Venues of Alton Towers - Case Study Example

Alton Towers Introduction Dated back to Victorian Period, Alton Towers were designed by Augustus Welby Pugin. Unfortunately it was closed with outbreak of war during 1939 and used by the Army, as Officer Cadet Training Unit. Until 1951, it remained under requisition then it was finally returned to the company. In 1980, Alton Towers became a theme park with the corkscrew ride. It became a part of the Taussaud’s Group (Alton Towers, 2005). It is located in the small village of Alton in Staffordshire. It is divided into several areas each area has their own specific theme which continues to the rides. (“Alton Towers Mania,” 2007). Alton Towers offers adventure and fun in which the whole family can enjoy. This includes rides which are open for all ages, Nemesis ride and the new oblivion attraction, a white knuckle ride, and a virtual reality cave game, the Ug Land, Haunted House and Ripsaw Ride and numerous thrilling attractions and rides were also offered. Recently they have redeveloped Toyland tours or the Farms with rides that are suitable for young ones. Traditional Fairground attractions are also present. One can also enjoy rowing on the lake, take an aerial cable car ride, or enjoy walking in the garden (Alton Towers, 2005). This paper tackles the social, environmental, and cultural impact of the venue and ethical and social responsibilities that the venue managers are facing. Aims and Objectives of the Research In order to undertake the study the students were ask to investigate social, environmental and cultural impacts of a venue and to assess this against the ethical and social responsibility that the venue manager are facing in his or her particular situation. Approach Field research and visit to the venue and surrounding area are required to undertake the research study. To allow this to be achieved time has been set aside in the module. In this study, it is recognized that some students will visit their chosen venue during weekends or evenings while the others may visit during the day. This study was a desk-based research which entailed searches through local and national newspapers, market research and other intelligence to explore the effects of the venue on the locality. This study will search for the positive and negative impacts of the venue as well as the different problems encountered by a range of events that they may provide. Venues of Alton Towers Conference Center Conference Center situated between Alton Towers and Splash Landing Hotels offers a venue designed for various events. The Conference Center has space that can accommodate over 500 delegates, a theater style, and with 240 classroom cabaret style. For smaller meetings they have 8 syndicate rooms from 30-60 delegates, theater style. The largest room has a space of 549sq m. It has a main room that can be divided into three. It has dedicated business Center, within the Conference Center is an exhibition space, a private lounge for refreshments during conferences, two interconnecting hotels and on the site audiovisual technicians and event management teams are present (Corporate Events at Alton Towers, http://www.altontowers.com/events/venuesphp). Alton Towers can cater any event with a collection of versatile venues, suitable for the events depending on the customers’ requirements. May it be large conferences, awards dinner, dinner dances and corporate family fun days or smaller meetings, the Alton Towers can adjust to their requirements (TowerTimes, 2007). Alton Towers Hotel It also offers hotels in which the visitor could stay (TowerTimes, 2007). As a tribute to Sir Algenon Alton, on the ground floor an emperor suite, offering further option for conferences and dinners within the hotel complex was built. It has a capacity of 200 theater style and can be divided into three self contained room. Adjacent to it is the elegant Dragon bar used by the guests during their conferences for refreshments or private drinks reception before having dinner. Alton Towers Theme Park It is one of the leading theme park resorts which the whole family will enjoy to visit since it has rides and beautiful attractions spread over 500 acres of countryside. (TowersTimes, 2007). Standing at the core of the park is Corporate Hospitality Suite which caters a space for up to 900 guests and used for evening events such as dinners and receptions. In addition to that, it has also a private patio which is ideals for barbecues Within the theme park is the Tower Suite, which includes the Lake View Room and Towers Room separated by a lounge area used for registration or relaxing. Suite is an ideal venue for informal meetings, dinner and networking events and for family fun days wherein rooms can be used as a base throughout their stay (Corporate Events at Alton Towers, http://www.altontowers.com/events/venuesphp). Right now the theme park is closed and will reopen between February and March, 2008. The Alton Towers Resort is transformed into something that the whole family will enjoy. These includes water park fun, spa pampering, as well as bags of Christmas cheer and festive treats and others (Alton Towers Resort). Spa, waterpark and an extra ordinary golf will be open throughout the close