THE British Association of Leisure Parks, Piers and Attractions has criticised the Government for appointing former Disneyland Paris vice-president Pierre Yves-Gerbeau as New Millennium Experience Company chief executive.
The move follows the controversial departure of Jennie Page who he has replaced.
BALPPA chairman David Howell believes the Government has made a mistake because there is a huge amount of home-grown talent within its own industry who are willing to help make the Dome profitable.
BALPPAalso condemned the decision to use only one person from the UK tourist industry – Madame Tussaud’s chief executive Mike Jolly -Êas an advisor on the Dome’s board.
Howell said turning the Dome sales around is going to be a tough prospect for anyone and even more so for someone who hasn’t worked in the British attractions industry. He accused the Government is wasting valuable time by not approaching the industry experts in the first place.
Citing Blackpool’s 7m visitors per year as just one example of success, Howell said British attraction promoters had a proven track record, unlike newly appointed Pierre Yves-Gerbeau, who has been wrongly credited with saving Disneyland Paris.
Howell said: “It’s not a case of him being a whizz kid and turning around Disneyland Paris, because he didn’t.”
BALPPA has publicly offered to provide full support. It believes a board needs to be formed with key industry people.
Dome operator New Millennium Experience Company was unavailable for comment as Travel Weekly went to press.
n Visitors to the Dome are giving it the thumbs-up, according to a survey by Managing the Service Business.
Over 90% of respondents rated the Dome customer service highly – giving it an eight, nine or 10 on a 10-point scale. However, only 58% of visitors claimed it was good or excellent value for money.