Merlin Entertainments' CEO Fiona Eastwood says the theme park company's "biggest competition" is screen time at home.
In a BBC Big Boss Interview, Eastwood said Merlin's "big competition in many ways is the home".
"All of our research shows increasingly parents feel quite stressed in the home and want to escape," she added.
"What we provide is that perfect antidote to that, so getting people off their phones, getting them off their gaming sets in their bedroom.
"We're providing that escapism, whatever the weather, be it a park or an indoor attraction."
Eastwood said Merlin's IP partners are driving attendance at its sites, which include UK theme parks such as Thorpe Park, Alton Towers and Legoland Windsor.
"We've got some of the much-loved, biggest brands in the world, in terms of our suite of attractions," she said.
Seasonal events driving revenue at Merlin
"We have the biggest toy brand in the world with Lego; a key partner, we also have Minecraft; the biggest gaming brand in the world, and Peppa Pig; the biggest pre-school property."
As well as big brand partnerships, seasonal experiences are becoming a key attendance and revenue driver for Merlin, with Halloween in particular now competing with the summer season in terms of profitability.
"We're a very seasonally led business," Eastwood said in the BBC interview. "So you have spring break, Easter, summer and Halloween."
Merlin's parks offer Halloween events such as Scarefest at Alton Towers and Fright Nights at Thorpe Park.
For 2025, Alton Towers introduced a new scare maze called Edge of the Forest and a new outdoor scare zone named Dark Hollow.
Eastwood added: "Halloween, that we're in now, we're seeing some really strong performance. That's in view of the amazing product we have. You take Thorpe Park, increasingly Halloween is almost half of its annual profits."
Images courtesy of Merlin
