2024-07-21 05:32:36
From July 15, 2024, a 6,000 m2 water park called Aquascope has opened on the Futuroscope site in Chasseneuil-du-Poitou, about 20 minutes from Poitiers. It marks a new level of development for Futuroscope, founded in 1987 by René Monory, who chaired the Vienne department until 2004.
Almost forty years after its creation, the park is experiencing the most important change in its history with an investment of 225 million euros between 2020 and 2025, including 57 million euros for the company This liquid which should allow you to expand your audience. How can we avoid being swept away by technological advances and keeping visitors in the field in a category with little travel? Rodolphe Bouin, general manager of Futuroscope delivered to 20 minutes A park policy that wants to mix education and fun activities.
In six years, “50% of the content of the Futuroscope park renewed”
In recent years, Futuroscope has been taking care of its future. “For six years, we have had 50% of the content of the Futuroscope park,” points out Rodolphe Bouin. The Aquascope marks a culmination in this process of accelerating new products. Imagine in 2018, it opened on July 15 with attendance in line with expectations, around 2,000 people per day. The number is expected to increase rapidly.
“We offer large, excellent immersive images, while instead of sitting in an armchair, we are in a swimsuit in the water,” summarizes the director general. With a children’s area and eight slides for fun-seekers, the indoor park wants to appeal to families.
Last year three new products were put into operation and five this year. “We are in the midst of a very strong renovation of all the content of Futuroscope, going beyond the creation of the second park,” emphasized the director. We don’t create new things very quickly.”
“Definitely establish itself as a short break”
Vienna has no other tourist attractions and Futuroscope must therefore convince visitors to come only for the park. “We have the destination: they come first for Futuroscope and sometimes make a few outings outside,” confirmed Rodolphe Bouin. Based on this observation, the strategy of the park and its shareholder, Compagnie des Alpes, is to “present itself clearly as a destination for short stays (ie up to three days)”.
To accommodate visitors, two hotels were built two years ago. And if one of the two visits to Futuroscope has already taken place for two days, the idea, with its new features, is to convince some tourists to stay for three days, i.e. two days in Futuroscope and one day in Aquascope . Although the growth in demand is expected, it is not shown as significant.
“We are less in the race for stages than ten years ago, we know that it is harmful from the point of view of the guest experience,” the director summarized. It’s about developing economic models that work well and having enough investment potential. » In 2023, the park will attract two million visitors, compared to 2.5 million for Puy du Fou, for example.
How to stay ahead of the future?
It is a real challenge for the park to pretend to talk about the technologies of the future, as the years go by. “It’s not easy to be in the park of the future,” his director agreed. We travel around the world and connect with everyone who works in this field to try to discover cutting-edge technologies. »
But be careful, it’s not a question of finding technology for technology’s sake but of putting it in the service of “beautiful immersive stories that inspire passion”, he continued. Another problem and risk taking is that no attraction is bought from a catalog, everything is developed internally by the park associations. “They create six to seven projects per year and some years they all collapse,” he explained.
More information on the park
In 2025, the park will open “Campus Numeria”, for schools and the public. “To be an exhibition for the world of tomorrow, we will present the school of tomorrow, with content on new activities that will appear within 20 to 30 years,” explained Rodolphe Bouin.
And ten years from now?
The park has a ten-year investment plan and a more specific one for the next five years to replace with new educational structures but also aimed at children, without forgetting the attractions for the more daring.
If a good part of the giant car park has been used for the construction of the 6,000-seat arena and two hotels, there is still land left on the 80-hectare site for another new development to come out of the land , about 2035.
#park #Futuroscope #hasnt #created #quickly #director