Volume 1, No. 23. December 14, 2001
Holiday Special
Up
after the fall
When it decided to stay open past Halloween and on through the New Year, Europa-Park
was risking more than contrary weather and tiring staff. The Rust, Germany,
theme park was taking on a continental mind-set that summer is summer, and winter
is winter.
"Europeans have different
leisuretime attitudes in winter and in summer," said Martina Evers, public relations
representative for Europa-Park. "In winter you go skiing and have a hot drink
in a bar, or you stay home and do Christmas. Leisureparks are a summer activity."
However, Efteling in The Netherlands has operated a successful winter season
for two years, prompting Europa-Park to give the idea more study. Of guests
surveyed during the summer, more than half said they could imagine coming to
the park during the winter. Figuring that if just 5 percent of summer season
traffic showed up in December—and the park topped 3 million visitors this
year—the 150,000 guests would merit keeping part of the park open through
the New Year.
Becoming the first amusement park in Germany to mount a winter season, Europa-Park
may have started a trend for the country while continuing the successful European
precedent set by Efteling. Weekend visitation for "Christmas at Europa-Park"
already is surpassing 20,000, making staff optimistic that the whole winter
season (running daily through January 6, except December 24 and 25) will far
surpass projections. By most measures the venture is paying off. Though the
park is getting many guests from a two-hour-drive radius, many also are coming
from further distances, Evers said. The park's hotels are sold out for the weekends
and reaching 70 percent occupancy on weekdays. Area hotels also are enjoying
boosted numbers for this time of year.
Europa-Park hedged its risks in many ways. Only half of the park—which
has 14 sections themed on different countries and cultures in Europe—is
open, and building on its existing theme Europa-Park is showcasing Christmas
celebrations of the various nations. The park also incorporated a popular seasonal
tradition of Germany, the Christmas Fair, into the program, with more than 30
vendor stalls selling local crafts, food and decorations. Then there is the
fresh snow blanketing the Russian section courtesy of snow-making machines.
"People are going, 'Wow! I've been in the snow this winter!'" Evers said. "It
heightens the atmosphere. Even in the (nearby) Black Forest we don't get much
snow."
Other seasonal touches include turning the lake in France into a natural ice
skating venue, a daily Christmas parade with reindeer pulling Santa in a sleigh
and a dogsled that children can ride, and a shop in Chocoland that lets children
bake their own cookies. "Parents are quite enthusiastic because they can go
do something else and come back to fresh cookies," Evers said. This weekend
the park will host a teen dance party—sold out more than a week in advance—thrown
by the popular magazine BRAVO.
In addition to generating income during what has always been a negative cash-flow
month, park officials saw the lengthened run as a retention tool for employees.
Leading seasonal staff can now work longer at the park, and now with only a
couple months downtime they are less likely to skip to other jobs. For the full-time
staff, on the other hand, who are looking at a March grand re-opening with the
introduction of a new giga-coaster, traditional slow period has become as hectic
as any time of the year. "We get no free time this winter," Evers said. "But
when you see all the marketing work we did pay off with lots of visitors, and
they like it when they get here, we are quite happy."