Since opening in July 2009, the BugWorld Experience in Liverpool has generated huge interest worldwide from the public, from the media, from towns and cities and from individuals and organisations worldwide who have recognised the potential of this new brand of ‘Interactive Insectarium’ as the next example of animal based attractions.
Owners, Rogers Group Investments Ltd. of Dublin, Ireland see the BugWorld Experience brand as a cornerstone in their development of Rogers Group Leisure, a vehicle established to develop and operate new leisure attraction businesses both nationally and internationally.
In preparation for this, RGI, together with international attraction management and development consultancy, the Petersham Group, have been developing a roll out strategy to take the concept, already established in the UK, to the next level in order to take advantage of the many development opportunities that have already presented themselves.
In February of this year, after an international competition, RGI appointed Haley Sharpe Design as its long-term design and exhibit development providers. HSD’s initial remit has been to review the ‘pilot’ offer that opened in Liverpool’s Albert Docks in 2009, to respond to visitor feedback, and to develop a more ambitious concept for future BugWorlds.
“BugWorld is an excellent concept, and one that is clearly very popular” said HSD’s Project Director Keith Gray “We have spent a lot of time with RGI, the Petersham Group, and the visitor and animal management teams at Liverpool – the result is a new concept that offers greater immersion in the world of insects, more bug interaction and some really exciting technology interactives. It’s a great subject to work with!!”
The project team has also been researching and assessing how an international market responds culturally to the concept of an insect-based visitor attraction “The market research that we have carried out proves that insects have universal appeal and the opportunities are endless, whether it be as a stand-alone attraction, a leisure offer within a retail environment, or an attraction-within-an-attraction in, for example, a zoo or natural history museum” said Keith Thomas, Director of Petersham Group.
RGI Leisure’s owner Des Rogers is very enthusiastic about the evolution of the theme – “the new concepts developed by Haley Sharpe are really exciting. We are very proud of what we have created, and entering this next phase of BugWorld’s evolution is going to be fun. We have enquiries from UK, Europe and North America, from both zoological establishments and from those seeking to invest in a stand-alone commercial attraction. We have a really strong team to deliver these projects on time and to budget. We will look at JVs, implants or stand alone opportunities and partnership arrangements..”
