Executive Summary

This report evaluates the marketing approach of the Chessington world of adventures resort based on the tourism marketing frameworks available to evaluate its internal strength and the external competitive forces. The primary purpose is to comment on the efficiency of the organisation in its reaction to the needs of the customers and the maintaining of the competitive edge in the theme park and resort market in the UK. It shall employ Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning (STP) so as to take into consideration the manner in which the company targets the customers and Porters Five Forces in order to analyse the level of competitiveness in the industry. Findings indicate that Chessington possesses an excellent family-related brand, differentiated targeting policy, and positioning as a Merlin Entertainments portfolio. However, it has challenges of rigid competitive rivalry, buyer price elasticity and customer demands vary during digital contact and value perceptions. Based on such findings, the report recommends that the level of digital personalisation should be better, the off-peak demand measures strengthened and the resort positioning itself as an educational and experience-based destination to bolster the competitiveness in the long-term and sustainable growth.

Chapter One

Introduction

Tourism marketing is interested in determining, anticipating and satisfying visitor needs in terms of strategic design, advertising as well as delivery of tourism products and experiences. Market segmentation, customer value creation, and competitive positioning are the primary concepts, and they are required in experience-based markets such as theme parks and resorts (Jobber and Ellis-Chadwick, 2023). In this report, I will endeavour to examine the marketing case of Chessington World of Adventures Resort in the tourism industry of UK. The report is aimed at providing a background of the company, internal and external marketing analysis and concluding with recommendations on how the efficacy of marketing of the resort could be enhanced in future.

 

Chapter Two

  Company Background

Chessington world of adventures Resort is among the most renowned family related leisure and tourism resorts located in Greater London in the United Kingdom. The resort is a compounding attraction of a theme park, zoo, SEA Life centre, and in-site accommodation and as such is rooted in experiential and short-break tourism niche. The nature of its business idea aligns with the contemporary tourism demands of immersive and multi-day vacationing products that combine both entertainment and education with hospitality within a single destination (Merlin Entertainments, 2024).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure : Chessington World of Adventures Resort (Kidstart, 2016)

It has a history that runs back to Chessington Zoo at the beginning of the twentieth century that was subsequently re-developed into a theme park destination making it a part of overall development of the UK tourism industry that was until recently dominated by day-out attractions but is currently focusing on themed, experience-based resorts. There are more than 40 rides and attractions, wildlife displays with more than 1,000 animals in Chessington World of Adventures today, which proves that this is not only the entertainment product but also the educational tourism product (Chessington World of Adventures Resort, 2024). This combination differentiates the resort among the ride-only theme parks and makes it more appealing to those family members who have children.

 

 

Chapter Three

Internal Analysis

The application of the Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning (STP) as an internal analysis provides a glimpse into the ways Chessington world of adventure resort aligns its organisational capabilities to the customer needs. STP is a core marketing strategy model which can be used to assist companies to identify appealing customer groups, focus on them effectively and present their products and services in the market at a competitive price (Jobber and Ellis-Chadwick, 2023).

Segmentation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure : Market Segmentation (Slideteam, 2025)

Geographic and demographic Segmentation

Chessington has segmented its market on a multi-variable segmentation that comprises of geographic segmentation, demographic segmentation, psychographic segmentation and behavioural segmentation with a high level of concentration being based on geographic segmentation since it is relatively simple to visit Chessington on a day outing and a short holiday. The international tourists, particularly Europeans, are the secondary market, as they tend to visit Chessington as a destination in the London tourism (Ahmet and Hancer, 2022). Demographic segmentation focuses on the families whose children are between the age of 3-14 years. The middle-to-upper-middle category of household income is applicable to the visits comparison as the visits are discretionary as far as the expenditure of money on the tickets, accommodation, food, and shopping. Another significant aspect in demand trend is school holidays, which are useful to underline the significance of age and family life cycle (Blythe and Martin, 2023).

Psychographic segmentation

Psychographic segmentation would focus on families that share the need to have common experiences, entertainments, and educative value. Chessington is aimed at parents who like safe and controlled environments and children that are inspired by fantasy, animals and themed stories. It is consistent with the experience-seeking and novelty-based lifestyles in contrast to the thrill-seeking extremes (Lee and Kim, 2023).

Behavioural segmentation

Behavioural segmentation is an expression of the desired occasions and benefits. The prime customers are day visitors, short break resort guests, repeat visitors having annual passes and school visitors. The targeted benefits include fun, convenience, wildlife and value-for-money bundling. There is also the implementation of loyalty programmes and seasonal events which enhance repeat visitation (Bhasin, 2017).

Targeting Strategy

Chessington uses differentiated targeting whereby specific segments are targeted using differentiated services rather than a mass market. The primary market is family customers with younger children and the secondary segments include school and short break holidaymakers. The design of the products, pricing packages, accommodation packages, and themed events can be differentiated and appeal to the visitors of a specific group (Jobber and Ellis-Chadwick, 2023).

This strategy can be justified by the fact that the motives of visiting the resort are not homogenous and the resort has the capacity of operations to offer rides, animal interactions, hotels and seasonal activities simultaneously. Differentiation implies that by appealing to customers with experiences that suit them, Chessington will gain maximum revenue during peak season and off-peak season and reduce the reliance on one type of customer..

Positioning and Perceptual Map

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure : Positioning of Chessington (Research, 2024)

Chessington world of adventures will be positioned as a family theme park, educational and immersive resort which merges theme parks and wildlife. Neither is it a park that is thrill based, but rather on learning, narrating and fun rather than thrill. In illustrating this positioning, a perceptual map can be used with the intensity of thrill on the horizontal axis and educational and family orientation on the vertical axis. Chessington is a medium thrilling and family and education oriented Park. Alton Towers and Thorpe park are more adventure-themed and less family centric than LEGOLAND Windsor and Paultons Park which are more family centric and less educative. This indicates how Chessington has a niche in the theme park market in the UK.

