Park People
www.parkworld-online.com
Are there enough talented young people coming into the industry?
I think you have some educated, energetic young kids that have the opportunity to look around the exhibitions and work in other parks worldwide. My sons did this, they have been in America, Australia, Italy, Spain and Scandinavia. When I was young it was more difficult. So there are a lot of talented people, they do things differently to how we did them, but if they concentrate on the key issues – service and quality – then they can push the industry forwards.
Do you expect much more industry consolidation in Europe? Last year Plopsa bought Holiday Park, and in the middle of Germany Fort Fun was sold some years ago to Compagnie des Alpes. However I think the parks have to be a certain size to be of interest to the big companies. In Germany there is Phantasialand, Europa- Park, Hansa Park and Tripsdrill, where the family is very heavily involved, so I do not see much happening soon. In Great Britain many of the big parks are already owned by Merlin. There was the big deal a few years ago with Walibi and Compagnie des Alpes, but recently they sold some of their smaller parks. Parques Reunidos is always talking about selling its business. So maybe, like in America with Six Flags, things will go backwards and there will be a chance of former family businesses going back into family ownership.
Speaking at Euro Attractions Show in London, Merlin Entertainments’ Nick Varney remarked that European theme parks are under priced (see page 42). Do you agree? He is right if he compares theme parks to other kinds of attractions, and it is true that we price conservatively. We all need money to development our
Europa-Park plans
What’s new at Europa-Park for the next 18 months? Already announced are plans for a major wooden coaster next spring courtesy of Great Coasters International. Then, in the summer, the Europa-Park Resort will launch its fifth hotel, the New England themed Bell Rock (as pictured). “Maybe we will get an opportunity to use the hotel in some way for the IAAPA directors’ meeting in June,” says Roland Mack. The park’s managing director can also provide a hint of what’s in store for 2013: “We have started construction of a new fairytale themed area in co- operation with a big movie star from France,” he tells Park World. “This will feature a completely new ride development of the Mack company.“
www.europa-park.de
businesses, however sometimes there is a gap between this thinking and Merlin’s price strategy. If Merlin is selling annual passes [in Germany] that let you visit 15 attractions for nearly a third of a Europa-Park annual pass, then maybe Nick should start with his own prices! It was interesting to hear he wants to make Heide Park the market leader, and I am happy to take on this challenge, but I do not want to be the biggest park in Germany by reducing prices.
What park or attraction has most inspired you during your travels in the last year? I like very much Legoland’s idea to build a submarine ride [at Legoland Windsor], not only because they used a Mack Rides system, but because it is a new development. Disney was doing it years ago with animatronics, but now it is done with real animals. I think that is really interesting.
The development of Chimelong in China is fascinating. They are doing almost 8 million visitors in Guangzhou with a waterpark, animal park, ride park, hotels and conference centre. I was so impressed with the quality and what they’ve done in such a short amount of time – and it’s done by a family. Now they are doing a resort park with animals across from Macau [in Zhuhai]. I will be very interested to see that when it’s finished.
What can the attractions industry learn from other industries?
Maybe we could improve government relations because every park needs infrastructure and you can’t do infrastructure without lobbying the government. If you look at the car industry in Germany, they are much better organised. Overall I think we do better than many other industries in combining our efforts though, and 90% of the global players are members of the association.
“
In Europe,
the VAT is so diverse. That’s a big, big issue,
especially if you are located near the border. We could reduce the price admission at Europa-Park by ¤5 if we had the same VAT as France
”
Roland Mack at Europa-Park with a statue of his late father Franz
NOVEMBER 2011
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