SeaWorld Parks Get a New Name
Posted by Ashley McChesney on Wed, Dec 02, 2009 @ 10:45 AM
Blackstone Group closed the $2.7 billion sale of Busch Entertainment Corp. and promptly renamed them SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment. The name seems fitting since SeaWorld is the highest grossing park in the group, but it is misleading since Busch Gardens is also included under the umbrella.
Prior to the name change the SeaWorld Parks (including Busch Gardens) had been associated with the Anheuser-Busch company for 50 years. During those years the Theme Park chain grew to be the nation's second largest chain and saw about 24 million visitors a year.
Jim Atchison, president of SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, said the new name
"reflects our independence and autonomy...It wasn't really as much to disassociate from Busch as it was a desire to create a name that more fairly represented who we are."
This brings up questions about the Busch Gardens Theme Parks now needing a name change. For now it looks like they will keep the name because of a long term licensing agreement that was done before Blackstone bought the parks. This may not concern tourists but for those in the travel industry this is a very confusing decision, why not just take Busch out of all of the names?
Now let's play a game, what would you have named the SeaWorld-Busch Gardens parks?
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