The Parks in Business Class

To compensate for a lack of activity during the low tourist season, the Parks are going for business tourism.

You don’t need to choose between the general public and companies. “Their calendars complement each other,” says Sébastien Retailleau, Assistant Manager of the Great Puy du Fou Park in Epesses (France). Business tourism offers many opportunities for parks that cater for this niche market, which allows them to amortize the fixed costs during periods when traditional attendance is lower. “We have very little demand from businesses during the school holidays,” explains François Gires, who is responsible for business tourism at Futuroscope (France). “But in September, when classical visitors don’t come, this activity kicks in, and peaks in January when the Park is closed.”

This organisation caters for upmarket clientele by allowing exclusive, private use of attractions and organising fun challenges to promote team spirit. Parks compete for the most original formula, tailor-made to mix work and fun. A clever concept offered by Europa Park (Rust, Germany) in its convention centre has been named “Confertainment” – a mix of the words ‘conference’ and ‘entertainment’ – where they have a la carte offerings which include the use of animators for motivational workshops, organising dinners and shows adapted to the venue and atmosphere chosen.

 Adapted Offers

The Parks differentiate themselves from the traditional hotel complexes, because – by the very nature of their business – they can offer unique themes that encompass the whole Park. Coherent offers include: Europa Park offers folklore shows from various countries ; the Puy du Fou, a trip in the olden days with a medieval village and a renaissance market ; whereas at the Futuroscope it’s the molecular cooking set with adjustable music and lighting which surprises the businessman’s taste buds.
 

And Parks have the infrastructure to offer venues suited for all sizes. In 2006 the Puy du Fou opened its Great Carousel that can accommodate up to 3,000 people seminar style, or 2,000 banquet-show style. The Futuroscope has a convention centre and can privatise the Cyber Avenue for the evening which transform into a gambling room, dancing, and cocktail lounge… its disco can even accommodate 900 business clients. At Port Aventura (Vila-Seca, Spain) they’re even going further by building a new convention centre, hotel, and three golf courses; adding to their existing accommodation of three four-star hotels and other activities within the resort.
 

From an economic point of view business clientele definitely increases income. It represented 5% of the Futuroscope turnover in 2007; and the Puy du Fou, which has only just started to target the business market, hopes to reach the million Euros mark this year (3 % of this Park’s income). Moreover, business clients have a relatively high buying power and are visiting the parks in ideal conditions where they enjoy VIP treatment. So they leave with a very a high satisfaction level (often over 95%), which makes them more likely to recommend the site, or to come back with their families in their private capacity. So these ‘First Class’ tourists go on to become the Parks’ best sales representatives.