Continental success European parks grow within and outside their borders by Jordan Zauha
Even as the company begins to eye its third theme park in Shanghai with the Puy du Fou Asia project, preceded by its SAGA show concept premiering in the city, the themed entertainment creator and operator still promises to invest in the European market, specifically by supporting its Puy du Fou España park with another €242 million (approximately $283 million) over the years approaching 2028. It has also extended its contract until 2026 with Efteling Park (The Netherlands) on its live stunt show Raveleijn, a collaboration to enhance the staple show that began in 2013.
Futuroscope
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he pandemic disrupted normal business cycles, but four major players in Europe - Puy du Fou, Futuroscope, Efteling and Merlin Entertainments - opened new attractions, broke ground on international projects and even opened new theme parks.
Puy du Fou It was only in 2020 that Puy du Fou represented a single theme park enterprise. As 2021 begins to wind down, it is an international theme park operator working toward its third park. The crown jewel of Puy du Fou’s recent additions is its second theme park in Europe - Puy du Fou España - which opened March 27, 2021, making Puy du Fou an international enterprise in theme parks along with its live spectaculars which already delights guests beyond the French border. Celebrating and recalling pivotal moments from the nation’s history, Puy du Fou España represents a massive €183 million (nearly $214 million) investment delivering its signature storytelling to a Spanish audience. Just 40 minutes from Madrid, the park makes its home in Toledo, targeting the nearly 3.5 million visitors that step within the city each year. Despite the challenges brought by the pandemic and nationwide restrictions, Puy du Fou forged ahead on three projects that were in development, expanding its French venue with additional hotel rooms (Le Grand Siècle), a conference center (Le Théâtre Molierè) and an all-new nighttime spectacular (Les Noces de Feu), totaling €62 million ($72.5 million) across all three investments.
With its contemporary artistic aesthetic and architecture, Futuroscope has brought entertainment innovation to France since its opening in 1987. Begun as a display of specialty cinema pavilions, over the decades Futuroscope has expanded its offerings by adding amusement and theme park attractions to its property. This direction continues to motivate the changes Futuroscope made through 2020-2021 and into the future. Before the pandemic began, Futuroscope was developing its family roller coaster - Objectif Mars (Destination Mars) originally planned for a late March 2020 opening. After closing due to health restrictions and regulations, the park opened the coaster upon reopening its facilities on June 13, 2020, ensuring returning guests an all-new experience as part of its reopening. Looking to the future, a shareholders’ agreement was unanimously approved for an investment plan over the ten-year span between 2020 and 2030, with a majority of this investment to be spent before 2025. The goal of the investment aims to bring more attractions and a wider variety of experiences that will allow Futuroscope to rise as a holiday spot including overnight accommodations for visitors. Part of this capital will go toward a 76-room space-themed hotel to accompany the park, aiming for an early 2022 opening. A second, eco-friendly family lodge resort will open the year after. Continuing to diversify the park’s offerings, Futuroscope will round out the first half of the decade-long improvements with a themed indoor waterpark, Aquascope. With two new hotels, a waterpark, and the addition of three major attractions within its current park, Futuroscope continues to diversify beyond its original premise and aims to become a top resort destination in Europe, covering an area of 22 hectares (2.3 million square feet) and projecting an increase of attendance to 2.5 million visitors per year. With these plans, Futuroscope has set aside €60 million (about $70 million) for the three major attractions it promises and another €104 million ($121.5 million) which encapsulates its two hotels and indoor waterpark. The property is positioned as an economic engine for the region through job creation, construction needs and other ancillary developments.
El Sueño de Toledo at Puy du Fou España Photo courtesy of Puy du Fou
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