Paramount's Kings Island Uses Inquisite Web Survey Technology To Reinvent Water Park

Web Feedback Key Driver for Redesign of Crocodile Dundee's Boomerang Bay Water Park

AUSTIN, TEXAS - June 14, 2004 - Highlighting how web surveys can impact business strategy, Inquisite today announced that customer feedback via the web was a critical success factor in the reinvention of the new Crocodile Dundee's Boomerang Bay Water Park Resort in Kings Island, OH.

Inquisite, a leading provider of do-it-yourself online surveys, offers survey solutions that are scalable across the enterprise and enable managers to make better decisions. Paramount Parks, part of the Paramount Entertainment Group, a division of Viacom, Inc., is a leading developer of world-class theme parks and location-based attractions. Paramount Park's Kings Island is host to over three million guests annually, making it one of the top two seasonal parks in the world.

The newly themed water park resort, located inside Paramount's Kings Island, was officially launched over Memorial Day weekend and, according to responses coming in from follow-up web surveys, the redesign is a huge success. "Web surveys effectively give customers a seat at the management table and we can already see that's a good thing. Just one week after opening, we began surveying guests about features in the new park and the response has been extremely positive. Guests say we delivered what we promised," said Paramount's Kings Island Manager of Marketing Communications and Guest Experience Jeffrey Siebert.

Delivering What Customers Want

The water park redesign began in 2002 when park guests were asked to participate in an Inquisite web survey designed to gather responses about everything from food and rides to park theme and overall ambiance. Over 1,200 park guests responded to the interactive, graphical survey, which used pictures of prospective rides to increase response accuracy. Feedback, which had a 50% response rate, showed guests were looking for some major changes in overall ambiance. Requests included more shade, more flowers, extensive family-oriented attractions and upscale amenities.

Paramount's response to the survey feedback is Crocodile Dundee's Boomerang Bay. "We've always had a successful water park," Siebert said. "We wanted to develop the premier water park destination in the Midwest. Using input from the Inquisite survey, we believe that we've met that goal."

Modeled after the Australian Gold Coast, Crocodile Dundee's Boomerang Bay is currently the only Australian and Hollywood-themed water park in the world. Key attractions include: Jackaroo Landing, New Racing Challenge, Tasmanian Typhoon and Kookaburra Bay.

Along with the new attractions, park guests receive a smoke-free environment, lush landscaping, secluded shade-covered areas and lounge chair-side waiter service. Every park attraction is the result of the survey responses. For example, the top request from guests was for a tubing slide that a family could enjoy together. Paramount responded with the Tasmanian Typhoon, a 60-foot slide on which four riders in a single raft plummet through more than 269 feet of enclosed tube, then free-fall into a huge funnel that rockets the raft until it slowly descends through the funnel opening.

Surveys Key to Customer Satisfaction

Paramount's water park reinvention is the most recent result of the company's use of web surveys as a key component of corporate research that underlies strategic business decisions. "We've been using web surveys for several years to obtain firsthand guest feedback, but this is the first time we've used the technology to this extent," Siebert said. "The sheer speed of research conducted on the web combined with the fact that it's highly cost-effective makes the Inquisite technology very attractive in our competitive environment," he said.

About Paramount Parks
Paramount Parks is a leading developer and operator of world-class theme parks and location-based attractions, entertaining more than 13 million guests annually. The company currently owns and operates five of the most popular theme parks in North America including: Paramount Canada's Wonderland (Toronto, Ontario, Canada); Paramount's Carowinds (Charlotte, N.C.); Paramount's Great America (Santa Clara, Calif.); Paramount's Kings Dominion (Richmond, Va.); and Paramount's Kings Island (Cincinnati, Ohio). The company also developed and manages the award-winning STAR TREK: The Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton (Las Vegas, Nev.) and manages Bonfante Gardens horticultural theme park (Gilroy, Calif.); CBS Television City at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino (Las Vegas, Nev.); and Terra Mitica theme park (Benidorm, Valencia, Spain). More information about Paramount Parks is available at www.paramountparks.com.

About Viacom
Viacom is a leading global media company, with preeminent positions in broadcast and cable television, radio, outdoor advertising, and online. With programming that appeals to audiences in every demographic category across virtually all media, the company is a leader in the creation, promotion, and distribution of entertainment, news, sports, music and comedy. Viacom's well-known brands include: CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1, BET, Paramount Pictures, Viacom Outdoor, Infinity, UPN, Spike TV, TV Land, CMT: Country Music Television, Comedy Central, Showtime, Blockbuster, and Simon & Schuster. More information about Viacom and its businesses is available at www.viacom.com.

About Inquisite
Inquisite is a leading provider of web survey technology and services. Inquisite helps the business user collect, analyze and report strategic information across a broad range of organizational disciplines. Inquisite's robust features empower managers to make better decisions, while its ease of use promotes enterprise-wide installation and training, resulting in superior ROI and competitive leverage. Many of the world's leading organizations use Inquisite for their mission-critical B2B, B2C and B2E evaluation and feedback initiatives. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Inquisite's customer base includes industry leaders in the customer satisfaction, education, financial services, healthcare, human resource, government, manufacturing, pharmaceutical and retail sectors. For more information, visit www.inquisite.com.

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Contacts:

Inquisite Marketing
512.225.6800
marketing@inquisite.com