More and more theme parks are trying to entice companies to book the ultimate business and pleasure break for their staff. Dinah Hatch reports
PortAventura | Europa-Park | Gardaland | Disneyland Paris | Efteling
A number of European theme parks are enticing international companies to give their conference business to them in exchange for happy staff.
Unsurprisingly, Disney realised the potential of this market a long time ago and Disneyland Resort Paris has a huge range of options for the MICE crowd.
Last year, the park launched its Disney Events Arena, which holds up to 4,000 people. This year’s newest ride, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, will be the subject of themed corporate evenings.
Disneyland Resort Paris business solutions director Carlo Olejniczak said: “One of the major reasons companies are attracted to us is our capacity. We are the largest integrated conference development in Europe.
“We have seen a trend that has been growing steadily over the last decade for businesses that want to mix leisure and business. Companies bring staff here to work hard and play hard.”
Visitor attraction operator Merlin Entertainments, whose brands include Alton Towers, Thorpe Park, Chessington World of Adventures and Zoo, Italy’s Gardaland and Legoland Windsor, is maximising on this trend too.
The company’s UK head of marketing for events Peter Kerwood said:
“At Thorpe Park there is a path delegates have to walk down to get to their meetings and you can see the rides from it. I have seen people in their suits looking at the rides as they head for a day of business and you just know they are thinking “I’ll have a go on that after this is all finished”.”
The options for work and then leisure are endless at the European theme parks and one area that is proving popular is team building days that incorporate rides.
Kerwood said: “‘I’m A Corporate, Get Me Out Of Here’ is one of our newest team-building exercises and it will see people doing tasks such as eating bugs, like in the I’m a Celebrity TV show.”
The need for constant reinvention is paramount as fighting for corporate budgets is getting fiercer among the parks. “We like to launch new things all the time. We have to be imaginative as the competition is growing continually.
“Bolt-on packages are also popular. They allow people to use the conference centre and then take off mid-afternoon to, say, use the waterski school.”
Germany’s Europa-Park is so clued up to the MICE market that it has even made up a new word for it, launching its Confertainment Centre. The park goes way beyond offering meeting space and enough hotel rooms and provides dozens of themed nights. So employees might find themselves talking shop as acrobats fly past them.
“During the last few years, more and more companies have discovered the opportunity to organise their meetings, conferences and incentives here,” said Europa-Park’s communications manager Esther Wawrin.
“The park offers the opportunity for working in a professional atmosphere with boundless possibilities to have fun,” she said.
PortAventura
Where? Salou, Spain
What it offers: The theme park currently has a convention centre in the heart of the park that seats 1,150 people.
It is in the process of building a brand new MICE facility, to be finished at the end of 2009 with a capacity for 4,000 and will include:
- Two huge multi-purpose rooms with sub-divisions, (ground floor divides into five rooms and the first floor into eight)
- An auditorium with capacity for 150
- Multiple access points
- Direct access from Hotel PortAventura
- Check-in centre for the park’s hotels
The park also currently has numerous rooms in the Hotel Caribe and Hotel PortAventura for meetings seating a maximum of 450 people theatre style.
Web:portaventura.co.uk
Europa-Park
Where? In Rust, Germany (in the border triangle of Germany, France and Switzerland)
What it offers: The park’s four-star Collosseo hotel, the largest in southwest Germany, has 550 sq metres of conference and function room space.
La Scala hall is the biggest area, at 450 sq metres, which can be divided into two rooms.
Smaller conference rooms, of 49 sq metres and 54 sq metres are also available and all spaces can be presented in different ways depending on the event.
A total of 1,843 people can be accommodated as follows:
- The Hotel Santa Isabel has five rooms holding a maximum of 908 people
- The Hotel El Andaluz has two rooms holding a maximum of 475 people
- The Hotel Castillo Alcazar has three rooms holding a maximum of 460 people
The park has meetings facilities potentially offering space for more than 100,000 people.
Web:europapark.de
Gardaland
Where? Castelnuovo del Garda, Italy
What it offers:
- 1,200 sq metre convention centre seating up to 540 people
- 85 sq metres of exhibition space
- Break-out room of 140 sq metres.
Inside the dolphinarium is a 125 sq metre-room equipped with video, audio, lighting and projection equipment suitable for events seating 86 people.
Overlooking the medieval square is the Camelot Hall, suitable for large meetings and seating 80.
Web:gardaland.it
Disneyland Paris
Where? Marne-la-Valle, 20 miles east of Paris
What it offers: Two convention centres of 5,000 sq metres and 5,500 sq metres, one attached to Disney’s Hotel New York and the other to Disney’s Newport Bay Club.
Disney’s Sequoia Lodge has six business suites for up to 120 people and the Disneyland Hotel has a further five business suites for a maximum of 30 people.
Including other hotels around the resort, there is a total of 8,000 bedrooms available.
Disneyland Park offers themed evenings for up to 15,000 guests and its Walt Disney Studios park can do the same for up to 5,000 guests.
Web:drpbusiness.com
Efteling
Where? Kaatsheuvel, the Netherlands
What it offers: Various venues across the park including the Victorian Theatre in the Carousel Palace and the oriental-themed Fata Morgana Palace.
The new Efteling Theatre hosts meetings and seminars and is often used for opening and closing acts at conferences, hosting a maximum of 2,500 people.
Web: efteling.com
