Another call for assistance on Busch Entertainment
Lager Heads woke up curious this morning. We are wondering if any readers can provide more information on Busch Entertainment Corp., the theme-park wing of Anheuser-Busch InBev.
A source tells us that a large group of high-level folks toured Busch Gardens and Adventure Island in Tampa last week. We are told that the group of about 30 included executives from Busch Entertainment and the parent company, as well as consultants and possibly other folks from outside the company.
Before the visit, everyone was worried about cleaning and painting - a level of activity not seen at this level in a while, said our source.
Does anybody have any more information about this visit - who was there, what was discussed, etc.? If so, we’d be all ears (or eyes, or whatever.) You can reach me at jmcwilliams@post-dispatch.com.
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Jeremiah McWilliams is a native Virginian who came to the Post-Dispatch in early 2007 to cover beer and other consumer products. He previously covered manufacturing for the Virginian-Pilot newspaper in Norfolk, Va. He is a graduate of Washington and Lee University. 
If this is true, it is interesting, because the parks haven’t been maintained like that since Mr. Busch regularly visited. Could be a sign that InBev has decided to hang on to them. It’s a shame, as they were a great tool for marketing the product, and they essentially gutted that as of Jan. 31.
I know in Orlando at Seaworld, the budget for the entire Hospitality House, including product, employees and facility was a little under $900,000 per year. They were able to expose their product and philosophy to a tremendous amount of people as well as use the parks for marketing research. What a shame. Seems to make a lot more sense than focusing on the seven-step pour at a wine and beer fesitval. I wonder if somebody at ABInBev finally took a look at the actual tax benefits recieved by the company for all of their environmental/conservation work that they do? Seems like a highly profitable unit, plus big tax breaks, makes a good combination. Let’s just hope they don’t start monkeying with management if they do decide to hang on.
I heard they were making a ton of money from foreigners since the dollar is devalued. Visitors get a lot more for their (euro) buck. I also heard that Disney is not interested since the have so much in Florida. The British company is pretty debt heavy and not interested. I feel like AB-InBred may keep them, but they were counting on the sale to reduce debt.
A friend sent me this link, wondering if I’d heard anything about it. So, I had to check.
Apparently, it was a group of financiers, bankers and investors, checking out the parks including some guests from “Legoland”.
Don’t know what the outcome was from the tours.