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Danish amusement parks raking in the profits

Christian Wenande
May 27th, 2016


This article is more than 8 years old.

Investments are paying off for Denmark’s tourism destinations

Making a splash (photo: Djurs Sommerland)

With temperatures again heading into the 20s this weekend, it’s beginning to look like an early summer of fun for the Danish amusement parks. And healthy profits too.

Most of the larger amusement parks have experienced solid growth over the past five years, according to a new report by Metroxpress newspaper. One of them, Djurs Sommerland, has doubled its visitor numbers since 2007 to a record 800,000 last year.

“Since 2008, we’ve had an aggressive strategy that has involved us investing 300 million kroner in new rides,” Henrik B Nielsen, the head of Djurs Sommerland, told Metroxpress.

“We’ve focused on large ‘icon rides’ like the ‘Pirate’, which is Denmark’s largest rollercoaster, so every year guests can experience something new here. It’s made us able to get a larger market share in our region, and we can now attract more guests who are not adverse to driving two hours to get here.”

READ MORE: Legoland in Billund expanding

Investing in a future
Many of the other parks have followed suit regarding investment. ‘To make money, one must spend money’ seems to be the recipe for success.

At Legoland, for instance, around 1,400 seasonal workers take part in workshops designed to help them give visiting children a better experience.

“If a guest experiences something new because an employee has done something fun, we can ensure that the guest will return,” said Legoland’s head of HR, Bente Noringriis.


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A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”