lewis97 wrote:MakoMania wrote:There is a new vacancy for an area manager at Alton Towers:
"We'll expect you to put forward ideas that increase profits, reduce costs and be able to demonstrate evidence of doing this before."
Nice to see Merlin are comitted to inproving the guest experience!
Assuming
this is the role you’re referring to, the sentence literally just before what you’ve quoted says the following:
“you'll keep a close eye on the efficiency of the department and continually seek to improve the guest experience”.
Of course you can selectively choose one part to quote in order to make a certain point, but when you take the job description in its entirety it does balance guest experience and customer service with standard business objectives - why wouldn’t a manager be expected to come up with profit-generating initiatives, whether that be through revenue increases or reduction of costs?
Managers can want to improve the guest experience, but under Merlin it is near impossible. The company have made it blatantly clear over the last few years that they have no regard for guest experience.
At points this season the park has been on its knees like never before. There is nothing left to cut, and if they do decide to cut further the consequences will be dire.
Under Merlin's ownership, the guest experience began to improve. However since 2012, the guest experience has taken a massive hit and the park simply could not cope at times this year. It is a shell of its former self.
We have lost single rider queues, baggage holds, half of early ride time, entrance hosts, free mazes at Scarefest, scare zones, numerous F&B outlets, Submission, Ripsaw, Sub-Terra, Charlie & Ice Age all without replacement, free parking for passholders, 5pm minimum closures, in park entertainment and for the first few months of the season the majority of the park didn't open until 11am. Downtime this season has also been more significant due in part to substantial cuts to technical services.
I find it crazy that people still continue to defend the company that has overseen the systematic decline of Alton Towers from a world class all round park to a park with a good collection of coasters but nothing much more.
The guest experience at Alton Towers in 2018 is the worst I have ever seen, and yet Merlin are talking about further cuts. How far are they willing to go? We are surely close to breaking point.
So sad, because there are lots of staff that really do care but their hands are tied from above

I'm sorry for having a moan (although I do think I was overdue a bit of a rant

), but it's just the terrible operational state of the park in 2018 that really upsets me.