Political: The effects of events like wars and acts of terrorism could be considered ‘political’ Economics: Changes in the economy, for example a general growth of the economy is likely to lead to a growth of the economy is likely to lead to a growth in spending. Social: changes and trends in taste and fashion. For example, the mobile phone market has grown in both volume and value as more people wanted them and were prepared to pay more for extra money. Technological: changes in techniques that can lead to a new product or ways of making products.

Political : The new ride should adhere to the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (http://www. hse. gov. uk/pubns/etis5. htm#_2). The new ride must have restrictions to prevent accidents and keep customers safe (http://www. thorpepark. com/rides/saw-the-ride. aspx). For the new ride to be built Thorpe Park must have planning permission from the local council and must not decrease the size of the surrounding lakes. Advertising and promotions must adhere to the guidelines set out by the ASA and OfCom (http://www. ofcom. org. uk/) (http://www. asa. org. uk/).

Economic: High unemployment can mean less spending. High interest rates can mean less spending. High environmental charges on fares increase cost of travelling abroad. Increase in fuel prices can increase costs for Thorpe Park which may be passed in in prices. VAT increase. Weakening of the pound can increase tourism. Social: More people taking ‘staycation’. Unhealthy lifestyles means restrictions have to be in place. People look for ever more thrilling experiences. People using social networks and mobile applications to communicate.

Movies and gaming are more prevalent than ever before. Technological: Ride construction technology is becoming more advanced (bigger, faster, scarier). New technologies such as 3D and virtual technology can make events more realistic than ever before. Mobile technology is becoming the main source of communication. The Internet became the biggest medium for promotion in 2010 (overtook TV). Advancement in payment system SWOT ANALYSIS A SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

Strengths and weakness are internal and these are things a business can control for example, they can improve their product or to realise their strengths and use them to their best ability. Opportunities and threats are external, these are the things that a business cannot control, for example, my ride is in a outdoor theme park so then maybe the threat could be the weather as people won’t want to go to the theme park in horrible weather. This would be a threat to my business. Product I think that I have created a brilliant product to satisfy my target markets needs and wants.

My product is a 3D simulator with a difference; I think that it has a unique selling point. The strengths to my product is that it is the first 3D simulator ride in the Thorpe Park that includes a vertical drop which I think that this is a unique selling point as no other Theme parks have this sort of ride which was shown in my secondary research. I have chosen this specific product as I believe that it will be something that no-one has ever experienced before. It is a unique product, which will increase the profitability of Thorpe Park and maybe even increase the admission growth within a year’s time.

It will also increase the revenue for Thorpe Park. The weakness of my product would be the perceived queuing time. This is mainly because I believe that this will be a popular ride in the theme park and the majority of people will queue for the exciting experience. The queuing time could last up to 2 hours. Also, the people without credit/debit cards will have trouble trying to buy tickets to Thorpe Park as the most of the payments are done by credit/debit cards. The opportunity for the business is that more people are taking ‘staycation’ due to the budget cuts from the governments.

This means that more people will come to the business, which will increase the theme parks revenue. Also this could also be a possibility to increase capacity of park. My product improvements would be to change the payment system by providing more tickets to go to the ticket kiosk. This is enable people without credit cards to pay, also it will be a much faster payment as tickets will be handed to the directly. If any refunds are needed they can call the company, provide some details and their money will be refunded.