Marketing 4320 – tourism marketing project

VULCANIA

Revitalizing a failing theme park

Spruha Mehta and Sophie Galante

Winter 2012

Table of Contents

I. Executive Summary.......................................................................................................................2

II. Introduction...................................................................................................................................3

III. Situation analysis: SWOT...........................................................................................................4

IV. Current Marketing Strategy.......................................................................................................5

1) Target Market.............................................................................................................................5

2) Marketing Mix............................................................................................................................6

a. Product...................................................................................................................................6

b. Place.......................................................................................................................................7

c. Price........................................................................................................................................7

d. Promotion..............................................................................................................................7

V. What went wrong ?.......................................................................................................................8

VI. Recommendations...................................................................................................................11

Bibliography.........................................................................................................................................13

APPENDICES:........................................................................................................................................14

Appendix A: Regional origins of Vulcania’s French public................................................................14

Appendix B: Origins of International Tourists :.................................................................................14

Appendix C: Location of Vulcania in France......................................................................................15

I. Executive Summary

This report was commissioned to examine the underlying reasons of the failure of Vulcania, an educational theme park based on volcanoes in France, as a tourist spot and to recommend ways to turn this property into a high valued tourist destination.

The research draws attention to the fact that Vulcania failed to meet the target visitors’ number of a reasonable 800,000 in the first year of its opening itself. This number plummeted over years due to the lack of introducing new and innovative attractions doubled by poor connectivity to its location via regional transport system. Furthermore, it identifies the problem of unclear branding and product positioning as an unsuccessful marketing strategy which affected the long term brand image of Vulcania. Moreover, criticism over Vulcania’s environmental hazards, and personal motives of the former French President, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing in developing this property also aided in creating a poor image of Vulcania in the tourism industry.

The report evaluates and concludes that Vulcania has the potential to be a landmark site in France provided that it took immediate strong action to fix its evident problems while playing on its relevant strengths.

It is recommended:

that Vulcania accommodates modifications to the property to project an image of a theme park only

that Vulcania offers promotions and concessions on price are to its visitors

that necessary advertising is taken up to create a buzz

that supporting sponsors and partners are sought for this revision project

II. Introduction

Vulcania, the "European Park of Volcanism", is a theme park on volcanism which was

opened in February 2002 thanks to the strong support of Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, former

French President and, at the time, Chairman of the Regional Council of Auvergne. The

activity of the park is managed by a company named Volcans. It is situated in Saint-Ours-les-

Roches, Auvergne, France, a place known for its amazing natural landscape. The slogan is

“the adventure of the land”, which shows how strategically important the environment is for

the park’s marketing. This park being one of its kinds in the whole of Europe enables visitors

to discover an actual volcano from the inside, as ¾ of the park is underground, but it also

offers around 30 activities, two 3D and 4D theatres and regular exhibits displaying the great

mysteries of volcanoes.

Goals and objectives

As described on the official website of Vulcania1, its two main objectives are:

To diffuse expertise and the latest knowledge in volcanology, and in earth and

universe sciences

To be a tool of economic development, culture and tourism of the region Auvergne

Regarding the second objective, despite the uniqueness of this theme park, this

initiative has not met with its initial expectations in terms of visitors and promotion of the

area in all. Vulcania wanted to position itself as the “motor for tourism” in Auvergne and has

defined clear objectives regarding tourism. It was supposed to attract at least 800,000

1 Vulcania. (s.d.). retrieved March 25, 2012, from http://www.vulcania.com

visitors during its first year of opening in 2005. It was aimed at firstly attracting a large

audience including natural sciences amateurs, secondly, to be priced like any other

amusement park and finally, create an economic impact for the region.

III. Situation analysis: SWOT

Strengths

Educational values with entertainment

Has something to offer for every age group

Perceived as a family outing spot

One of a kind in Europe: novel idea of using Volcanoes as a theme for creating

unusual media of educational entertainment—great adventure rides, 3D movies,

parks, volcano walks

Weaknesses

Located in one of France’s poorest areas2

Remote location of Clermont-Ferrand

Neither an amusement park nor a museum—not good enough

Seasonal tourism of the area only draws tourists in summer to the region

Opportunities

Political support due to the creator’s former alliance to the French Government –ex-

President Valery Giscard D'Estaing

Increasingemployment and tourism

2White, C. (2002, March 11). Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved March 25, 2012, from Will this French idea crater?: http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/mar2002/nf20020311_1382.htm