season, for winter. Water Park Cariba Creek Waterpark is open all year round, a Caribbean lagoon-style water park which brings excitement for kids and grown ups and a place where the whole family can enjoy swimming. Large-Scale Events Backlot Concert Arena can be seen which can accommodate 14,500 people. In recent year a lot of concerts were hosted in the site. It has its own entrance to the theme park as well as an easy access cars parks. The Front lawn on the other hand provides a scenic setting for large scale events wherein large marquees can be accommodated. The space can accommodate 1000 guest or 3000 guests for a corporate family fun day as well as on company away day. For events of over 15000 guests, the Alton Towers can be hired exclusively during daytime or evening excluding school holidays, which gives businesses the opportunity to entertain on a large scale, allowing exclusive use of all the rides and attractions. A green field site is adjacent to the Alton Towers Hotel which is ideal for large marquees and perfect for team building activities. Both Hotels and Conference Centers can be hired on exclusive basis which offers a unique venue to stage an event (.Corporate Events at Alton Towers, http://www.altontowers.com/events/venuesphp). Effects of the Venue in locality The venue has provided a wide range of skilled and unskilled jobs to the localities. According to “Alton Towers Community Charter,” in a rural area, Alton Towers have employed 1200 people. Some of the workers are permanent full time and some are fixed term. Majority of their workers comes from the local area and most of them have worked for Alton Towers for many years. By using local suppliers whenever possible, Towers not only spend large sum of money in the county, but also they provide and support businesses from B&Bs to grocers as well as taxi firms because without the park and its visitors this would not be as viable (“Alton Towers Community Charter, 2007). It provides the local community to receive complementary tickets for their own use, and in addition to that they support many charities in the area in different ways, sponsored local football teams by buying their kits, donated toys and other merchandise to charities, during children’s parties they can send costume characters, for meetings or fund-raisers they can provide venues at discounted rate, or sometimes it is even free; every season, they even send out tickets worth £80,000 to be offered as raffle prizes, as well as free entry in waterpark and dinners or even overnight stays in Alton Towers Hotel (“Alton Towers Community Charter, 2007). Positive and negative impacts of the venue Social impact By working with the regional and national organizations to encourage tourism in Staffordshire, the Alton Towers have raised the profile of the Staffordshire County. They were able to attract visitors from all over the UK, and a lot of them stay either in their own hotels or within Staffordshire. When more people visits Alton Towers, it will bring more revenues and more opportunity to discover what else will the county could offer. Thus the tourism economy of the region will be supported (“Alton Towers Community Charter, 2007). Environmental Impact Alton Towers have created an impact on the local environment in various ways which includes, noise, light, traffic, and waste management. However to minimize the negative impact created they have set up a new Environmental Management Committee to manage these issues. They have worked within a Noise Abatement Order and looked constantly at their existing product to see if there are ways they can improve this element. Light pollution on the other hand have been reduced, however, there are still areas that they can work on. In terms of traffic, they are in the process of introducing an Active Traffic Management system to see if they can improve some of the issues in Alton Village. Moreover they are expanding their recycling of waste products (“Alton Towers Community Charter, 2007). Cultural Impact For future generation Alton Historical buildings and grounds of Alton Towers will be maintained and secured. For several years, the Towers have been the center of the community and in order to collate much of the information in archives and provide cohesive research tool they have launched a new heritage website with North Staffordshire University (“Alton Towers Community Charter,” 2007). Ethical and Social Responsibility the Venue Manager Faces Venue managers are responsible for providing safety to all the visitors; and to address to this issue operation of all rides and attractions on the park conform to strict documented procedures as well as manufacturers’ guidance. To ensure safe operating standards, rides and attractions team ensures that they possess considerable amount of experience in operating rides as well as attractions. Operators of the rides are over 18 years old and have undergone annual company medical. Moreover, they have undergone rigorous training to be highly competent especially on each ride in which they operate. Ride assistant, who have undergone training, are also present to assist guests who are embarking/disembarking from the rides. To ensure compliance with the Food safety Act 1990, food outlets