In search of the best experience builders in the leisure industry – Phantasialand.

The leisure industry is all about creating experiences. By staging compelling experiences, guests can forget about the worries of everyday life and dream away. The more impressed guests are by the experience, the stronger their emotional bond with the company, which leads to higher customer loyalty, turning guests into advocates of the company.????

Some time ago, I started searching for the best experience builders in the leisure industry, taking the framework developed by Joseph Pine and James Gilmore in their best-selling book “The Experience Economy” as a basis for evaluation.

Pine and Gilmore defined the four realms of an experience: entertainment (e.g. watching a movie), educational (e.g. attending a conference), escapist (e.g. playing a computer game) and esthetic (e.g. visiting a nature park).

They demonstrated that the richest experiences encompass elements of all four realms, thus attending to the need for entertainment (“to enjoy), esthetics (“to be”), escapism (“to do”) and education (“to learn”).?

The best experience builders center on the “sweet spot” in the middle. One of the companies in the leisure industry in Europe that has clearly succeeded in finding the “sweet spot” is Phantasialand.

?

Phantasialand.

Two childhood friends, the puppeteer Richard Schmidt and the businessman Gottlieb L?ffelhardt, developed the idea for a theme park and came up with a name for their project: Phantasialand.

On 30 April 1967, they opened the park in Brühl near Cologne on an old brown coal opencast mine. It initially consisted of a fairytale park, an old-timer train, pony rides and a Western Express. The park immediately became a visitor magnet. In its first season, Phantasialand already attracted 400,000 visitors.

The park was consistently expanded and developed. Several themed areas emerged, larger and more spectacular attractions were added, animation was developed, restaurants and shops were installed, several hotels were built,… At present, around two million visitors come to Phantasialand each year. The park is still in hands of Mr. L?ffelhardt; Robert L?ffelhardt took over the day-to-day management from his father Gottlieb at the end of the 90’s.?

On a surface of just 28 hectares, Phantasialand is divided into a total of six themed areas: Berlin, China Town, Mexico, Deep in Africa, Fantasy and Mystery.

The park has 3 hotels themed in accordance to the area they are located in: the 4-star Hotel Ling Bao, the 3-star Hotel Matamba, and the recently opened 4-star Hotel Charles Lindbergh.

The numerous restaurants and food and beverage points which can be found all over the park and in the hotels, serve food and drinks related to the area they are located in. ??

Each themed area has its own dragon, mascots who make random appearances in the park: Drago (Berlin), Wang (China Town), Quetzal (Mexico), Kroka (Deep in Africa), Phenie (Fantasy) and Schneck (Mystery).??

When taking the Pine and Gilmore framework as a basis for evaluation, Phantasialand has certainly found an ideal balance in its offering, incorporating entertainment, educational, escapist and esthetic elements.

Entertainment. Phantasialand is of course about entertainment, you’re there “to enjoy” the experience.

There are numerous fast and exciting rides for visitors who are looking for a thrill. The award-winning coasters include the inverted coaster “Black Mamba”, the multi-launch coaster “Taron”, the spinning coasters “Winja’s Fear” and “Winja’s Force” and the flying launch coaster “F.L.Y.” The "Chiapas" log fume is another award-winning attraction. For those who like to take the thrill component to another level, the suspended top spin “Talocan” is highly recommended. For guests who enjoy experiences with the whole family, there are plenty of attractions as well, such as the interactive dark ride “Maus au Chocolat”, the family coaster “Crazy Bats”, the mine train “Colorado Adventure”, the interactive water ride “Wakobato” or the classic “Wellenflug”. For the youngest guests, over a dozen exciting children's attractions ensure that they get their money's worth. In total, guests can enjoy over 40 different attractions in Phantasialand. Next to the attractions, there are also numerous shows and special events to discover on the many stages in the park. The “Pirates in 4D” movie and the “Ice College” ice show are fun for the whole family. The dinner show “Fantissima” is a breathtaking show combined with first-class culinary delights.

Esthetics. Phantasialand is a place where it’s great “to be”. It feels good just being there, walking around, sitting down for a while.