Ability to boost local economy through increased socio-cultural and economic

development in the area

Development of new technology to keep the park up-to-date

Geo-tourism at regional, national as well as international scale

Eco-tourism trend

Central geographic location in France strategic to draw tourism from across the

nation

Threats

Local discontent of regional money directed to fund this project

High targets set to be achieved in the first decade to turn profitable

Failure of Futuroscope, a competitor, that showcased technology and innovation

overshadowing the chances of Vulcania’s success

Disneyland Paris (12million fans a year3 as per 2002 records) and Walt Disney Studios

are the strongest tourist attractions in France—very strong competition

IV. Current Marketing Strategy

1) Target Market

As defined during the launch of the theme park, the primary target markets for Vulcania

were families, tourists and schools.

3White, C. (2002, March 11). Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved March 25, 2012, from Will this French idea crater?: http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/mar2002/nf20020311_1382.htm

However, visitors are mostly families and schools, with kids representing 40% of the total

of visitors4. The park’s whole attractions are aimed to children but it has had difficulties to

adapt the scientific knowledge to an ideal target market for kids that would be the 8 to 14

years old. The activities are considered too difficult and not attractive enough for kids.

Moreover, Vulcania’s intention was to attract tourists from all other Europe in order to

revitalize the region and gain increasing revenues and notoriety. However, Vulcania has

managed to attract neither the locals nor the international visitors. In fact, locals from

Auvergne only represent less than 1 out of 5 visitors (see Appendix A) which indicates clearly

their region. Only 11% of visitors are international and mostly from nearby countries such as

Belgium, Norway and Switzerland, which represent 50% of the total of International visitors

(see Appendix B).

2) Marketing Mix

a. Product

The core product of the park is a variety of fun and cultural activities around

volcanoes aimed at sensitizing the younger audience to natural sciences and entertaining

them. An emphasis is stressed on creating a unique atmosphere in the park thanks to its

natural environment.

A range of attractions and theatres constitute the main tangible products of the park.

Itoffers around 30 activities, two 3D and 4D theatres and regular exhibits displaying the great

mysteries of volcanoes.

4 Number of Visitors. (s.d.). Retrieved March 25, 2012, from Vulcania: http://www.vulcania.com/a-propos-de-vulcania/nos-visiteurs.html

Moreover, Vulcania offers a range of augmented products such as services for

visitors with special needs, car parking, catering and retailing, large opening times, etc…

The services cape is a very important part of the product marketing of the park. In

fact, Vulcania relies mostly on exterior attributes such as the landscape and the exterior

design, which is built in a very modern way in order to put an emphasis on the environment.

However, interior attributes are also very important as the park seeks to generate an

atmosphere for its customers, enabled thanks to the layout, interior design, signage and

lighting.

b. Place

Tickets for the park are essentially sold through their website with an emphasis

placed on making it easy for visitors. However, tickets are also available through two main

distributors, la FNAC, first distributor of tickets in France, and Carrefour. We think it is a good

strategy to sell tickets online, as the online sales of tickets are annually increasing from 15 to

20% in France. Moreover, la FNAC is a good partner as it represents more than 55% of

market share5.

c. Price

Vulcania uses Yield Management techniques in order to offer prices that change

depending on the time and profile of the visitor. Prices are affordable and ranged in the

average for any parks, between 11 and 24€ (between 14 and 31 CAD).

d. Promotion

5 Roland Berger. (2010, July). Panorama du marché de la billetterie en ligne. Retrieved March 25, 2012, from http://www.weezevent.com/images/download/ROLAND_BERGER_Marche_de_la_billetterie_en_ligne_Panorama.pdf

Vulcania has a communication budget divided into four main categories: strategic

consulting, consumer communications, corporate communications and web marketing. Since

the opening of the park, Vulcania has been working with the same creative agency,One, to

build its communications campaign6. However, in 2008, due to the repositioning of the park

and the lack of positive results from the marketing campaigns, Vulcania changed its

communications agency in order to redefine its strategy.

Vulcania’s first promotion goals didn’t consider encouraging people to come back

after their first visit. Therefore, no new attractions were launched during its first three years

of opening. It is only in 2005 that new attractions began slowly to appear into the park. To

break the bad image issues due to the lack of innovations, Vulcania operated a brand

repositioning in 2007, with a name changed into “the New Vulcania” that would later lead

to“Vulcania II” launched in 2008.

V. What went wrong ?

There are a number of potential sources of errors concerning the marketing of

Vulcania, from its opening to now, that Vulcania has not been able to overcome. They are all

potentially responsible for the failure of the park.

