Water Park Tourism

Water parks are proliferating all over the world and attract ever-increasing numbers of visitors and tourists. There are many reasons: the feeling of mini-holiday experiences provided by the water parks’ integrated entertainment offerings; the spatial concentration of their attractions, making a water park effectively an amusement park with an large water theme; the sophistication of their attractions compared to flat-water pools; the safety of their experiences compared to open bodies of water, their seasonal independence (for indoor water parks); modern designs that use the latest theme park technology; and especially the family-friendliness of the overall water park experience. The latter also accounts for the high percentage of families among their visitors and tourists. This entry discusses the worldwide development of water parks, water parks’ key ...