 

 

 

 

Chapter Four

 External Analysis

There is the evaluation of the competitive landscape of Chessington based on the Porters Five Forces model to identify the attractiveness of the UK theme park market (Blythe and Martin, 2023).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure : Porter’s Five Forces (M, 2024)

Competitive Rivalry

Competitive rivalry is high. Chessington directly competes with big theme parks in the UK such as Alton Towers, Thorpe Park, LEGOLAND Windsor and local attraction parks. These competitors are incurring a lot of money in new rides, price campaign and marketing campaign. Seasonality enhances competition particularly during times of school holidays when comparison is made by the visitors on the destinations (Tay et al., 2023).

 

Bargaining Power of Buyers

Buyer power is medium to high. Price sensitive customers can do comparisons of the tickets prices, promotions and reviews on the Internet. The switching cost is low due to the fact that the families can move to other attractions or recreational activities. However, to reduce the buyer power, Chessington provides packages, seasonal membership, and themed experiences, which allow making this product appear more significant (Ahmet and Hancer, 2022).

Supplier Bargaining Power

Supplier power is moderate. The key suppliers are the ride manufacturers, animal welfare suppliers, food and beverage suppliers and experienced labour force. On the one hand, there are no many specialist suppliers, and on the other hand, the fact that Chessington is owned by Merlin Entertainments boosts its bargaining power since the company enjoys the economies of scale and has entered into long-term contracts with different attractions (Jobber and Ellis-Chadwick, 2023).

Threat of New Entrants

The potential of new entrants is low. There are high barriers to entry because of large capital requirement, strict laws on safety and animal welfare, strong brand recognition, and land ownership. The reputation, the scale and years of customer trust that have been gained by old brands like Chessington would be very difficult to outdo by a new entrant (Blythe and Martin, 2023).

Threat of Substitutes

The threat of substitutes is medium. The other alternatives include theaters, zoos, museums, computer entertainment and family holidays in other countries. Nevertheless, Chessington offsets this risk by the fact that there is a rare composition of rides, animals, accommodation in the same roof and makes it less attractive to be substituted directly (Tay et al., 2023).

 

 

 

Chapter Five

Future Development and Conclusion

The external and internal marketing audit exposes some of the issues that are crucial to Chessington World of Adventures Resort. Being more vulnerable to both competitive and economic threats because of a reliance on seasonal and domestic demand because of differentiated targeting and explicit positioning, the resort, as its core segments of the market bear witness to, is closer to the core of the target market, is more relative to any core threats. In the external environment, existence of high competition, medium buyer power and substitutes leisure are the obstacles to long-term retention of market shares. The existing marketing plan is rather effective in regard to the use of the family-friendly theming and education experiences, yet it requires further adaptation to the changing customer behaviour, in particular, the rise of digital interaction, personalised experience, and value revelation. To improve the future performance, Chessington must increase the data-based digital marketing to provide personalisation, improved management of customer relationships and encouragement of revisiting the park even after the peak seasons. Moreover, brand differentiation and emotional engagement would be enhanced by improving the sustainability messages and education stories on wildlife conservation.

In conclusion, a more reactive, digitally competitive and experience-oriented marketing strategy would assist Chessington to respond to the market pressure successfully and stay on the first positions among the UK family tourism destinations..

 

 

 

 

References

Ahmet, O. and Hancer, M. (2022) Digital Marketing and Social Media Strategies for Tourism and Hospitality. London: Goodfellow Publishers Limited.

Bhasin, H. (2017) ‘4 types of market segmentation and how to segment with them’, Marketing91. Available at: https://www.marketing91.com/4-types-market-segmentation-segment (Accessed: 23 December 2025).

Blythe, J. and Martin, J. (2023) Essentials of Marketing. 8th edn. London: Pearson Education Limited.

Chessington World of Adventures Resort (2024) About Us. Available at: https://www.chessington.com/explore/about-us/ (Accessed: 23 December 2025).

Jobber, D. and Ellis-Chadwick, F. (2023) Principles and Practice of Marketing. 10th edn. London: McGraw Hill.

Kidstart (2016). Chessington World of Adventures Review - A Fantastic Day Out - KidStart Magazine. [online] KidStart Magazine. Available at: https://www.kidstart.co.uk/blog/chessington-world-of-adventures-review/.

Lee, J. and Kim, J.J. (2023) ‘Market segmentation according to tourism motivation and behavioural differences’, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(2), pp. 1063.

M, A. (2024). Navigating Market Challenges: Understanding Porter’s Five Forces. [online] Next Gates. Available at: https://nextgates.com/navigating-market-challenges-understanding-porters-five-forces/.

Merlin Entertainments (2023) Annual Report and Financial Statements. Available at: https://www.merlinentertainments.biz (Accessed: 23 December 2025).

Merlin Entertainments (2024) Our Attractions and Brands. Available at: https://www.merlinentertainments.biz/brands/ (Accessed: 23 December 2025).

Research, A. (2024). What is a Perceptual Map? How to Make One? (+ Template) | Appinio Blog. [online] www.appinio.com. Available at: https://www.appinio.com/en/blog/market-research/perceptual-map.

 

Porter, M.E. (2008) ‘The five competitive forces that shape strategy’, Harvard Business Review, 86(1), pp. 78–93.

Tay, K.X., Chan, J.K.L. and Mohamad, D. (2023) ‘Do the 4Ps of marketing mix strategy assuage fears of travelling?’, Journal of Vacation Marketing, pp. 1–15.