First of all, we have observed that the core product is obviously lacking attractiveness

for visitors. In fact, the experience that Vulcania tries to convey to their visitors doesn’t seem

to be as attractive as planned regarding the low number of visitors. Attractions fail to gain

the attention of the younger audience and technology is not proficiently used. Concerning

6 Leitus, C. (2008, April 24). Vulcania se réveille. Retrieved March 25, 2012, from Strategies Magazine: http://www.strategies.fr/new-business/competitions/r48354W/vulcania-se-reveille.html

the tangible product, concerns can be raised as to how small the park is compared to its

competitors and how it offers little high-sensation attractions. Globally, the on-site

attractions may not be attractive enough as it is estimated that a visitor only spends about 3

hours in the park during its visit.

Secondly, the target market is not clearly defined. The project has deliberately been

constructed as a mix between a park and a museum. This positioning is risky as neither

families nor science amateurs may feel targeted and be attracted by the park. This is a huge

mistake for Vulcania as they do not know who the park is trying to target –kids and families

or science amateurs? Moreover as highlighted before, neither international visitors nor

locals have been attracted to the park due to a bad marketing strategy. For example, the

official website is only available in two languages, French and English, but the English part is

very poor and not everything has been translated for an easy access from international

visitors.

Thirdly, the place, Auvergne, is also a loophole that Vulcania has not managed to

overcome. In fact, in a first place, it has deliberately been constructed in the middle of an

amazing natural landscape, but barely inhabited, in order to revitalize the region and

promote the landscape (see Appendix C). However, many issues have risen due to the lack of

effective transportation for international visitors and the total absence of tourist spots in

the region. Transportation is a key element for a tourist spot, especially when it is so far

from any major city. Moreover, very problematic issues have been addressed by

environmental pressure groups concerning the location of the park. They have been fighting

since the opening for the protection of the environment it is built on that they fear will be

damaged by the number of tourists gathering there. Those groups were defending “another

form of tourism”, recalling that the Charter of the Auvergne Volcanoes Parks favors “light

and widespread facilities”7.

Furthermore, we believe that the initial objectives weren’t properly decided and

clear enough. In fact, a huge scandal rose as the park first opened concerning the links

between the park and the former French President, Valéry Giscard D’Estaing. The park was

directly associated with his image and named “Giscard’s Volcanoes”, “the beloved child of

Valéry Giscard d’Estaing”8 or even the “Giscardoscope”9. Many critics believe that the park

was only built to boost the former president’s image and reinforce his ego. That creates bad

images for the park, reducing its potential attractiveness for tourists.

Finally, Vulcania’s promotion tools have been ineffective up to now. In fact, a 2011 study

from IFOP, the French Institute of Public Opinion,has underlined poor performance from

Vulcania’s promotion tools. In fact, only 74% of French people have heard about Vulcania 10,

which places the park in the last known parks regarding French parks notoriety. Moreover,

concerning the frequentation of the park, only 10% of French people said they had already

been there, which is not only a potential loss of visitors in the country itself, but also a result

of a bad marketing campaign. Finally, only 65% of people declared been impressed by the

park and ¾ of the visitors would encourage a friend to go. Those results are poor for a theme

park that could be so much more attractive.7 Théodora, Y. (1997, February). L'éruption freinée du Giscardoscope. Retrieved March 24, 2012, from Liberation: http://www.liberation.fr/france/0101206520-l-eruption-freinee-du-giscardoscope-face-aux-oppositions-le-debut-des-travaux-du-centre-de-volcanisme-est-ajourne

8 Sylvie, O., & Benjamin, S. (1997, August). Les volcans de Giscard. Retrieved March 25, 2012, from L'Express: http://www.lexpress.fr/informations/les-volcans-de-giscard_623874.html

9 d'Istria, G. C. (1997, September). Vulcania, vitrine de l'Auvergne . Retrieved March 24, 2012, from Le Point: http://www.lepoint.fr/actualites-politique/2007-01-25/vulcania-vitrine-de-l-auvergne/917/0/85763

10 Survey: Notoriété et image des parcs d’attraction. (2011, July 3). Retrieved March 2012, from IFOP: http://www.ifop.com/?option=com_publication&type=poll&id=1561

VI. Recommendations

We believe that Vulcania can turn into a dynamic and unique spot drawing tourists’

attention locally and internationally. For Vulcania to be a viable entity we recommend the

following strategy:

Vulcania is neither good enough to be a theme park nor a museum. The undecided,

unclear image should be changed to turn this property completely into an

outstanding theme park by focusing more on entertainment. More attractions and

innovative rides should be added to cater to kids and families, also giving Vulcania a

defined target audience.

