Pressure is mounting on Six Flags as attendance figures begin to suggest a less than rosy picture. The most recent numbers, for April to June this year, show an eight per cent decrease in visitors across the company’s parks.

The knock-on effect was sharp and immediately felt, with Six Flags’ share prices tumbling 4.1 per cent following the news. Not all the figures are bad though, and investors will be relieved that the US-based amusement park operator posted better than expected Q2 profits – $85.3 million (£50m, €63.3m), up from $47.4 million (£27.8m, €35.2m) the year before – and an 11 per cent increase in average visitor spend.

In June, the company also announced it had agreed a partnership with a developer
to build Six Flags-branded theme parks in China, as well as a prior deal to expand into Dubai in 2017.

Nevertheless, news of the drop in ticket sales is sure to cause uneasiness. The TEA/AECOM index for 2012 showed Six Flags pulled off a respectable six per cent increase in guests since 2011. The same index, however, for 2013, showed a year-on-year increase of just 1.4 per cent, from 25,750,000 in 2012 to 26,100,000 last year.