- Comcast reported that its Universal Parks delivered growth in both attendance and per capita spending, as well as an improved level of profitability.
- Placer.ai data provides for a more nuanced understanding. Overall visits by domestic guests were down about 5% for Q4 2022 compared to Q4 2021. Universal's California parks produced a robust YoY increase, while Florida posted a decline. We suspect health restrictions limited California in Q4 2021, whereas Florida’s more liberal convention led it to winning more visitors. We can see this in visitation data compared to 2019, where California was still down 27% in visits for Q4 while Florida that was roughly flat. Given that the company said, “attendance that far surpassed pre-pandemic levels at all three parks,” California must be enjoying a lot of international visitation to put the figure above 2019. The California tourism board reported that for 2022, international spend recovered to 58% of 2019 levels, but that was more than double 2022’s level. 2023 is expected to see another robust increase by both domestic and international visitors.
- Another interesting “nuance” is the substantial decline in dwell time; that decline suggests that tourists to the markets are spreading their trip over more experiences. “Spreading” also means more spending at other operators/attractions/restaurants outside the parks and that is generally a positive for the health of each market's tourism ecosytem.
- For Universal, 2022 was really a year of planning and constructing new attractions and parks versus opening them. New parks include Epic in Florida (2025 opening), a park in Dallas, and an “experience” on the Vegas Strip. New attractions include Nintendo opening in Hollywood in February this year.
