Just like the Gaulish (Gaulois) comic book heroes, the world’s only Astérix theme park is indomitable right now. Unless you’re a certain mouse, that is. Second in France only to Disneyland Park Paris, Parc Astérix enjoyed its busiest-ever season in 2022. The 34-year-old venue consolidated its position as the nation’s favourite homegrown park with a record 2,636,000 guests. That’s 20% higher than pre-pandemic attendance in 2019.
With a new themed land, Festival Toutatis, and a signature new roller coaster for 2023 kicking off a new masterplan, further growth seems likely.
Delphine Pons may be riding the wave of a €100 million investment made into Parc Astérix between 2017 and 2020. However, in previous roles at operator Companies des Alpes she helped put in place some of the building blocks that have led to the park’s impressive performance in recent years.
New rides and attractions, two themed hotels and an extended operating calendar including Halloween and Christmas have increased the catchment area of Parc Astérix and given it wider recognition outside France.
Delphine Pons’ path to Parc Astérix
An 18-year Compagnie des Alpes veteran, Pons began as marketing and sales director for both its ski resort operation and leisure park operations, working initially out of an office at Parc Astêrix. More recently she served as group development director, searching for acquisition targets such as Family Park in Austria, and increasing CdA’s interest in Futuroscope to majority stake status.
In addition to helping conceive new rides, shows and themed areas for various sites within the group, she also assisted the French company in lending its expertise to developers of other parks and ski resorts across the world.
One way or another, Pons was no stranger to the Gaulish kingdom when taking up the post of chief executive officer at Parc Astérix in May 2021.
“It’s a fantastic park,” she says. “I love the universe. It is full of humour, and authenticity, and is developing with a lot of projects on the go. It’s a real pleasure to come here every day and have the opportunity to lead this park.”
A rolling masterplan for Parc Astérix
Pons says that her first mission as CEO was to draw up Parc Astérix’s new 10-year masterplan. This came on the back of an earlier masterplan that set out the path for the single theme park to morph into a holiday destination.
“In 2015, we added 15 rooms to Hotel Les Trois Hiboux. In 2019/20, we opened two new hotels, La Cité Suspendue and Les Quais du Lutéce. And in the meantime, we extended the opening calendar and accelerated the opening of new entertainment – rides, attractions, and shows – to extend capacity. The strategy was a winning one, and we are pursuing this strategy.”
Opened in April 1989, three years ahead of Disneyland Paris, Parc Astérix is located 35km north of the French capital. Developing attractions based on well-known intellectual property (IP) continues to be an industry trend. However, both French theme parks have been heavily infused with it from the very beginning.
Awareness and artistic licence of the Astérix brand
The stories of Astérix and Obélix give Parc Astérix great licence when it comes to developing themed zones, rides and attractions. Across the site’s 34 hectares, guests can discover lands centred not just on the Gauls but also Greeks, Egyptians, Romans and Vikings. There’s even a Parisian area.
“We have a good relationship with the brand owners and work closely on the development of new projects,” says Pons. “It’s very easy to conceive an attraction based on an Astérix storyline.”
“What is interesting about the universe,” she adds, “is that there are always new things. Astérix is really more than comic books. It’s movies, it’s video games, there are lots of licences. This year there is a new film coming and a Netflix series conceived by Alain Chabat.”
The brand resonates with a wide range of ages from across Europe, says Pons. “It’s very popular in France, but also famous in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and Spain. There is very good awareness of the characters.”
Something for everyone in the Gaulish kingdom
Whereas Park Astérix once entertained only 7% of guests from outside France, the proportion is now double. With a mix of rides and attractions including eight roller coasters, seven water rides, live shows and play areas, it attracts a healthy mix of 60% families with children and 40% young adults.
As well as this year’s new offering in Festival Toutatis, thrill seekers will enjoy the wooden coaster Tonnerre 2 Zeus. This was upgraded by the Gravity Group in 2022. Last year also saw the return. after a three-year absence, of the long-running stunt show Main basse sur la Jaconde.
Other live entertainment highlights include a daily face-off between the Gauls and Romans in the Roman Coliseum and the Gaulish Parade (Délfiê Gaulois). The park’s once-popular dolphinarium was closed in 2021 in response to changing consumer tastes.
Festival Toutatis: Parc Astérix’s newest zone
Launched last month with great fanfare, Festival Toutatis is the most expensive addition to Parc Astérix yet. A total of €36 million has been spent to create a woodland realm that looks like it could always have been there.
The inspiration, Gaulish god Toutatis, also gives his name to the big attraction at the heart of the themed land. The multi LSM launch coaster from Intamin is joined by a further two new attractions, a burger restaurant and a souvenir shop. In addition, the existing bobsled coaster La Trace du Hourra has been nicely integrated into the area.
Plans for the Toutatis coaster were first made in 2017, after the opening of the Pégase Express, a more family-friendly launch coaster in the park’s Greek zone. Later it became apparent that an entire land was needed.
