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| PHÎÒÎ: SHUTTERSTOCK |
The abnormal summer heat was a boon for the owners of water parks. Record-high amounts of rainfall in the month of June were not conducive to going on water rides, while in July and August the number of visitors increased dramatically. In large cities, water parks helped Ukrainians adapt to a working rhythm after the summer holidays. "After two weeks lying on the beach for several days I was unable getting back to work for love or money as all I had on my mind was fun in the sun and the cool sea breeze. The sweltering heat aggravated my state of mind. I relieved the soreness of my sunburn at the water park," Olga Korolkova, designer of the Ziver company, shared her recipe for getting back into the working mode.
According to doctors, most vacationers face similar problems after the holidays. "The swimming season is coming to an end, but the body requires going through water procedures. We cannot afford travelling to the seaside after work, but swimming in artificial lakes and ponds is an acceptable alternative," says psychologist Lilia Kostenko.
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| PHÎÒÎ: PHL |
Peculiarities of the national aquapark industry
There are two types of water parks: open-air and closed. In Ukraine, almost all open-air water parks are located in Crimea and along the coast of the Azov Sea, while closed parks are typical for big cities. Experts have yet to calculate how many water parks there are in Ukraine. The problem lies in the difficulty of defining an aqua park. In the classic sense of a water park, it is not simply a set of water amusement rides, but also a corresponding infrastructure, in particular a park zone which none of the water parks in Ukraine has.
Some people believe a water park is a few water slides on the territory of a hotel or recreation centers. According to rough estimates, there are about 15 water parks in the country, half of them being located in Crimea and the others in Brovary outside of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv, Ternopil, Odesa and Luhansk.
Despite the crisis, some new complexes of water amusement facilities have opened their doors to visitors. In the early summer in the village of Kyrylivka on the shores of the Azov Sea the Treasure Island aquapark was opened and in August its Attica work complex consisting of 10 slides and four swimming pools in Ochakiv (Mykolaiv oblast) put into operation . Treasure Island management launched the construction of water parks in the entertainment zone of Osokorky (23,000 m2) in Kyiv and the Royal Marine in Donetsk with US $25 mn investments and a scheduled opening date of 2012.
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| PHÎÒÎ: UNIAN |
Industry risks
Not all existing water amusement parks survived the crisis without taking a financial loss. For example, the Prometheus in Odesa and the Limpopo in Ternopil got shut down. In the latter case, however, the crisis was not the reason for the park being shut down. At the Limpopo, four children from 10 to 14 years of age were hospitalized with a diagnosis of mild poisoning by vapors of chlorine as a result of simultaneous addition of water acidifiers and sodium hypochlorite that formed gaseous compounds of chlorine to the water. Unfortunately, this is not the first accident at local water parks.
“The orange slide is too narrow and kind of risky. At first it goes smoothly and then the last section is 12-15 meters high with a slope of around 45 degrees. The pool is too small for such as slide. At the bottom of the slope the lifeguards installed a rubber mat and a safety net. Instructors say somebody constantly gets injured, especially people weighing more than 100 kg,” Volodymyr shared impressions of his visit to the Lviv water park on a web forum.
If you examine the reviews of Ukrainians on water rides, it becomes clear that virtually every water park has its deficiencies. In some places the tiles are too slippery, in some places one feel the joints of slide structures scrape their backs while sliding down and in other places where the amount of chlorine in the water is too high. Many complaints were related to the lack of qualified medical care and the low professional level of the park’s personnel. Overseas the employees of such water parks are certified to conduct rescue operations and have skills in first aid, while in Ukraine instructors are simply people that know how to swim.
Noteworthy is that not all Ukrainian water parks have accident insurance policies, so compensations of possible injuries sustained on water rides depends largely on the position of the park’s owners. This state of affairs is due to the lack of standards that regulate the operation of water parks.
Water park managers surveyed by Weekly.ua admitted that there are accidents, but stressed that their cause in most cases is not due to the negligence of employees, but rather to the violation of basic safety rules by visitors. For example, a man who died at the Ternopil aquapark Limpopo skidded down the slide while standing.
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| PHÎÒÎ: UNIAN |
Water amusement gets dearer
In the past year due to falling demand, the owners of open-air water parks had to abandon the annual tradition of raising prices. They feared that they would observe the same trend this summer and the torrential rains in June merely corroborated their forecasts. But thanks to the heat wave, the number of visitors increased by almost 1.5-2 times this same figure in the pre-crisis period. As a result, the prices at water parks located on the shores of the Black and Azov Seas were immediately hiked by an average of 10%.
"We raised the maximum price (a stay for the entire day - Weekly.ua) from last year´s UAH 250-260 up to 280 UAH,” says the owner of the Banana Republic water park in Yevpatoria Yuriy Rylkov. On average, the maximum price of water rides in the Black Sea is UAH 280-300, while on the Azov Sea it is slightly cheaper at UAH 250-280. However, despite the increase in demand the water parks ran discount campaigns.
For example, at the Cape of Good Hope water park (Berdyansk, Zaporizhzhia oblast) visitors are offered a discount on the price of tickets on certain days of the week. The Sudak water park offers a 40% discount to Crimean residents. The Alushta water park offers a 50% discount to everyone residing in the adjoining hotels Aquapark and Morskiy. As we approach the end of the season in late September and early October the number of discounts and bonuses will increase.
While in closed aqua parks the attendance increased on average by 10-15% compared to last year, prices remained unchanged. For example, Plyazh in Lviv and Jungli in Kharkiv the maximum admission prices were kept at last year´s level at UAH 95 and UAH 120, respectively. Moreover, certain categories of ticket prices were even lowered. For example, at Terminal aquapark in Brovary, which opened last autumn, the price of enjoying water rides for three hours was reduced by UAH 30."
The crisis is still not over and the purchasing power of Ukrainians still remains lower than in pre-crisis times," says Advertising Director of Terminal Water Park Oleksandr Koval. He noted that the fee for an entire whole day remained at the level of UAH 290 on weekends and UAH 190 on weekdays.
It should be noted that many private water rides also provide a number of bonuses. At Terminal school children and high school students can enjoy the water amusements for UAH 60 for two hours and the Beach aquapark in Lviv offers married couples that gave birth to a second child a discount of UAH 50.
In addition to the traditional water rides, many aquaparks of closed and open-air types are trying to attract visitors by offering them fitness and SPA services, special shows and tournaments. Closer to the winter they will offer customers such attractions as disco and aqua parties. In short, the residents of many Ukrainian major cities now have the opportunity to extend their summer should they have such a desire.
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