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Alton towers tries to ensure the economy is kept good and they try to contribute to the economy when and where they can . They contribute to the economy through employment. All together, the attraction employs around 2,500 local people. The money that Alton towers make massively contributes to the economy . In 2019 they made £1.74billion. This had a positive impact as the money that people spend at Alton Towers gets spent in the local area, which ends up as peoples wages. This ties into the multiplier effect as the money spent at the attraction helps people in the local area. Therefore, the more busy the attraction , the more money spent , the better for the local communities and towns . Unfortunately, most of the jobs that are at Alton Towers are seasonal . This means the local economy are better off at the peak times of the year , rather than the off seasons. Due to how many visitors Alton Towers gets they support the local economy as they create lots of tourists . Whenever they operate , they aim to be an integrated partner to their immediate communities , protecting their environments and investing in local initiatives. When there is a constant flow of tourists and money income it hugely benefits the local communities. They can use the money to contribute to the local area in order to improve infrastructure . The improvements include things such as hotels, railways and roads . These all benefit the local people as it will give them a wider variety of accessibility and jobs. They can venture out of the local area and they will have more access to better opotunities.

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Alton Towers tries to protect the environment as much as possible as they are keen to contribute to a more eco-friendly attraction. They contribute in many ways, to reduce carbon and climate change. Each year Alton Towers budget for environmentally focused initiatives such as LED lighting, solar PV, variable speed drive and manage water efficiency at the attraction. They do several things in order to keep their attraction environmentally friendly . They divert waste from landfill and they do this by recycling and using waste to generate energy where possible. The attraction is diverting away from single use plastics as they know how harmful they are to the environment . At the park you can purchase a reusable bottle which costs you £16.00. However , when you return to the park , you can re-activate the bottles for a small fee of £5.00. On top of this, in 2018 they got rid of the plastic straws . Some visitors are put off visiting attractions which aren't contributing to a greener environment . Therefore, since Alton Tower are doing lots to achieve this , they may attract more visitors. Every year they contribute to ‘We Care about our Planet’ events to support their commitment to sustainability. The events include ; collecting plastics and other waste , encouraging staff to cycle, walk and even skateboard to work and driving awareness about environmental initiatives amongst the staff and guests. Additionally, they report the carbon dioxide emissions annually . Their target is to reduce their carbon emission intensity by %2.0 year on year.

Merlin Entertainments | Environment

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Helping reduce plastic pollution

An estimated 26 million tonnes of plastic pollution ends up in the oceans each year. As advocates of marine conservation, we're focusing even more on removing single use plastic from our business and actively seeking out environmentally responsible businesses throughout our supply chain.

In 2018, we phased out plastic straws within all Merlin's owned attractions worldwide. We'll continue to review the use of plastic within our business, seek innovative partnerships to raise awareness of plastic misuse, and promote recycling through our attractions.

Employee participation

Every year we take part in 'We Care about our Planet' events to support our commitment to sustainability. These include collecting plastics and other waste, encouraging staff to cycle, walk and even skateboard to work and driving awareness about environmental initiatives amongst our staff and guests. Our SEA LIFE aquariums host 'beach cleans' to clear litter and help prevent materials entangling and poisoning creatures that live on or near the beach.

Reporting

We're required to report on our carbon dioxide emissions annually. Our target is to reduce our carbon emission intensity by 2.0% year on year. Full details of our reporting can be found in the Responsible Business section of our Annual Report and Accounts.

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Helping reduce plastic pollution An estimated 26 million tonnes of plastic pollution ends up in the oceans each year. As advocates of marine conservation, we're focusing even more on removing single use plastic from our business and actively seeking out environmentally responsible businesses throughout our supply chain.

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Alton towers use technology in several ways to improve the park which means more customers. Firstly , they have an online website whereby they download the app before they visit , scan their ticket in the form of a QR code once they get there. The park took technology to the next level in 2019 as they worked in Coco-Cola to pilot self driving robots to deliver drinks to their customers . These robots used cutting-edge artificial intelligence, GPS tech, sight, sound and motion sensors to trial if attractions could enable 24/7 on-demand logistic services. They went down a treat with visitors! It benefited them as it made it less hassle on a day to day basis and it made the customers more intrigued. However, there are negatives to technology for the staff . The jobs that the technology does, or robots do , effects people employment . For example selling tickets and scanning tickets as you enter the park, less people will be needed as technology will take their place. This means people will be unemployed because of the technology , this means they wont have no money if they don't get another job . This means the employment in the local area and the park will go down as the technology is doing everything for them . On the other hand , technology actually reduces pollution in some aspects .This is because you are able to book your tickets online meaning that there are less cars in the village queuing to purchase tickets on the day . Additionally, this means that there is less traffic congestion so that the local community wont be annoyed with how many tourists there are in the area .

