Moving from beedies to theme parks

If beedi business is their bread and butter, entertainment business appears to be a fever that has taken hold in the family that owns the Mangalore Ganesh Beedies of Mysore.

If one cousin from the family has set up the 'Fantasy Park', the other has built the 'Planet X' park. One was launched nine years ago and the other followed four years later, and both parks are going strong, in revenue terms and in footfalls.

An offshoot of the Mangalore Ganesh Beedi family, the Baliga Investments Pvt Ltd-promoted Mysore's first amusement-cum-water park, the GRS Fantasy Park, on the K R S Road, adjacent Mysore's Ring Road, on a 35-acre land allotted by the KIADB in 1998.

Though the project report looked at an investment of Rs 40 crore, considering the Mysore market then, it was scaled down to Rs 12 crore. Today, the investment has touched Rs 30 crore and the 14-acre park has become a major draw for people from across Karnataka and outside, including the rural folks and schoolchildren who make up their biggest clientele.

"Today we offer as many as 34 rides to a visitor. New attractions like the Dragon Den, Amazonia or the Rapid River, and the Hawaiian Paradise (an interactive water play system) have given us a boost," says Director M Yogesh Dange.

The footfalls were highest in May 2006, as high as 7,900 a day, he said adding, the peak season is April-June, which is the holiday season for schools.

The 2nd and 3rd week of May is another season that sees a lot of footfalls. Then, you the crowds coming in January and it is followed by the Dasara season. However, up to 2002, footfalls numbered around 4,500 a day even during the peak season.

"Apart from tourists and visitors, we have a large number of corporates among our clientele. Leading IT companies and corporates hold training sessions, contributing to some 35,000 customers annually, 8-9 per cent of our visitors' strength. Local companies sponsor employees and their families and top companies hold their award presentation functions here. These keep us busy during the lean season," Dange says.

"Returns are not bad," says when asked about revenue-yield and he moves on to add, "While in Baliga Investments, which operates in the financial market, we were looking for greener pastures. We never wanted to leave Mysore. We wanted to give something back to the society."

Though the amusement park business is seeing competition today, the GRS Fantasy Park was the first amusement park in Karnataka. This has kept its revenues and footfalls at a healthy level.

"We are in the hinterland. So, people come to enjoy water sports. The Hawaiian Paradise, for instance, which is 45,000 sq ft, is India's largest pool in a water park," he says.

A water roller coaster, a water-driven coaster operated by indigenously-developed master blasters, offering a 750-metre ride for 1,000 people with an investment of Rs 3-4 crore is on Dange's drawing table to be the next new feature.