Among the many attractions industry niches, trampoline parks are one of the fastest-growing in recent years. From the first one started in America in 2004 to more than 600 parks in 2017, today there are more than 1500 Trampoline parks globally.
If you’re running a trampoline park and want to make it a success, you have to stay on top of things. Know the changing demands of the consumer, technological advancements, new product development, and overall environment.
This article will help you gain more awareness of the current market situation and the trends that shape the industry. We’ll also give you some recommendations on how to take full advantage of these trends.
Let’s dive in.
1. Health and safety regulations
Trampoline parks are an exciting place for kids and adults alike. It’s a joy to see people bouncing and laughing and knowing that you’ve made their day because you run such a cool entertainment place.
But apart from offering entertainment, you need to ensure the safety of your customers. Unfortunately, incidences of injuries have been on the rise. As a result, tighter regulations are implemented across Europe and the rest of the world.
To combat this trend and reduce the chances of injuries, owners should prepare to put in place tighter health and safety regulations. It’s part of your responsibility to increase the safety of consumers.
Some important measures include:
- Keen supervision of jumpers
- Insurance companies’ oversight
- Regular inspections (both in-house and by third parties)
- Proper setup and design of the trampoline parks
- Unwavering adherence to industry technical standards set up by the International Association of Trampoline Parks
2. The average age of jumpers is getting higher
Trampolines were originally made for kids’ entertainment. These little ones just love to bounce around.
Studies, however, prove that the average age of jumpers is getting higher.
The highest percentage of trampoline customers, 35%, comprises 6-10-year-olds. Children between 11 and 15 years make up 26% of jumpers. Toddlers make up 13% of consumers.
New trends in demographics are coming up. There is an increase in people in their 20s and 30s participating in this fun attraction. The 21-40 years age group now represents 15% of all jumpers.
Another study in the UK shows that teenagers prefer fun activities over traditional sports. During the research, a group of teenagers was asked to choose what they wanted to do. All of them preferred the informal fun activities with trampolining topping the list at 49%.
With this shift, it can’t be business as usual for trampoline park owners. It’s a great idea to start focusing on broadening your own consumer demographics to meet the needs of older age groups.
So part of your marketing strategy should also aim to attract adults to your trampoline park.
Also, changing the concept of your customers from viewing the trampoline park as a place for toddlers’ birthday parties to an entertainment zone with activities for every age can get you in front of more age groups. Think about adding things like obstacle courses, rock-climbing and dodgeball tournaments to increase the variety and attract a broader customer base (more on this later).
Be even more creative and reach out to corporates and offer team building packages.
3. More people are looking for fun ways to exercise
Maintaining health and fitness is a top priority for more individuals today. People striving to eat healthily and keep in shape are constantly looking for better and probably easier ways to achieve their goals.
Routine exercises are not always appealing. And for the less enthusiastic individuals, finding an alternative would be great. For this reason, there is an increased need for fun ways to exercise and get in shape (or keep in shape).
What’s more interesting, scientists have reported that trampolining is actually a great way of exercising. Compared to jogging, bouncing on a trampoline is 68% more effective than a cardiovascular workout. They call it the “rebound therapy”.
With this in mind, trampoline park owners can benefit greatly from promoting their parks as a fun way to exercise. Advertise the health benefits your consumers can get from rebounding on the trampolines.
This approach means you can focus on a broader demographic and reach a larger market, which means more customers for your business.
You may need to also include other specialized equipment that customers can use to get in shape.
All this is targeted at being able to promote your trampoline park as a place where consumers can get a dose of healthy physical activities.
Recommended reading: How To Start a Trampoline Park
4. Increase in online ticket booking
With more people spending time on the internet, consumers find it convenient to carry out transactions online. This includes booking tickets for attractions, with trampoline parks being one of them.
Research shows about 40% of bookings for tours and activities are made online.
More specifically, mobile internet use has become more and more popular and preferred among internet users.
According to Statista, as of August 2019, 51.65% of all internet traffic is from mobile devices excluding tablets. Asia is on the lead with mobile accounting for over 62% of web page views.
Trampoline park owners can benefit a great deal from offering online booking services (as well as onsite) for their ticket reservations.
Have all the necessary details online so customers can make full reservations e.g include the dates, time, number of tickets, and customers’ information. If possible, allow customers to also sign their waivers online. This way, they can go straight to having fun immediately once they arrive at the park.
5. Increased demand for a variety of activities
The trampoline parks industry has come a long way. Initially, you would find only trampolines filling the larger part of the parks. For example, Urban Air CEO says trampolines occupied about 80% of their first park.
With the growth of the industry, a lot has changed and more activities are now offered in trampoline parks.
This is happening as a result of increased customer demand for variety.
Today consumers are looking for entertainment and amusement that will keep them engaged for longer. The excitement of moving from one activity to another in a trampoline park keeps them coming back for more.
The anticipation of trying out a new activity or new equipment on the next visit is also a plus.
Trampoline park owners keen on moving with the market trends can benefit from offering this diversification. Create an environment where there’ll be nonstop activity and excitement from the time a customer arrives until they leave.
Some of the activities you can include to meet the customers’ demands and create variety are ninja courses, rock-climbing walls, laser tag, and basketball hoops. You can also have themes to cater to different groups of clients e.g date nights, fitness sessions, toddler time, etc.
In short, trampoline park owners should keep the parks interesting and entertaining.
Conclusion
If you are already running a trampoline park and didn’t know about these trends or have not yet taken advantage of them, then we hope you will begin sooner than later. Take it one step at a time, implementing one strategy before moving to the next.
In summary, these are the trends and tips we’ve covered in this article:
- There are rising concerns and incidences of trampoline park injuries. Start preparing for tighter regulations.
- Trampoline customers are no longer only children. There are increasingly older consumers and so it’s necessary to broaden your customer demographics and promote your services to multigenerational markets.
- More people are looking for fun ways to exercise. Promote your trampoline park as a place where customers can exercise in an exciting, nontraditional way.
- With more people using the internet to make tour and attraction bookings, offer your ticket bookings online and make sure to optimize your site for mobile devices.
- Consumers want diverse activities to engage in. Offer different activities in your trampoline park to keep it fresh and entertaining.
There you have it – our choice of the top trampoline park trends and how to make the most of them.