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Alton Towers tries to be as social as they can and do events to promote their social perspectives. Every year Alton Towers put on fundraising events throughout the year including bake sales for specific causes to McMillion coffee mornings, and family fun nights to memorabilia auctions to raise vital funds to supporting Merlin’s Magic Wand and other charities and campaigns. https://www.altontowers.com/about-alton-towers/blog/at-the-heart-of-what-we-do-it-s-not-coasters/ This support often comes in all shapes and sizes and the partnership with Merlin’s Magic Wand, enables the park to add some extra sparkle to the lives of youngsters in some more less-traditional ways. They provide a warm, magical and unforgettable welcome area to support children and their families visiting the wards for treatment and care. The space is made in order to put a smile on the face of thousands of children undergoing treatment and medical care. None of this would be possible if it wasn't for the fundraising that the park got. Not only the fundraising but the  Merlin Magic Wand “Magic Spaces” programme, a local outreach project designed to ensure that local children who are prevented from visiting attractions like Alton Towers Resort, due to severe illness, physical disability or other exceptional circumstances still have the opportunity to experience the unique magic of Merlin. Additionally, the resort also makes local donations to support charities and community engagement projects in Staffordshire, provide overnight experiences to local hospices and their child beneficiaries in end-of-life care and deliver educational and training programmes including Princes Trust. Events put on by Alton Towers is a positive as they are involving the local people and encouraging local people to input into the tourism vision. By supporting the local community like this both the brand and attraction will be seen in a positive light. Alton towers always tries to outdo their competitors by being unique and coming up with new ideas to wow their customers . However, Drayton Manor is always going to be a competitor to them because they offer something that Alton Towers does not. This is wedding packages and wedding venues . I personally think that Alton Towers would extremely benefit from holding wedding venues, as many people enjoy the park and would consider having their wedding there. A survey in 2019 among individuals married in 2018 and 2019 showed that country/manor houses were the most popular wedding venue, chosen by 26 percent of respondents. Bars, city hotels/venues, and garden or outdoor types of venues were also among the top wedding venues. Museums or attractions, sporting venues and warehouses were least commonly used venues for weddings. However, those adrenaline junkies would jump at the opportunity to get married at a venue like this. https://www.statista.com/statistics/934348/most-popular-wedding-venue-types-united-kingdom/

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One of the most deadly rollercoaster accidents took place within the Alton Towers park . In 2015 the ride Smiler malfunctioned whereby 4 people were injured. Due to this the park was closed due to an ongoing investigation. However, in the months that followed it was reported that visitor numbers to the attraction fell drastically. This is because visitors lost trust for the park and felt unsafe . Due to the lack of customers and lack of income ,this was hugely impacting the local businesses who that benefited from the theme park from knock-on trade suffered. Alton Towers needs to make sure that something similar to this doesn't happen in the future as it would negatively impact on the local businesses that rely on tourism from tourists visiting Alton Towers. It would mean that their profits would be down which would effect the local economy. When the accident happened the park engaged with the community on how to improve businesses by focusing on other interests in the area including walks, fishing, restaurants and neighbouring historic market towns.https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/aug/28/alton-towers-rollercoaster-crash-villagers-wait-for-trade-to-return

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A plan that is being discussed with Alton Tower is a 10-year plan that boosts tourism in Staffordshire by having Alton Towers open all year long. If the theme park was open all year, this would generate more jobs and more permanent positions. A benefit to being open all year round is that the theme park wouldn't have so many ques because people would feel free to go any other time of year. This would reduce congestion and reduce the number one customer complaint which is ques. It would mean that the local communities and area wouldn't have peak times of year where they cant travel around their own area due to congestion and tourists . Additionally, there are other local attractions nearby the park including Wildlife Park. Awesome Walls and Wetley Moor Alpaca’s, I think that Alton Towers could work alongside these attractions and offer a combined ticket price. This would encourage visitors to spend more than one day in the local area. This would tie into the multiplier effect as the money tourists would spend in the local economy would benefit the local communities and pay peoples wages . By benefiting the local community it would encourage more people to travel there , as infrastructure would be better. By the attraction being open all year round it will create more jobs for the local area in particular full-time positions. This will also improve the cost-of-living standards in the area as people will have more disposable income.  https://blooloop.com/theme-park/news/alton-towers-plans-year-round-theme-park/