Puy du Fou has submitted a planning application for a £600 million history-based theme park near Bicester in the UK.
If the plans are approved, the new park will open in phases from 2029. When the park is fully developed, it will deliver a £500m annual boost to the local and regional economy.
It will also directly employ around 2,000 people, and support a further 6,000 jobs in hotels, restaurants, suppliers and other local businesses.
The UK’s Puy du Fou will attract an estimated 1.47 million visitors every year, who will be immersed in British history at four period villages and 13 live shows.
Additionally, the resort will offer three hotels, each themed to different periods in British history, as well as a state-of-the-art conference centre.
Olivier Strebelle, CEO of Puy du Fou, said: “We have only submitted these plans after an extensive consultation, which took over a year and included six in-person events and over 250 individual meetings, all of which have helped to shape our final proposals.
“We did not rush our consultation because we wanted to get our proposals right.”
He added, “We have wanted to come to the UK for many years. Britain has such a rich, colourful and exciting history, and the site we have chosen near Bicester is the ideal location to create a world-class destination that will bring that history to life.
Puy du Fou to open in UK from 2029
“This will be a £600m investment in the local economy over the next ten years and will create thousands of jobs, but it will also have the environment and sustainability at its heart.”
As above, the proposals include extensive landscaping and planting, with new ponds, lakes and gardens, and more than 5 kilometres of new hedgerows, 40 acres of biodiverse and species-rich wildflower meadows, and 20,000 new trees.
Puy du Fou was established in France in 1978, and was joined by a second destination in Toledo, Spain in 2021.
Images courtesy of Puy du Fou
