Splash Planet Opens!

Splash Plant opens for the summer season today.

Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule says thousands of people visited the park last year and with an extremely hot summer forecasted it’s expected this number will grow.

“Over a period of three years we have seen a massive 59% growth in attendance figures and we are really excited about increasing this figure further this year. Splash Planet is New Zealand’s only water theme park and is a key tourism facility within Hawke’s Bay,” Mayor Yule says.

Splash Planet has been operating since 1998; the past three seasons have seen an increase in attendance figures going from 61,500 in 2006/07 season to 85,000 in 2007/08 season and 97,500 in the most recent season.

One of the main reasons for the increase in attendance is the new attractions and the promotion of the Club Card at the park.

“Last year we established a fantastic new area for toddlers, with six interactive water toys, kayaks in the Pirate Pond, new shaded areas and more BBQ’s and tables for families to enjoy. These and the Club Card (which sees local families get a substantial discount), has attracted visitors back to the theme park time after time,” he says.

The Club Card is a concept adopted by the park four years ago and gives locals in Hawke’s Bay more than 50% off entry prices into the water theme park.

New to the park this year is an inflatable attraction, sponsored by Streets Ice Cream. The Pirate Run is a 14m inflatable children can slide, bounce and race on.

Splash Planet is open seven days a week from 16 November 10am – 5.30pm.