Summary of our market study

The French leisure park market is estimated at around 2 billion euros.

The global theme park market attracts nearly 500 million visitors a year. The sector is an important part of the tourism and entertainment industries.

The market encompasses amusement and theme parks, water parks, animal parks and indoor playgrounds. France is one of Europe's leading destinations.

With a strong presence of international players such as Disneyland Paris, Parc Astérix and Puy du Fou, the market is thriving thanks to ongoing investment. Digital transformation is essential, and parks are increasingly adopting mobile applications to enhance the visitor experience.

The French leisure park market

The French theme park market attracts between 65 and 75 million visitors a year.

Disneyland Paris, which welcomes some 15 to 20 million visitors every year, accounts for around half of the sector's sales.

Annual investments by players in new attractions and facility improvements are in the order of 300 to 400 million euros

Players offer accommodation options to extend visitors' stays.

Revenue streams range from ticket sales to food, beverages, merchandise and professional services.

Competition in the sector is fierce, and the number of theme parks is very high.

Some players in the French theme park market

Disneyland Paris
Parc Astérix
Puy du Fou
Futuroscope
Ok Corral

the leisure park market - France

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Number of pages : ~ 40 pages
Format : Digital and PDF versions
Last update : 12/09/2024

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Summary and extracts

1 Market overview

1.1 Definition

Leisure parks are delimited areas where leisure and entertainment activities, sometimes cultural, are grouped together. They can be divided into three categories:

Amusement parks: known for their sensational attractions.
Theme parks: known for their efforts to create themed areas.
Water parks: characterized by water-themed attractions.

The global theme park market has grown slightly over the past decade. Forecasts for this market are even very optimistic: from $59.83 billion in 2023, the theme park market should reach $91.13 billion by 2030, with a CAGR of 6.2% over the given period. Theme parks remain globally over-represented, with one park in two belonging to this category.

Although France accounts for just 6% of this global market, it remains Europe's favorite leisure destination, with 63 million visitors a year to some 600 theme parks. In fact, of the 20 European parks with the most visits, 4 are French.

In fact, these same 4 parks(Disneyland, Parc Astérix, Puy du Fou and Futuroscope) account for around 40% of visits to the top 20 European parks.

2020 was a tough year for the theme park market, with successive shutdowns imposed during the sector's peak seasons. However, the recovery was direct and continuous, leading to average attendance at French parks in 2024 being 15-20% higher than in 2019.

It should be borne in mind, however, that the theme park market is dominated by large players (the 4 above) who, in order to continue attracting customers, are diversifying their hotel offerings and extending their existing parks (or, in the case of Disney, building a new park).

Regional parks, unable to compete with these entertainment behemoths, are focusing their strategy on the family-friendly, affordable format of their offer, by proposing tailor-made outings, such as a"birthday snack" formula for La Mer de Sable.