“Toutatis is a big sensational ride, but does not suit all the people,” explains Pons. “We thought let’s go for a new area that is able to satisfy all kinds of visitors.”
Posters dotted around Festival Toutatis depict various contests to be enjoyed by the partying Gauls. Garlands and strings of lights are strewn overhead. The focal point of the 3-hectare land is a menhir stone statue of Toutatis, dressed in wicker clothing.
No holding back
A huge golden pig (Sanglier d’Or) sits inside a themed playground. When it came to the supporting attractions, this wasn’t the only case of going the whole hog, reveals Pons.
“There was an option of building Chez Gyrofolix [a Zamperla Nebulaz ride] one or two years later. But when you build a new land, the most efficient way is to do it well the first time. So we decided to do it all immediately because it is not good to have facades and construction that can be seen by visitors. Now the land is complete.”
Guests are already loving everything Toutatis has to offer. “The ride and the land are well received by the public,” says Pons. “The visitor comments are really good. The coaster has positioned itself immediately in first place with 9.55 out of 10. I am also looking also at the websites of the leisure park fans. There is a real pride to have this ride in France.”
The Parc Astérix CEO describes Festival Toutatis as: “A park within a park. OzIris, the last big land to be built, is more or less the same. You have a big ride [a B&M inverted coaster], a kiddie coaster [Sos Numérobis] which was naturally integrated into the area, F&B and a shop. We will continue with this strategy in future, to build full lands which are autonomous.”
Parc Astérix: crunching the numbers
Last year’s record-breaking attendance provided confirmation that the park’s investment programme is delivering results, and it was only the pandemic that derailed its recent revival. Whilst numbers had been on the rise since 2017, it was not until two years later that Parc Astérix snatched back its historical number two spot in France. This came after six years of trailing behind the live entertainment park Puy du Fou.
“The year 2019 was a very good year, with 2.3 million visitors,” says Pons. “In 2020 and 2021, it was very difficult because we had to close for several weeks and even months. Basically, we lost about 1 million visitors each year. But in the first full year post-Covid, we gained over 300,000 [compared to 2019]. It’s a good sign for Parc Astérix because it shows there is an appeal for the visitors. Apart from that, we managed to increase the satisfaction rate too.”
It’s tempting to suggest that a 3 million attendance could be within reach before the end of the current masterplan if new projects are delivered with the same aplomb. And that would be some achievement given that, as recently as 2016, just 1,850,000 made it through the gates.
“Until 2019, Parc Astérix was mainly a regional park because we only had one hotel,” says Pons. “The catchment area was about two hours drive. Now we have three hotels and 450 rooms, it is wider.”
Two parks or not two parks? That is the question!
A natural move for some theme parks as they add accommodation is to consider a second gate offering.
“Maybe you read that in the press two years ago,” says Pons. “It was an idea. We studied the opportunity to have a second gate waterpark. It is not in the masterplan for the next 10 years. We think that we still have some opportunities to expand the [main] park. There may be a project of a small waterpark, but really reserved for the hotel guests.”
Pons reveals that: “Besides the park, we plan to increase the accommodation capacity, to develop a fourth hotel. So I am very willing to invest in, yes the park and the hotels, but also the staff. We are putting money into an expansion and renovation of the backstage. To create a more comfortable work environment for the people who are so passionate about Parc Astérix.”
The existing hotels, coupled with the park’s extended opening season have already led to an increase in full-time staff. The number now totals around 400, with a further 2,000 seasonal employees.
“A few years ago the number of permanent staff was 280,” says Pons. “So there are more opportunities for seasonal staff to get a permanent job. Even when the park is closed, the MICE [meetings and events] activity is quite a lot.”
Given the park’s location close to Charles de Gaulle airport and the A1 Paris-Lille highway, this should not come as too much of a surprise.
More to come this season – and a special anniversary in 2024
The weather was nothing special for the first two months of the current season. Nevertheless, Pons says, “The dynamic was still good” in April and May. This was aided no doubt by the arrival of Festival Toutatis, which soft opened ahead of Easter.
By the time summer rolls around, more new entertainment is planned as a fourth float is added to the Gaulish Parade. Starting July 14, and for the following seven weeks, the park will stay open each night until 10 pm as part of the Gaulish Summer celebrations.
For the Halloween period, known as Nocturne Peur (Fear Nights) Sur Le Parc, a new haunted house will be added to the Egyptian zone. Plans are also being considered for new areas at the Gaulish Christmas celebrations. This will see the park stay open right through until January 7.
For the 2024 season, a new flat ride is destined for the Egyptian zone. There will also be a special musical show in the Théâtre de Panoramix to celebrate both the 35th anniversary of Parc Astérix and also the 75th anniversary of the Astérix comics. Time, then, to raise a toast to France’s favourite homegrown theme park. Santé!