With a new face for Vulcania as an exclusive theme park promising fun, adventure

and thrill, appropriate promotions need to put out at the same time to pull people to

give this place another chance to succeed. A package that includes entry ticket,

transportation and accommodation can be promoted for foreign visitors (not local). It

is observed that the people of Clermont-Ferrand region do not acknowledge this site

as a local attraction, there is no sense of belongingness. To integrate the people of

this region to this theme park, promotional Annual Pass with multiple entries can be

issued at a promotional price as done at other theme parks like Disneyland in Paris.

Similar packages and concession rates can be offered to students of French

universities.

As Vulcania gets its make-over, supportive advertising should be done to create the

buzz, nationally as well as internationally. This should be done by running print ads in

newspapers, travel magazines, tourist travel guides, and getting the French Tourism

Board to promote Vulcania through its website and other channels of advertising.

Furthermore, Vulcania should take advantage of newtechnologies to create the buzz

and especially throughsocial media. It is important for Vulcania to build a community

of fans online who will spread the word of mouth about the park to the large

majority of people seeking information online. Vulcania also needs to engage

mothers who will ultimately be the purchaser of the family’s vacation. As a strong

technology-based park, Vulcania needs to be a trend leader on social media

technology, starting by an increase presence on Facebook and Twitter, where they

only have respectively 3,490 fans and 250 followers, to develop interaction and

engagement with their fan base. Therefore, we recommend Vulcania to create

excitement and buzz amongst mothers.

To lower costs of redoing the property and advertising, strategic partnerships and/or

sponsorships should be sought. For instance, McDonalds which is well-known in

France and internationally, and more so is a favorite among the kids, could be signed

as one of the main food sponsor at theme park. A special Ronald McDonald ride can

be designed and in turn McDonald’s shall promote Vulcania through its Happy Meals

or a special Vulcania dessert running as a month’s special.

Thus, all in all, Vulcania, a failed property, can be redefined for it to take advantage of its

untapped potential and eventually achieve a well deserved success.

Bibliographyd'Istria, G. C. (1997, September). Vulcania, vitrine de l'Auvergne . Retrieved March 24, 2012, from Le Point: http://www.lepoint.fr/actualites-politique/2007-01-25/vulcania-vitrine-de-l-auvergne/917/0/85763

Leitus, C. (2008, April 24). Vulcania se réveille. Retrieved March 25, 2012, from Strategies Magazine: http://www.strategies.fr/new-business/competitions/r48354W/vulcania-se-reveille.html

Number of Visitors. (s.d.). Retrieved March 25, 2012, from Vulcania: http://www.vulcania.com/a-propos-de-vulcania/nos-visiteurs.html

Roland Berger. (2010, July). Panorama du marché de la billetterie en ligne. Retrieved March 25, 2012, from http://www.weezevent.com/images/download/ROLAND_BERGER_Marche_de_la_billetterie_en_ligne_Panorama.pdf

Survey: Notoriété et image des parcs d’attraction. (2011, July 3). Retrieved March 2012, from IFOP: http://www.ifop.com/?option=com_publication&type=poll&id=1561

Sylvie, O., & Benjamin, S. (1997, August). Les volcans de Giscard. Retrieved March 25, 2012, from L'Express: http://www.lexpress.fr/informations/les-volcans-de-giscard_623874.html

Théodora, Y. (1997, February). L'éruption freinée du Giscardoscope. Retrieved March 24, 2012, from Liberation: http://www.liberation.fr/france/0101206520-l-eruption-freinee-du-giscardoscope-face-aux-oppositions-le-debut-des-travaux-du-centre-de-volcanisme-est-ajourne

Vulcania. (s.d.). retrieved March 25, 2012, from http://www.vulcania.com

White, C. (2002, March 11). Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved March 25, 2012, from Will this French idea crater?: http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/mar2002/nf20020311_1382.htm

APPENDICES:

Appendix A: Regional origins of Vulcania’s French public

Source: http://www.vulcania.com

Appendix B: Origins of International Tourists :

Source: http://www.vulcania.com

Royaume-Uni = United Kingdom

Suisse = Switzerland

Allemagne = Germany

Belgique = Belgium

Espagne = Spain

Italie = Italy

Pays-Bas = Norway

Autres = Others

Appendix C: Location of Vulcania in France