in that Alton Towers are operated with strict hygiene standards by trained employees. The local Environmental Health Department regularly inspects these food outlets. To ensure that high standards of food hygiene are observed they have employed independent food safety auditors who will undertake biannual food safety/hygiene inspections. To reunite a lost person with members of their party a lot of guest information booths are available and located around the park which can be used for general assistance as well as for contact purposes. In times of emergencies, the Alton Towers has a contingency plan that will be invoked when such situation comes. By means of practical exercises over time and in conjunction with the local emergency services such as fire, ambulance and police, emergency plans have been developed and tested. To deal with security issues in the site, they have a dedicated security team who patrols the park and deal with any security related matters. They are trained to deal with any emergency incidents which may occur on the site. Moreover they also have full time fire officer who are responsible for all fire safety issues. In all venues and attractions fire procedures are in placed and all the operating staff were trained with these procedures. To indicate car or coach parking facilities as well as drop off or pick up points there are directional signage which are displayed from the main entrance. The Park ensures that the place is accessible to all the visitors. They provide further guidance on access as well as facilities for visitors who are disabled (Risk Assessment Information, 2007) Conclusion Alton Towers is located in the small village of Alton in Staffordshire. The venues include: 1) the conference Center wherein different events can be accommodated; 2) Alton Towers Hotel where the visitors could stay upon their visit to the place; 3) Alton Towers Theme Park which is one of the most famous theme park in UK which offers rides and thrilling attractions. The entire area offers fun and adventures in which the whole family could enjoy; 4) water park which is open all-year round. It is a Caribbean lagoon style water park in which the visitor can enjoy swimming; and 5) Large-scale events such as Backlot Concert Arena can be seen which can accommodate 14,500 people. It is where concerts can be hosted. It has its own entrance to the theme park as well as an easy access cars parks. The Front lawn provides a scenic setting for large scale events wherein large marquees can be accommodated. Alton Towers can be hired exclusively during daytime or evening excluding school holidays, which gives businesses the opportunity to entertain on a large scale, allowing exclusive use of all the rides and attractions. A green field site is ideal for large marquees and perfect for team building activities. Both Hotels and Conference Centers can be hired on exclusive basis which offers a unique venue to stage an event (.Corporate Events at Alton Towers, http://www.altontowers.com/events/venuesphp). To provide comprehensive and integrated system of law which deals with health, safety and welfare of employees as well as the members of the public who will be affected by the work activities of the Alton Towers it is proper that the park followed the principles of Health and Safety at work Act 1974 which places a general duty on employers to provide safe system of work. Although they have created negative impacts they managed to address and solve the issues. To minimize the negative impact brought about by the park, they have set up a new Environmental Management Committee to manage these issues (“Alton Towers Community Charter, 2007). Recommendations Alton towers ensure that the resort is accessible to all the guests, however, rides and attractions are not suitable for all visitors. Each rides and attractions should have strict operating requirements which the staff have to follow for health and safety. For instance there are rides which can be dangerous for young children therefore they must strictly not be allowed to use it. One of the nice attractions which the whole family could enjoy is the presence of water parks, in which the visitors can enjoy swimming however the venue operators must make sure that there are teams who will respond whenever there are visitors who encountered an accident or have a minor injury. Therefore the venue manager must spend time and effort to make sure that all visitors will be safe and will have fun when they plan to visit the place. First aid facilities and trained personnel who are always ready in cases that the visitors will have minor injuries must be present The UK government must implement the environmental policies that would address the issues on the problems of noise, light traffic and proper waste management. References “Alton Towers,” (2005), Tourist Information UK “Alton Towers Community Charter,” (2007), March 2007. “Alton Towers Mania,” (2007), 7 December, 2007. “Corporate Events at Alton Towers,” http://www.altontowers.com/events/venuesphp (Risk Assessment Information, 2007), http://www.altontowers.com/content.php?pageid=480, retrieved 28 November, 2007. “TowerTimes,” (2007) TowersTimes Team, a cached from http:/www.towerstimes.co.uk Read More