[DiscoverMB]

WMBF NBC News program, "This Week", which aired this morning at 7:30am, featured Hard Rock Park with their guests John Stine, the new Director of Sales and Marketing for the park, and Chamber of Commerce president, Brad Dean. The show focused on the pitfalls of the previous year and the drive to rejuvenate the park for a Memorial Day Weekend 2009 opening.

Stine, who's has an impressive resume in travel and tourism for theme parks has worked for Busch Garden in Tampa and Dixie Stampede, said that the new owners are investing beyond the $25 million purchase it made in January. They are addressing comments and feedback about the park and are looking to create the best experience possible for their guests.

Brad Dean, said he was not expecting news of the parks opening in 2009 as was looking at 2010. Dean said the previous owners really missed on the price, which started at $50 when the park opened in 2008 and it is one of the challenges the new owners will face.

As far as the Myrtle Beach tourism marketing is concerned, Dean said that two thirds of previous visitors say the may go somewhere else for a better deal and 2009 may be thee most challenging year ever. He continued on to say the former owners didn't embrace the local tourism community. He said he wasn't trying to say "I told you so", but the previous owners didn't see it until it was too late.

Stine said, there is no way they can be successful without the support partnerships and thay they intend to engage anyone who can bring tourist to the area.

In regards to marketing, he said the park compliments the beach and Busch Gardens success in Tampa is a good example how to work with a theme park and the beach.

"Its a good example and it worked well", he said.

When asked in comparision to one of the potential buyers proposal (Mark Lazarus who owns Wild Water and Wheels in Surfside Beach) to have the park open to the general public and possible issue wristbands, Stine said they intend to continue with the current format in place. The price for admission would be in the "$40ish" range for adults and lower for children. They would also offer a locals prices, possibly work with referral cards. The price would also be structured so that grandparents who won't ride as much could take their grandchildren and still kick back and enjoy the park. They will offer an attractive price and offer specials and discounts and resident's prices.

Stine didn't offer much in the way of new rides but did say people should stay tuned as they finalize their schedule and make an announcement in the weeks ahead.

The park will be offering former employees the opportunity to apply before anyone else, beginning Monday, March 2nd at 9am. Only former employees can apply at the former backstage tour/recruitment center. They will be looking to fill some 750 positions, but Stine said they expect to go a little higher. They expect to have an interview or two and get employees back to work in next week or two.

As for the name "Hard Rock Park", they are working on finalizing a name but he did not specific if it would be "Hard Rock Park" or not.

Stine also said that they expect to grow in attendance compared to 2008 and it is a challenging climate, but they are looking forward to getting marketing material out there, promote value and will have new experiences at the park.

Review of WMBF-TV - "This Week"
http://www.wmbfnews.com

Comment on this story? Add your thoughts below.

[philly girl]

WMBF NBC News program, "This Week", which aired this morning at 7:30am, featured Hard Rock Park with their guests John Stein, the new Director of Sales and Marketing for the park, and Chamber of Commerce president, Brad Dean. The show focused on the pitfalls of the previous year and the drive to rejuvenate the park for a Memorial Day Weekend 2009 opening.

Stein, who's has an impressive resume in travel and tourism for theme parks has worked for Busch Garden in Tampa and Dixie Stampede, said that the new owners are investing beyond the $25 million purchase it made in January. They are addressing comments and feedback about the park and are looking to create the best experience possible for their guests.

Brad Dean, said he was not expecting news of the parks opening in 2009 as was looking at 2010. Dean said the previous owners really missed on the price, which started at $50 when the park opened in 2008 and it is one of the challenges the new owners will face.

As far as the Myrtle Beach tourism marketing is concerned, Dean said that two thirds of previous visitors say the may go somewhere else for a better deal and 2009 may be thee most challenging year ever. He continued on to say the former owners didn't embrace the local tourism community. He said he wasn't trying to say "I told you so", but the previous owners didn't see it until it was too late.

Stein said, there is no way they can be successful without the support partnerships and thay they intend to engage anyone who can bring tourist to the area.

In regards to marketing, he said the park compliments the beach and Busch Gardens success in Tampa is a good example how to work with a theme park and the beach.

"Its a good example and it worked well", he said.

When asked in comparision to one of the potential buyers proposal (Mark Lazarus who owns Wild Water and Wheels in Surfside Beach) to have the park open to the general public and possible issue wristbands, Stein said they intend to continue with the current format in place. The price for admission would be in the "$40ish" range for adults and lower for children. They would also offer a locals prices, possibly work with referral cards. The price would also be structured so that grandparents who won't ride as much could take their grandchildren and still kick back and enjoy the park. They will offer an attractive price and offer specials and discounts and resident's prices.

Stein didn't offer much in the way of new rides but did say people should stay tuned as they finalize their schedule and make an announcement in the weeks ahead.

The park will be offering former employees the opportunity to apply before anyone else, beginning Monday, March 2nd at 9am. Only former employees can apply at the former backstage tour/recruitment center. They will be looking to fill some 750 positions, but Stein said they expect to go a little higher. They expect to have an interview or two and get employees back to work in next week or two.

As for the name "Hard Rock Park", they are working on finalizing a name but he did not specific if it would be "Hard Rock Park" or not.

Stein also said that they expect to grow in attendance compared to 2008 and it is a challenging climate, but they are looking forward to getting marketing material out there, promote value and will have new experiences at the park.

Review of WMBF-TV - "This Week"
http://www.wmbfnews.com

Comment on this story? Add your thoughts below.

I just can not wait till tomorrow. This should be interesting to see who still wants to work for HRP.
I am just hoping that it will still be fun to work there as it was before.

Cheers and rock on everyone!!!!

[John Galt]

"WMBF NBC News program, "This Week", which aired this morning at 7:30am, featured Hard Rock Park with their guests John Stein, the new Director of Sales and Marketing for the park, and Chamber of Commerce president, Brad Dean. The show focused on the pitfalls of the previous year and the drive to rejuvenate the park for a Memorial Day Weekend 2009 opening."

John Stine; not Stein.

[DiscoverMB]

Thank you for the correction.

[MyrtleFreak]

In the interview, the Hard Rock Director says ticket prices will be $40ish? That doesn't sound like much of a savings. Didn't the price drop last year from the original $50?