 people in a single round. The themed snow zone – North Pole gives an unusual experience of snow fall in the scorching heat of Pune and can accommodate 40-45 people. FREEZE Bar being the third zone is a themed lounge overseeing North Pole serving variety of hot and cold beverages (beer, colas, coffee and a unique tea-bar) has the capacity to accommodate 36 people. The temperature of these zones range from minus four to four degree Celsius. The rink and snow-area of FREEZE are state-of-the-art that uses technology imported from Europe which has been customized as per requirement of the Indian climate.