According to the OC Register, a new poll done by the Morning Consult research company has indicated that 72% of American adults do not feel safe at a U.S. theme park right now.
They came to this conclusion after polling 2,200 Americans for 5 days from July 29 through August 2nd. Questions were asked regarding how safe they would feel returning to leisure activities and theme parks during the current pandemic.
Now, the polling was not just in regards to theme parks and I think I need to make sure that is stated. Theme parks were just part of the locations they polled people about. Plus we don’t know how the sample was selected and results could change with larger samplings.
Here is the information provided in the Morning Consult’s article:
Overall going ton a vacation in general shows about 71% against that. The majority of these seem to average 70-80% of adults feeling uncomfortable about going on vacation, out to eat, to a concert, to the movies, to the gym, etc. It isn’t just theme parks that people are wary of.
What we need to really pay attention to is the time frames people say it will take to feel safe going to an amusement park.
For this chart the Morning Consult broke down comfort levels by time frames. The dark green being “next month”, the next shade lighter being the “next 2-3 months”, the middle shade being “the next 6 months” and the lightest color being “more than 6 months” with the gray/white area being “Don’t Know/No Opinion.”
When polled many wouldn’t feel comfortable going to an amusement park until the “More than 6 months” section and only then does it hit 41%. The only area that has a larger number is the “Don’t Know/No Opinion” at 26%. That seems to be the trend in the data over all. People aren’t going to feel safe enough to go out to theme parks, movies, gyms, museums, etc. for many more months.
I think that the “in person” entertainment sectors should really buckle down because they may not see enough of an impact on returning clients for several months.
For theme parks like Walt Disney World, and to a lesser extent, Disneyland, travel is another aspect that guests have to overcome. No matter how “clean” and “safe” their venue is, the uncertainty of travel safety is going to hinder many.
What do you think? Comment and let us know!
Sources: OC Register, Morning Consult
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