2024-02-02 00:00:00
CinecittàWorld like Disneyland. At Affari Stefano Cigarini, the “King Midas” of Italian parks
Presented yesterday at the Ara Pacis in Rome by the CEO of Cinecittà World, Stefano Cigarini the new 2024 season with the first novelty of the year: the Carnival Village. The fun explodes in advance with the most loved party by adults and children including masks, parades, floats, costume competitions, shows, a great confetti battle, frappe, chatter and typical sweets of the period. From 3 to 25 February the Rome Cinema and TV Amusement Park will be festively colored with the new Carnival Village: a special opening and price (€10 and the possibility of returning to the Park for free by 31 March) for celebrate Carnival and feel like the protagonists of a film.
On Carnival Street every hour the Cinema Float Parade will be held with spectacular Big Foot, Choppers, Limousines, Police Cars, Transformers, Characters and Superheroes, and Traditional Floats, created in collaboration with the Fano Carnival. Guest star and Godmother of the Carnival is the showgirl and actress Carmen Russo with her live singing and dancing show Carmen Live, which retraces the most beautiful Italian songs, with a special tribute to Raffaella Carrà. The 2024 novelty “Hotel Transilvania” will also be inaugurated in February, the fun and semi-serious horror journey inspired by the film of the same name and the legend of Count Dracula. Among the attractions available: the War of the Worlds, a virtual reality experience on the set of the well-known science fiction film, Saltopazzo, where you can experience the thrill of jumping from 2 to 6 meters into the void, the Games Room and the Carnival face painting. For the little ones come BAT PAT, the talking bat and MR WATER, protagonist of Agostino Traini’s books Il Mondo del Signor Acqua published in Italy by Mondadori Libri per Piemme. The two cute characters, licensed by Atlantyca Entertainment, will welcome children throughout the month. The complete opening of Cinecittà World will be on Saturday 2 March, when the red curtain will open on the 6 themed areas dedicated to the main film genres (Cinecittà, Rome, Spaceland, Far West, Adventureland, The Kingdom of Ice) with 40 attractions and 6 live shows daily.
Another novelty of the season will be the NoGravity show, created and directed by Emiliano Pellisari, which brings to the stage the greatest duels in the history of cinema, from Star Wars to Spiderman, passing through Avengers, Frozen and Harry Potter: a hypnotic show in which the dancers -acrobats create architecture that will leave you speechless. For the opening date, the Park is looking for 200 new figures to be included for the new season: the appointment is at the Job Talent Day on 17 February.
Italian affairs interviewed the managing director Stefano Cigarini Zoomarine, Rainbow Magicland, Ferrari’s theme parks: Stefano Cigarini is the King Midas of the parks, the Manager of Entertainment and Experiences Economy who has managed to revive the fortunes of amusement parks in Italy and around the world. Modenese, degree from DAMS and Master in Marketing, Knight of Malta for professional merits Cigarini has an always smiling face that instills confidence and hope in anyone with the way of playing like an old-fashioned manager.
You have revived the fortunes of Cinecittà Word. What is the thing that makes you proud of your success?
Today Cinecittà world, with all its variations, is a resident piece of the tourist offer of Rome and central Italy; has had growth rates that are objectively much higher than the market: in six years +285% compared to the market average which is +22 but I believe, above all, it is experimenting by building experiences, itineraries, recreational fun activities that in the past did not exist ‘they were; this in terms of unique innovative attractions Volarium is an example of this: an attraction that does not exist in the rest of Italy in which guests experience an immersive, almost cinematic experience. This for me is an example of how modern entertainment should be done: trying to imagine worlds that bring together technology, ideas, poetry and Italian genius because Volarium is dedicated to Leonardo Da Vinci. We are also experimenting with new forms of production; for example, here film and television productions are made in front of the public. We have broken this sacredness: here the actors act even when people pass by, watch and perhaps participate. But the biggest challenge is represented by the development path we have put in place to create a resort for the capital. Rome, unlike other European capitals, does not have high level offers in this area: Paris at Disneyland Paris, London has the Merlin group with beautiful attractions, Los Angeles has Disneyland, Universal, Orlando: these attractions move the numbers. Today Paris has more visitors than Rome because it does not have Disneyland Paris. We have neither the money nor the important brands of the French capital but we are equipped with entrepreneurial ability and, piece by piece, we hope to achieve the same goal even if the road is longer and more tiring.
