It has been another momentous year in the attractions industry, and Attractions Management has been there reporting the big news, good and bad, all the way. After yesterday's look at the events of September 2019, today we move on to October 2019, considering some of the biggest stories that made the headlines that month.

A terrible fire destroyed a Unesco World Heritage site on the Japanese island of Okinawa, while Spanish theme park and resort PortAventura looked to a solar energy future. Big corporate news saw Blackstone Real Estate Partners take a controlling interest in North America's Great Wolf Resorts.

World Heritage fire

Shuri Castle, a Unesco World Heritage site on the Japanese island of Okinawa and the seat of the Ryukyu dynasty, was destroyed by a fire which broke out in the early hours of 31 October.

The wooden castle, which was originally built 500 years ago, was almost completely destroyed during World War Two, so the existing structure that caught fire was a reconstruction.

Despite firefighters battling the flames and strong winds for more than 10 hours, all seven key buildings of the castle, including the main Seiden temple and a Hokuden structure (originally used for judicial and administrative purposes), were burned down.

No-one was hurt in the blaze, which, it was later reported, may have been caused by an electrical fault.

Theme park plans solar power plant

PortAventura, the theme park and resort near Barcelona, Spain, announced that it was planning to install what would be the largest self-consumption solar plant in a European resort, enabling it to derive a third of its energy needs from the sun.

The US$6m (€5.4m, £4.9m) project will see the installation of 22,000 solar panels, giving an installed capacity of 8.5 MWp, and preventing 4,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide from being emitted every year ‒ the equivalent, said PortAventura, to the amount of CO2 that would be absorbed by 930,000 trees.

Situated close to the resort, the plant will cover 100,000sq m (328,000sq ft) and is planned for installation in Q2 2020. It will power PortAventura's theme park, waterpark and leisure complex, with three golf courses, a convention centre, six hotels, a beach club, and the only Ferrari Land park in Europe.

Blackstone buys into Great Wolf

Great Wolf Resorts, which runs 18 family-oriented waterpark and entertainment resorts in the US and Canada, targeted accelerated growth under a new joint ownership venture that saw hospitality and leisure investor Blackstone Real Estate Partners take a 65 per cent controlling interest in the company.

Blackstone shares ownership with Centerbridge Partners, which was the existing owner of Great Wolf, creating a new US$2.9 bn (€2.64bn, £2.34bn) joint venture.

Great Wolf's lodges each contain a full-service hotel, indoor waterpark, recreational activities including games rooms and bowling alleys, food and beverage offerings, and themed experiences with the company's own proprietary characters. Its pipeline of expansion includes a new lodge in northern California, due to open in 2020.

Check back with Attractions Management tomorrow for a look back at the highlights from November