Communicating with the Family: Fun Park Websites

A content analysis of how German and Danish fun parks, which are typical content in family holidays, approach this multitude of receivers on their websites shows that fun park sites in the sample are at very different stages of technological development and interactivity.

Abstract

The family is a joint decision making unit when it comes to holidaying, particularly regarding decisions about what to do on holiday. Studies show that family members have different ideas about what a good holiday means. This paper is a content analysis of how German and Danish fun parks, which are typical content in family holidays, approach this multitude of receivers on their websites. Results show that fun park sites in the sample are at very different stages of technological development and interactivity, and that sites primarily aim at adults in an informational rather than an emotional way. In addition, few parks exploit the possibilities of the Internet as a communication media. A small number of parks stand out as exceptional in addressing the family as a whole. Two best practice sites, which cater for both adults and children, are analysed. Implications are discussed for creators of websites targeting the family as a whole in a tourism context.