By all accounts so far (see: the last 95 pages of this thread), it's very park specific. Some seem to be handling it well (Blackpool), others less so (Indiana Beach). Might be useful to know which parks you're thinking about.
Coronavirus: Impact on Theme Parks
- Thread starter JammyH
- Start date
Tonkso
Hyper Poster
Huh, looks like me and my wife aren't alone in calling it Shammy B. Final brake run or the midcourse?
Matt N
CF Legend
Alton Towers have apparently cut adult entry from £58 to £53, along with season passes. Child entry has reduced from £48 to £44.
Nicky Borrill
Strata Poster
Don’t know about parks tbh
We’re at a loss of what to do... It’s been very clear that passing the saving on is ‘optional’ and businesses should decide how it would best benefit them. However it does seem as though some may be ‘expecting’ the savings to be passed on.
My issue with that is that it will not currently benefit us, and will create extra work in calculating and changing prices. It won’t benefit us because we’ve been generally full to (reduced) capacity since opening anyway. So no sense encouraging more people to visit. People choose us because we’re operating with some of the ‘safest’ measures in place, price isn’t really a factor. On the one hand it seems fair to pocket the extra profit, as we, and other businesses have suffered great losses for months through no fault of our own, plus the additional costs currently to offer table service and additional service costs for providing the app based ordering system... On the other hand it seems unfair to the customer to charge them the same price despite VAT ‘currently’ being lower!
God, £53 for 10am-4pm at Alton Towers, that's still pretty damn expensive.
I speak as someone who (thankfully) has not been furloughed and my job has remained steady throughout all of this, but I will say that I would HAPPILY (double underlined) drink at a pub that kept the prices the same and pocketed the difference from the drop in VAT. On one condition - when VAT is brought up again the prices also don't change (notwithstanding natural inflation, etc). Of course, no way to know that now, but I suppose I'd just stop going after.
If I had lost my job, been furloughed, etc, maybe I'd want to see prices drop, but even then maybe meet in the middle. We've [nearly] all be shafted by this, so feels kinda fair.
Themeparknewbie01
Roller Poster
Although they continue to heavily push 'pre-booking essential' thus getting people to book online.
Considering parks have haemorrhaged money the last few months and are now limited with their capacity, I wouldn't blame them at all to keep the 15%. If they are struggling to get customers into the Park then maybe.
It is up to every business to decide what to do with this. I hope no company is chastised by customers for making the best decision for their company.
They would deserve bad press for pocketing VAT savings because it’s not a saving that is intended to be for them. The whole point is that it makes it cheaper for consumers thereby encouraging them to spend money - that is their benefit.
If companies were intended to make savings from the tax cut, then it would have been a cut to corporation tax, not VAT.
Themeparknewbie01
Roller Poster
So, why haven't the Govt come out and dictated this? Isnt the half-price vouchers to help the consumer, but it is optional whether a company accepts them? Surely this scheme is to encourage spending. The VAT cut has very much been announced as being up to the company.
Errr.... I know what you are trying to say, but your first question doesn’t make sense in the context of how VAT actually works.
Yes, a company is entitled to raise or lower its NET prices as it wishes. But VAT must be charged to consumers where applicable - the end result being that it is a tax is charged to the end user of a chain (the consumer) - that is literally what happens. The VAT rate has no impact whatsoever on the outgoings of a service provider (other than encourage them to seek goods and services from VAT registered suppliers).
If a company wishes to exploit the situation and pocket the savings intended for the consumer, they can go for it. But they are offsetting savings that absolutely 100% are intended for consumers, because it is consumers that are charged VAT.
I've had enough of the government's bullc*** and constantly changing policies to cover each other's backs. It's really one rule for them and one rule for all of us. And they don't care about public health & safety whatsoever, every decision and u turn they make seems to be purely political. ☹
Sadiq Khan, on the other hand, has been pushing for compulsory masks for months now. I admire his constant challenging of the government and pointing out all the inconsistencies and incomprehensible decisions they are making.
Sadiq Khan, on the other hand, has been pushing for compulsory masks for months now. I admire his constant challenging of the government and pointing out all the inconsistencies and incomprehensible decisions they are making.
Nicky Borrill
Strata Poster
@Nitefly Whilst you are right in regards to how VAT is charged and how the process works, you are categorically wrong in saying the intention is to ‘save consumers money’ It isn’t, it’s to save the economy by saving businesses... Either by encouraging spending, or increasing profitability.
