Puy du Fou partnered Efteling park in the Netherlands to create the Raveleijn Show
Have you signed a deal with President Putin? Yes, we met him. It was wonderful and completely unexpected. When he found out that we wanted to set up a park in Crimea, he wanted to encourage this kind of initiative and wanted to see us. We took a plane to Crimea to meet him and it was an amazing experience.
What’s he like? He’s different from how we expected. He has sweet eyes and sweet words. He’s very attentive. He says kind things to put you at ease. He’s relaxed. The European media show him as a serious guy who never laughs, but that’s not the case.
You’ve also worked with Efteling in the Netherlands? We created a show for Efteling and we’ve had a team of 40 there for two years.
What’s the commercial arrangement? The commercial arrangement is that the partner is in charge of the financial aspect,
©CYBERTREK 2015 AM 2 2015
and they pay us not only for the brand but also for our team of staff. We bring the knowhow. We don’t bring money.
If you had to sum up the genius of the Puy du Fou, how would you explain it? It’s original and totally different from other parks. We invent everything. Authenticity is one of our strengths. The materials and décor are real, the birds and horses are real. If we want an elephant, we find a real elephant – we won’t have Dumbo. We believe in stories and storytelling.
We believe in emotion – another main ingredient in the philosophy of Puy du Fou. People everywhere are trying to
discover their own identities in reaction to the American model that has taken over the world. Puy du Fou is about roots and against globalisation. You’re not just a citizen of the world, you’re from somewhere – that’s our message. We fight against consumerism by not
having aggressive merchandising. Puy du Fou has one village for merchandising, which you can go to or avoid. You don’t
have to spend a euro in the park if you don’t want to. You can bring a picnic. Of course, people buy a coffee or an ice cream, so we don’t lose money. We just earn less money than we could. Our turnover is small in comparison with other parks with the same attendance, but that’s not a problem. That’s not the issue. Nobody gets rich from the profits and that’s our philosophy. I can look our staff in the eyes because if I work, if they work, everybody works and all the benefits of our work will be reinvested into Puy du Fou; not into a car for the boss. For example, we have four hotels, and
visitors can choose from several historical periods and styles of accommodation. We work with our hotel partner Sodexo, but we’re the artistic manager. This season, our accommodation is fully booked and that’s why we’re designing new hotels. We don’t look at business with an American logic. It’s not just about making money. It’s about making a great painting about our history and our people. And now we can do the same in other countries. l
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