The modern hotel waterpark trend got its roots in the popular resort community of Wisconsin Dells in the early 1990's. Since its inception the market has consistent growth. With new waterpark hotels popping up across the globe. The Dells, much like many other resort communities, experienced high occupancy during peak holiday periods and suffered to stay open for the better part of the year.
In 1994, the Polynesian Resort made its mark as the first major hotel water park, complete with detailed theming, several watersides, and various water amenities. The project proved to be an instant success, maintain high occupancy levels year round and substantial gains in room rates.
In response to this new market insight, investors jumped in and developed an additional six resorts in the following years. All of which included intricate theming, indoor and outdoor waterpark's, mini golf, and much more. These included the Raintree Resort, Great Wolf Lodge, Kalahari Resort, Chula Vista Resort, Treasure Island, and the Wilderness Hotel and Golf Resort. |
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Even with the already high expectations, developers found themselves adding additional rooms to keep up with increase in demand. All of these resorts were able to obtain 5-10% higher occupancy and 10-15% higher ADR without affecting demand from local markets.
This model proved to be such a success, that an additional 81 resorts were developed by 2005. Even smaller hotel owners have been jumping on board, adding small slides and play elements to their new and existing hotels in order to maintain a competitive edge. |