It has been said several times, in many media outlets, that it is up to businesses to decide whether increasing footfall through price reduction, or increasing bottom line profits would benefit them most. Rishi Sunak also confirmed that there was no requirement to pass it on, though he expected major brands to pass it on in order to stay competitive.
I haven’t spoken to any independent pubs or restaurants yet who plan to pass it on, and I’ve been asking around... Mostly due to the logistics of it rather than the profit gains. But most major chains seem to be passing it on... To the tune of 30p on a meal ??
It has been said several times, in many media outlets, that it is up to businesses to decide whether increasing footfall through price reduction, or increasing bottom line profits would benefit them most. Rishi Sunak also confirmed that there was no requirement to pass it on, though he expected major brands to pass it on in order to stay competitive.
I haven’t spoken to any independent pubs or restaurants yet who plan to pass it on, and I’ve been asking around... Mostly due to the logistics of it rather than the profit gains. But most major chains seem to be passing it on... To the tune of 30p on a meal ??
CSLKennyNI
Giga Poster
Due to corona Europa Park have confirmed their Halloween Horror Nights event Traumatica has been cancelled this year.
And Phantasialand have called off their annual pride event.
And Phantasialand have called off their annual pride event.
Nicky Borrill
Strata Poster
It continues... Today’s new cases are considerably less than the same day last week...Some more positive news... Signs that the small increase in new cases was just a small blip, similar to those seen after other measures were lifted, are starting to appear... Today figures are considerably lower than the same day last week
Hope this continues and we can continue to manage outbreaks locally, masks will help
Stay Alert Everyone
See @JammyH told ya not to worry
Think we’ll get through unlocking and the summer ahead just fine... What Autumn brings will be a bit nerve racking though :/
Not surprised at all to see halloween events being cancelled... I don’t expect to experience a single maze this year, though I hope I’m wrong!
JJLehto
Hyper Poster
By all accounts so far (see: the last 95 pages of this thread), it's very park specific. Some seem to be handling it well (Blackpool), others less so (Indiana Beach). Might be useful to know which parks you're thinking about.
Fair, and I 100% admit to laziness....was not gunna read 95 pages lol
Though I suppose Indiana Beach is no surprise. That IS a park I plan to hit later this year btw
I guess to be specific I'm looking for:
Hershey, KI, IB, SF Great America, CP and KW.
It's esp the crowds and ops I've wondered about. With some parks (like Hershey and I think SF) limiting people I gotta hope its not so bad/people who are not us fools are avoiding parks.
I’m only ‘categorically wrong’ if you think I was responding to a ‘different question’. I suspect we don’t have any actual disagreement.
The question being effectively asked (i.e. within the context of the conversation) was who supposed to take the immediate benefit of the tax savings: businesses, or consumers? As I suggested, it is of course the consumers that should be taking the benefit of paying less in respect of ‘unit plus VAT’. This does not stop businesses from raising NET prices but they would have to be relying on extreme goodwill to do so.
You would of course be correct in saying that the purpose of the exercise is to benefit everyone by ‘saving the economy’. That is clearly the ultimate aim, which is not mutually exclusive from my previous statements. Likewise, it’s obvious that businesses will benefit without increasing NET prices by consumers paying less gross costs, therefore making products more affordable and increasing trade - I agree that businesses will benefit via that means ?
Nicky Borrill
Strata Poster
You are of course correct in what you are saying regarding VAT, and also in that not passing on a cut in VAT effectively equates to a higher net price.
However, what I was pointing out was the implication in some of your wording that the current cut is purely intended to be passed on to the consumer, when it’s been made very clear that this is not necessarily the case. Businesses have been told the opposite, that they can either choose to pass on the saving in return for potentially increased sales, or increase net prices to pocket the difference.
So you’re right, no disagreement, just clarifying that businesses who choose not to pass it on are doing nothing wrong and are still acting reasonably within the spirit and purpose of the rate cut.
There is of course the ‘Eat out to help out’ scheme, which is how the government intend to encourage people to spend within the businesses that are most likely to choose not to pass on the rate cuts... Restaurants and pubs
Marry that scheme with improved margins due to the rate cut, and some pubs might just make it through this. On a side note, on the whole I think Sunak is doing very well.
witchfinder
Giga Poster
Nobody actually pays the gate price though do they? In fact they can't at the moment as you have to pre-book. So the real question is have they dropped the advance booking price? Because if they haven't then they're not really passing any discount on to the consumer.
A quick look at their website says they're charging £34 in advance which sounds very much like the same amount they've always charged (I'm not sure because I would usually use 2-4-1 vouchers) so in reality they're probably not passing any saving to their guests.