Garlic town’s financially troubled theme park launched the first
leg of a symbiotic marketing plan Wednesday
– a plan aimed at luring more Bay Area families and keep the
unique horticultural center alive.
GILROY – Garlic town’s financially troubled theme park launched the first leg of a symbiotic marketing plan Wednesday – a plan aimed at luring more Bay Area families and keep the unique horticultural center alive.
The Bonfante Gardens board of directors approved a business plan Tuesday outlining an April 18 opening day and a two-for-one deal with Paramount Parks’ Great America amusement park in Santa Clara.
The cross-marketing deal allows families and individuals to purchase a VIP pass to Great America and automatically receive admission privileges to Bonfante Gardens. The business plan also calls for an increase in marketing and the hiring of 700 part-time and seasonal associates.
“We believe there is an awareness problem with this park,” said Barb Granter, a Paramount director serving as vice president of Bonfante Gardens. “This will increase by four times the amount of advertising the park has ever had before.”
In February, Bonfante Gardens enlisted Granter and Paramount Parks, one of the nation’s leading theme park operators, in a five-year, day-to-day operations management deal aimed at making the park profitable. The deal was struck after nearly two years of lower-than-expected attendance levels led to cuts in hours of operation, full-time and part-time jobs and special holiday celebrations.
Granter said the two-for-one-deal is just the first of more promotions that will piggyback Bonfante Gardens and Great America. Paramount believes it can increase the regional awareness of the Gilroy park by marketing the two Bay Area parks “whenever and wherever it makes sense,” said Granter.
“We believe when people come here for the first time, they’ll try it and fall in love, and come back for more,” Granter said.
She declined to comment further regarding future promotions at the non-profit theme park.
Bob Kraemer, the chairman of the Bonfante board, lauded Granter’s business plan Wednesday morning as a way to cast a wider net on the park’s key demographic – Bay Area families.
“Without people walking through the gates, (having an excellent theme park) doesn’t mean anything,” Kraemer said. “This park would have been in extreme jeopardy if we didn’t find an effective organization to manage the park on a contractual basis. The patient is breathing now, and we think we have the right people and the right plan to keep it breathing.”
Granter, a 20-year Paramount veteran, most recently served as vice president of “Star Trek: The Experience,” a Paramount attraction in Las Vegas, Nev.
Last Saturday, Bonfante Gardens began its employee orientations. About half of the 700 workers the park needs, Granter said, have been hired. Many of the employees are rehires and Gilroy residents, Granter said.
“I took a show of hands at the orientation and about half of them said they worked at the park before,” Granter said.
In October 2002, Bonfante Gardens announced an across-the-board layoff of 50 full-time employees.
Paid employees are not the only element in the Bonfante Gardens work force. Volunteer docents play a role, too.
“Given that we’re a non-profit organization, volunteer docents are critical to the park’s success,” Granter said.
More than 100 people have approached the park to become docents, according to Granter.
Other than the behind-the-scenes operators, not much has changed at the 600-acre Hecker Pass horticultural park which was conceived and built over more than a decade by former Nob Hill Foods owner Michael Bonfante. Bonfante Gardens plans to operate its existing 22 rides and 20 attractions and educate families about the benefits of trees and horticulture.
The season opens the weekend of April 18-20 and reopens April 23-27 for spring break. It will be open on weekends through June 7 and on Fridays for its Garden Days program May 2 through June 6.
The park opens for daily operation Saturday, June 7.
A season pass to Bonfante Gardens is $49.95, a $20 reduction from last year. General Admission is $29.95 for adults and $21.95 for children, as it was last year.
For more information on theme park passes, go to www.pgathrills.com/tickets_season_pass.jsp.
