A NEW TOURIST ATTRACTION
Santa Fe resides in a rich blend of various cultures, driven by the indigenous, Latino and Western, and American cultures (Kimmel, 1995, p. 29). It is a city that flourishes in the aspects that attract local and international tourists as it is a picturesque town of the Spanish model. Santa Fe thrives with magical enthusiastic, with an epicenter of restaurants, hotels, and galleries that promote the tourism industry. At the heart of this, is the lack of a theme park to compliment the various tourist attraction sites that exist in the city. With the eager to impact on the level of investment in the city, Santa Fe is going to appreciate the coming the existence and creation of an adventurous, magnificent state of the art of the new Santa Fe Dreamland Park.
Bodies such as the Impact Network Santa Fe (IN Santa Fe), through the Directors, are receptive to new investment ideas in the city. This is as because of the reality that through such investments, the effect will be a social enterprise that can be shaped in accordance to the influence of the potential investors to leverage not only, the social but also the environmental, and economic positive impacts in the communities. Thus, the IN Santa Fe will be helpful in providing the relevant logistics that might come in handy in the establishment of the new theme park, to be called the Santa Fe Dreamland Park. Also, both the Convention and the Visitor Bureau, and the Chamber of The Commerce have to be included in a full consultation basis on the idea of introducing the new venture in the country. The two bodies are the major entities that are concerned with the tourism sector in the country (Kastelein, 2002).
With tourism as the primary source of revenue in the economy, there is already an existing market at Santa Fe. It is noted that the tourist visits the city all-round the year. Maruyama & Stronza (2008) assert that “The Tourist are attracted by the climate, and the outdoor related activities are the primary interest for the visitor (p. 460). And as so the theme park will offer a new attraction site to compliment the already existing activities. Also, there is a children’s museum with just provides the essential activities for the kids but with a theme park that offers a variety of activities. The theme park through the massive capital investment and an ideal setup will provide an illusionary world, the not just for the children but also for the visiting tourist, and adults and the fascinating experience that will make them yearn for more.
Statistics show that those age below 18 years, from 20.3% of the population, with another 8.9% between 18-24 years and a 29% consisting of those aged 25-40 years. Those who visit theme parks fall in the stipulated age brackets, and so this means that the larger population of the offers the right local market. The theme park will be located 3 kilometers down from the historic downtown and the 8 kilometers north of the Museum Hill site. According to the website, Santa Fe, New Mexico Tourist Attractions, “The Historic Downtown is where most of the tourism activities happen and the Museum Hill, the epicenter of the major art museums in the city.” This implies that Santa Fe Dreamland Park will be strategically located obtaining some of the customers from both the downtown sites and the museum visitors. This will be further supplemented by breaching on the locals and the tourist who will be visiting the Canyon Roads; a principal art gallery center.
For peoples to reach the Santa Fe Dreamland Park, it means that there has to be a good transportation network. As per se, transportation was one of the determining elements before choosing the strategic location of the sites. Santa Fe is served by a good public transportation network which serves right the location of the park. The website Santa Fe, New Mexico Tourist Attractions shows that “The New Mexico Rail Runner, a commuter rail system operates in the Albuquerque and the Sandoval counties and it passes through the historic downtown side where it makes a stop”. This means that those people from the downtown Albuquerque, Sandoval and Valencia can easily be dropped at the Historic Downtown stage we will have a bus to pick those going to the park and pay a subsidized fee. Also, there is the New Mexico Park and Ride which offers transport from the metropolitan areas of Torrance, Rio Arriba, and Taos and it passes through the Governors Palace and proceeds to make a stop at the park’s stage for the visitors. In addition to the New Mexico Rail Runner Express, there is a commuter rail line which passes through the Albuquerque and Santa Fe surroundings. There is also the Santa Fe Southern Railway, which offers a tourist track experience and goes through the southern line making a stop at Lamy, which is 8 kilometers from the park. For the foreign tourists, there is the Santa Fe Municipal Airport to fly in the tourists. Also, jet services are being provided for by the American Eagle and also, there is the airline transport route from Los Angeles International to Santa Fe. The good road, rail, and air travel show that transportation has been made easier and efficient. With an excellent transportation network, the number of visitors will be substantial and subsequently, the growth of the business.
The establishment of the Santa Fe Dreamland Park conquers with the notion that economic activities related to this type tourism will improve the livelihood of the citizens of the According to Santa Fe. Mexico Urges Tourists to Live and Believe (2013), “Focus is on the positive benefits the park will bring through the creation of employment, generation of revenue through taxes, and economic growth and development for the city of Santa Fe.” The park will improve the transportation network and facilities as we as the developers will bring in our buses and expand on the alternative road network in the city. The tax to be levied will raise revenue for the municipality and result in the development of the community utility facilities and services. Through the development of such an attractive tourist sites, there will be the development of the related economic sectors such as hotel industry to cater for the increasing number of visitors.
On the other hand, Santa Fe being a small city, there will be constraints on resources such as land, as the facility in itself will occupy about 15 acres of land. The park will not allow for the existence of a natural beauty of the area and so not preserving the natural resources.
In summary, the setting up the theme park, in the city of Santa Fe is ideal, suitable and timely for not only for the benefit of the business but also for the growth and development of the economy of the city. With an excellent transportation network, free local and international tourists, and a culture of appreciating the outdoor activities, the theme park will experience growth with the only adverse impact of disturbing the natural beauty of the surrounding.
References
The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, New Mexico. (2013). Antipodes, 27(2), 175-175. doi:10.13110/antipodes.27.2.0175
Kastelein, B. (2002, April 1). Painting the Town: The capital gets a makeover as big bucks are pumped into local tourism efforts. Business Mexico.
Kimmel, J. R. (1995). Art and Tourism in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Journal of Travel Research, 33(3), 28-30.
Maruyama, N. U., Yen, T., & Stronza, A. (2008). Perception of the authenticity of tourist art among Native American artists in Santa Fe, New Mexico. International Journal of Tourism Research Int. J. Tourism Res., 10(5), 453-466.
Santa Fe, New Mexico Tourist Attractions. (n.d.). Retrieved April 27, 2016, from http://www.go-newmexico.com/Santa-Fe/Attractions/
Mexico Urges Tourists to Live and Believe. (2013, December 1). Travel & Tourism News.