Do all shareholders agree?
The story of Cinecittà Word is this: there was a large initial investment, over 200 million euros which in the first years had a very disappointing result, the park lost 90 million euros. The shareholders did not give up but they reconstructed the debt, a new management that brought us a new path transforming a technically bankrupt company into a company that is now on the market that competes, offers and grows. I joined the group of shareholders and today I hold 10% of the company. We are convinced that the expansion project is the key to becoming an important piece of Rome’s tourist offer; obviously this clashes with economic and financial availability so we are building our development project with the resources we produce. Fortunately for 3 years we have been producing well with cash and therefore we can invest.
Cinecittàword is far from the capital. Haven’t you thought about improving transportation for tourists?
In fact we pay the discount of being a little far from the center even if it is only 10 km outside the ring road. We have a shuttle service which, however, is used overall by less than 2% of visitors: the Italian public is used to using their own transport but foreigners use them. We should improve shuttle services, interface better with existing public services with Cotral-Bus, create a system with other nearby entities such as the Castel Romano outlet. In this sense we have started a relationship with carsharing companies so today anyone who rents a car can get to the park having an insured parking space. Furthermore, this year, we have added an agreement with Trenitalia thanks to which from any Italian station you can purchase a ticket for CinecittàWord both from the APP and from the site directly, creating an intermodality, i.e. train to Termini station and shuttle link that takes you to park.
Living a day as a gladiator is one of the most interesting news he illustrated today. Maybe it should also be sponsored abroad…..
The idea of ”RomaWorld”, the new theme park of ancient Rome, is exactly imagined for those 21 million people who arrive in the capital as tourists, of which 63% are foreigners and 37% are Italians who do not live in the city. We learned first-hand that a pharaonic project would require many financial resources without which it would risk becoming stuck and therefore we started from the bottom with a limited project, building “Roma World” with only 5 hectares; but as we continue to add the pieces in terms of product we will arrive at the final project which will be: I enter the place and walk into the Roman Empire. This is the arrival point but it will still take 5/10 years. This year we are putting on track with the slogan “Gladiator for a day” an evening show of Rome on fire which will debut this summer. It will work, it will be a fixed attraction because we have understood that it is more difficult to move tourists who visit Rome during the day but who tend to have not much to do in the evening and who appreciate the experience of taking part in a party around the fire and sleeping in a ancient Rome camp tent.
This idea seems more focused for foreign tourists. How do you sponsor it?
We have started marketing and commercial activities in distant markets with conferences, activities on social media, intermediaries and portals for all the public arriving from outside who must be notified and informed beforehand to allow them to plan their holiday.
Is it true that Michael Kevin O’Leary also came to you?
Yes, it was a visit that surprised us! The owner and CEO of Ryanair came to visit CinecittàWorld because he came across one of our advertisements. He came to us as an ordinary customer: he bought the ticket and wrote to us that he would arrive. When an entrepreneur like this comes to RomaWorld you understand that the project is interesting and can be enjoyed!
Do your studios also include American productions?
Yes, for a year now we have opened the park to film and television productions that come to us because we have large theatres, dressing rooms, offices and beautiful resident sets; from New York to ancient Rome, from Ben Hur to the Far West, we also have an original submarine from the film U571 where “The Commander” was filmed with Pierfrancesco Favino. Specifically, the American production that will shoot the TV series “Those About to Die” here, a television series on the era of the gladiators developed by Robert Rodat and directed by Ronald Emmerich and Marco Kreuzpaintner which will arrive in Italy from Prime Video. Universal Studios Picort entertainment. It is a film in four long episodes, therefore 8 episodes, set in the world of the ancient world of gladiators and starring Anthony Hopkins in the role of Emperor Vespasian directed by Rolan Emmerich. Successful series that filmed here for 8 consecutive months this year and which already has the option for a second series in 2025.
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