Parc Astérix first occupied a special place in the hearts of the French and comic book fans since its opening in 1989. The park is themed to French hero Astérix and his pal Obélix, the characters created by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. Throughout its 35 years of operation, Parc Astérix's beloved characters and distinctively Gallic charms have helped it prosper despite tough competition from nearby attractions, museums, and Paris' own notable icons.

Funworld spoke with CEO Delphine Pons about the park's challenges, triumphs, and future during a milestone year.

Living Legends

Pons knows she is "lucky" to have such a lively and legendary universe to play with. The attraction's values of humor, friendship, irreverence, and authenticity have brought more than 52 million visitors to Parc Astérix over 35 years. "It's an inspiration for us. It's also a responsibility," she says. "We work in close partnership with the license owners, and we respect the heritage of René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo."

The Astérix universe gives Parc Astérix's team plenty of characters to draw from, including the Gauls, Romans, Egyptians, and Pirates. The park also features Greek and Viking lands. New Astérix comic book volumes are added every two years. There are also movies, and Netflix is expected to premiere a new series, "Astérix & Obélix: Le Combat Des Chefs," in 2025.

Parc Astérix's owner, French leisure group Compagnie des Alpes (CdA), is pursuing an investment plan that builds on the Astérix intellectual property (IP), increases Parc Astérix's attractiveness and capacity, and maximizes its appeal as a global tourism destination.

Pons joined the park in May 2021 after a 16-year career at CdA, and she had reason to be optimistic about her new post. Parc Astérix was about to reopen after lockdown. Her predecessor, Nicolas Kremer, had left the park in good shape. Attendance had grown from fewer than 1.7 million in 2014 to 2.3 million in 2019. Parc Asterix had come to the end of a 10-year development plan, and Pons had an opportunity to map out a future master plan.

Aiming for Guest Satisfaction

"Our main objective is to provide our guests with what we call 'la très grande satisfaction'-great satisfaction," she says. "We know our visitors are sensitive to novelties, innovation, and modernity. So, year after year, we will develop new attractions, shows, restaurants, and accommodation capacity to welcome them."

The €36 million Festival Toutatis zone, which opened last year, embodies those ambitions. The team wanted to create a signature "thrill coaster" that was unlike any other ride in the park. Toutatis, from Intamin, features seven LSM launches: five forward and two backward. The multi-launch coaster has 23 moments of airtime. "It's very speedy, but it's also accessible because it's really smooth and comfortable," Pons says. Riders hit 107 kph along the 1,100-meter track.

Toutatis runs three 20-seat trains, ensuring maximum capacity. An intricately themed ride station, buried beneath a green hill covered in menhir standing stones and prehistoric monuments, is adorned with tribal carvings. Dynamic lights embedded into the rockwork enhance the anticipation.

"Each time we create something in Parc Asterix, it should be immersive and in the Asterix and Obélix DNA," Pons says. "We first think about the story we want to tell our guests." Toutatis is themed around the idea that the Gauls have created a festival to honor their god, Toutatis.

Pons and her team are not afraid to rewrite their plans as opportunities arise. "We dare to change things," she says. As the Toutatis storyline evolved, they saw the potential to create an entire themed area.

Besides the new roller coaster, the 3-hectare Festival Toutatis zone includes L'aire De Jeux Du Sanglier D'or (The Golden Boar Playground), the family-friendly Chez Gyrofolix attraction, a food and beverage (F&B) outlet named Au Dolmen Gourmand Restaurant, and a gift shop alongside the existing La Trace Du Hourra bobsleigh ride. "What we want to do in the master plan is to have full areas where our guests will find everything they want for all the family," Pons says.

The new area has improved flow management, increased capacity, and helped the team better manage waiting times. "It's brought additional visitors," Pons adds.

Park attendance climbed from 2.6 million visitors in 2022 to 2.8 million in 2023. Although that's not solely due to the new development, the "Toutatis effect" played a part.

Offering Unique Experiences

Festival Toutatis is designed for nighttime and winter openings and events as the facility stretches its operating calendar. The park wants to extend its opening days from 200 to 250 days a year within a decade.

"Parc Astérix is different according to the season," Pons says, which creates the urge to visit at varying times. Springtime marks the launch of new attractions. During the Gaulish Summer (L'Été Gaulois), guests can enjoy the nighttime ambiance in the park, which is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Visitors can feast and party with Astérix and Obélix at a Gaulish Banquet.

Peur sur le Parc (Fear on the Park) provides Halloween entertainment with haunted houses, scare zones, monsters, and a "terrifying buffet" called Le buffet de l'horreur. Families can visit in the daytime, whereas a scarier experience runs from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. Parc Astérix's Gaulish Christmas (Noël Gaulois) offers ice skating, a garden trail with illuminated Chinese lanterns, parades, shows, and specialty F&B.

The park marks its 35th anniversary in 2024 with new attractions, including a specially composed musical, "C'est du Délire," a Spanish float for the Gaulish Parade, a 40-meter-high La Tour de Numérobis swing ride for the Egyptian land, and an F&B outlet named P'OZ Kebab. There's also the newly rethemed La Revanche des Pirates flume ride (formerly Le Grand Splatch).

Investing in a Green Future

The team is renovating aging park infrastructure to enhance the visitor experience. All projects are designed with sustainability in mind. Parc Astérix is nestled in a forest surrounded by a protected natural area. As the park grows, the design team at CdA strives to develop the park with minimal impact on biodiversity.

Parc Astérix's goal is to reach net zero carbon emissions in 2030. The facility uses 100% green electricity from renewable sources. The park also plans to have a solar carport and is replacing its work vehicles with ones that run on electricity or biofuel. A key challenge is to improve accessibility to ensure more people arrive by public transport.

Themed accommodation is another area of growth for the park. Parc Astérix started with the 100-room Hôtel des Trois Hiboux and expanded with 50 new rooms and a seminar and convention center. Two further hotels followed: La Cité Suspendue and Les Quais de Lutèce, Parc Astérix's first four-star themed hotel, which opened in 2020. The 150-room Les Quais de Lutèce hotel takes guests back to 50 B.C., when Astérix is set, recreating period buildings around the River Seine.

Work will soon start on a fourth hotel, which is expected to open at the end of 2026 or the beginning of 2027. Theming inside the 300-room hotel and convention center will reflect the Astérix and Obélix universe.

A project director steers each development, but Pons believes in integrating teams for the best results. "I want hotel staff to be fully involved. I don't want the operations and maintenance teams telling me, 'The hotel is nice, but it's impossible operationally.'"

Pons is as determined to invest in Parc Astérix's people as she is in front-of-house experiences. "We have to invest for our visitors, but we also have to invest for our staff." She is investing to build and renovate backstage facilities. "We care about the staff and their quality of life at work," she says. Staff who are comfortable will be in "a better mindset to make our visitors happy."

Pons is inspired by what she sees in the wider industry. "We are in a growing market. Each year, there are more visitors to leisure parks." Players are announcing major development plans to increase market share, which she says is good for customers and lifts the whole industry. "It's a win-win situation for everyone."

• This original reporting from IAAPA News first appeared in Funworld magazine. For more stories and videos covering the global attractions industry and to read a digital version of Funworld magazine, click here.

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