Dreamworld & Luna Park: A Comparative Study of Operations Management

This report provides a comparative analysis of the operations management strategies employed by Dreamworld and Luna Park, two prominent theme parks. It highlights the strengths and weaknesses of each park's approach, focusing on areas such as customer service, safety management, creative innovation, disaster preparedness, and environmental responsibility. Dreamworld is recognized for its creative team and control management but faces challenges in customer service and ride safety. Luna Park excels in employee service but lags in creative innovation and disaster management. The report concludes with recommendations for both parks, including improvements to customer service and safety at Dreamworld, and enhanced disaster preparedness and environmental sustainability at Luna Park. The goal is to enhance their brand value, improve operational efficiency, and ensure long-term success in the competitive theme park industry.

Operation Management of Dreamworld
Dreamworld is one of Australia’s biggest and most visited theme parks. This kind of success
has been achieved by providing the guests with exceptional service, entertainment and safety
right from the time it opened its gate to the public. This theme park has been striving hard to
charm its visitors using various modes of entertainment that are specifically designed for both
domestic as well as international visitors. The USP of Dreamworld has been the creation of
new and innovative rides and other forms of entertainment in this one-of-a-kind theme park.
There is also good reason behind this well-planned success of the theme park. The founder
Mr. Longhurst had hired some of the most innovative creators from the world famous
Disneyland and also from Disneyworld to design the park (Dreamworld, 2018). However
Longhurst stuck to Australian architects in order to ensure that Dreamworld had an
Australian vibe to its entire ambience. This amazing theme park has 5 roller-coasters and
more than 12 odd rides. Dreamworld has been featured frequently in national and
international commercials and has brand association with international programs like the Big
Brother. Luna Park in Melbourne was first established on the 13th of December 1912 and it
was located in the very prominent location on the coastline of St Kilda in Melbourne
(Victoria, 2018). In 1916, the theme park was forced to shut down due to the big depression
after the World War 1. However Luna Park soon opened up to the people of Melbourne again
in the year 1923.
A huge theme park like Dreamworld needs a meticulous operation management in order to
sustain its existing market value and grow with the times. The management process of any
organization that involves regular innovation is characterized by creative planning and
development, strategic branding and designing, construction management, operational
management and a well-equipped disaster management. (Bonny & Huang, 2001).

While Dreamworld is located in Gold Coast which is the top draw for tourists at all times,
Luna also has a strategic advantage in terms of the location since it is located on the foreshore
of St. Kilda. Being in a hot spot for tourists, it is but obvious that both Dreamworld and Luna
must be having an overflow of tourists during the peak seasons. This calls for a solid
operation management in place. Without proper operational team in place it is impossible to
control thousands of visitors that throng the theme park on a daily basis. One of the
drawbacks of Dreamworld is that there have been many complaints regarding their customer
service and supposedly ill-mannered employees. This has to be looked into and the employee
management team has to ensure that their employees are well-trained to handle the crowd
without losing their cool under any circumstances. Another crucial factor that should be
managed by the operations management team at Dreamworld is the persistent concerns
regarding the safety of their rides. Being a 38 year old park, most of the rides in the park are
in dire need of proper maintenance. This has to be taken care of by the safety management
team immediately in order to prevent unfortunate accidents as well as save any further
damage to the reputation of the park. There is also the issue of the products being over-priced
at Dreamworld and this should also be taken into consideration if the park wants to attract
more number of visitors on a regular basis. However Dreamworld has an exceptional creative
team and a smooth control management team in place which ensures that the theme park is
run without any major glitches and there are no major accidents reported.
Operation Management of Luna Park
Luna also has a great control management team as well as an excellent employee service
management which ensures great reviews from customers (Coughlan & Coghlan, 2002)
However, there is a lack of creativity that is reflected in some not-so-great rides that fall
behind when compared to the rides at Dreamworld (like for example, the ‘Giant Drop’). In
order to stay ahead of the game, Luna needs to get together a better creative team and work

towards innovation of the existing rides at the park. Another shortcoming of Luna are the
unpredictable weather conditions of Melbourne. Being a completely open park, rough
weather conditions demand a stronger disaster management team in place. Rides should be
shut down immediately and shades need to be provided to protect visitors from the wind and
rains. Since theme parks like Luna have a large number of children visitors, there is a need
for high precautionary measures during rough weathers in the park. Special disaster
management professionals need to be employed in order to deal with natural disasters
efficiently and professionally.
Theme parks like Dreamworld and Luna also have a responsibility towards the environment
around them (Hu, 2013). Luna has been facing some amount criticism for not adopting
environment friendly energy resources to run the park. It has been constantly under the
scanner for not doing enough to take care of the environment in and around the park’s
premises. There is also the concern of waste generation which is a natural thing for a large
public park like Dreamworld or Luna. Waste management is also a crucial part of the daily
operations in the theme parks (Kaak, 2011). Since the parks have a huge number of visitors
on a daily basis, the amount of non-biodegradable waste products like plastic bags, cups,
straws and plates is also huge. Waste management should be done consciously and with a
passion towards saving our environment so that there is no major carbon footprint left.
Therefore it is mandatory to have a working waste management team to ensure that bio-
degradable and non-biodegradable waste products are not dumped together. A recycling team
may also be put together to go a step further and recycle the non-biodegradable waste
products in-house. Proper waste management can go a long way in building a sustainable and
ethical business for theme parks such a Dreamworld and Luna.
Conclusion

When it comes to operation management, both Dreamworld and Luna already have a super
efficient management team that plans, creates and controls the working of the entertainment
parks. However, some of the areas that need work for Dreamworld are the customer service
management and the safety management of the popular park. On the other hand, Luna has
issues with the weather and the energy management. Therefore, it needs to have a better and
more efficient disaster management team along with an environment conscious energy
management and waste management team. Both these parks need to work on reducing their
carbon foot prints on the planet and thus both of these parks should have better waste
management (Kim & Kim, 2016). Both the parks are already quite popular with the local
crowd as well as with visiting tourists during the peak seasons and improving their operation
management can only increase their popularity with all sections of the population both in and
out of the cities where they are located (Ahmadi, 1997).
Recommendations
To increase their brand value and keep ahead of competition, both Dreamworld and Luna are
recommended to improve certain sections of their management (Raluca, 2008). It is
recommended that Dreamworld improves upon its customer service and focuses on fixing
some of its old and dilapidated rides. It should also work on better safety management in
order to reduce any risks of accidents (Avery, 2010). Luna is recommended to have a better
disaster management team in order to combat the frequent harsh weather conditions in
Melbourne. It is also recommended that Luna focuses on reducing its non-biodegradable
waste and increase recycling of plastic waste in order to create a better and eco-friendly
image of itself in the market.
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