You are taken on an exciting and exotic journey though different worlds thanks to detailed replicas and lovingly designed scenes. You stroll around historic Berlin with the nostalgic flair of the 1920s where you find the industrial quarter "Rookburgh" in?steampunk design. You visit Plaza Mariachi with Mexican buildings and admire rockwork of Chiapas, Aztec and Maya?cultures. You come across traditional Chinese buildings, gardens and pagodas. You walk through an African village where you encounter exotic plants and art objects. You go to the mysterious medieval village "Klugheim" with nordic symbolism in a mystical dark atmosphere. And you also enter an imaginary world that is home to the Wuzes. Everywhere you look, there is some beautiful element to see. ???

The hotels are a marvel just to be in. You could stay in them for a week and still be amazed by the beauty of all individual elements and the whole. This has everything to do with the authenticity and the level of detail. Lots of materials have been shipped directly from the regions of origin, ensuring that everything represents the reality. ???

For those who are attracted by everything nature has to offer, there is also plenty to admire. The landscaping and gardening is done up to perfection. The wide range of plants, flowers and trees are a match for any botanical garden.

The whole atmosphere is felt in the entire park. Whether in the hotels, the restaurants, the shops, the queuing lines,… Wherever you are, it feels great “to be” there.

Escapism. In Phantasialand, all senses are constantly triggered. You are stimulated “to do”.

Your eyes are being tested the whole time. The theming is done with absolute respect for the local culture, with an exceptional level of detail and at an extraordinary standard, whether it be the rides, the hotels, the restaurants, the shops, the clothes the employees are wearing and so on. Listening to traditional African or Mexican folk music, the sounds of a harp, the roars of monkeys or even an entire film orchestra brings you further into another world. It’s simply impossible to resist the smells coming from the numerous restaurants and food and beverage points; on other occasions this is stimulated as it is done in the lobby of the Charles Lindbergh Hotel where you smell the perfume of Luitenant Gustav Meyerhopper who just passed by. Taste is tested in the hotels and outlets that serve authentic food from different regions in the world. In order to make sure that the tastes are in line with the actual tastes of the region, the staff members go on trips to the regions in order to get a throrough understanding of the dishes and how they should be prepared. ?

It really feels like you’re eating in a Berlin restaurant in the 1920’s, like you’re in an old Mexican village, like you’re in the heart of Africa, like you’re captured in a dreamworld, like you’re staying in an aeronaut cabin,….. From the moment you enter through the main gate up to the moment you step out again, you feel like you’re part of a different world.

The unique mixture of scenes based on reality and fantastic elements increases this feeling of being in another world even further. Everywhere you are stimulated “to do”.

Education. In Phantasialand, you are also stimulated “to learn”.

You are triggered to think about history, other cultures, architecture, beliefs, technology….. Learning and reflection is stimulated everywhere in a very subtle way. ?

When entering the Charles Lindbergh Hotel, you start thinking about the journey of the first man to accomplish a transatlantic flight. The newspapers on the tables in the lobby of the hotel let you reflect about a period not so long ago you were used to buy and read a newspaper. When entering the Rookburgh area, you are stimulated to think about the conditions people had to work in, what they had for breakfast before starting a hard day’s labour, how people took a coal-operated train, how a chocolate and candy store looked like and how mankind succeeded in conquering the skies. And all of that happened just 100 years ago.

It seems simply impossible not to start reflecting on the elements you encounter and “to learn”.?

The sweet spot.

Getting back to the Pine and Gilmore framework, it is clear that Phantasialand has succeeded in finding the “sweet spot”, incorporating entertainment, esthetic, escapist and educational elements.

It is exactly this that makes the experience so rich. On an individual basis, every guest will find one or more elements in the experience that are appealing to him/her. Even in the biggest family or in the largest group, every member will find something which is important to him/her in an experience. Sharing these feelings in family or group makes the experience even stronger. Everyone has something to add to the story, making it a memorable experience that remains in the individual and collective memories for a long time. This makes Phantasialand a place you want to go to again and again.

?

Building unique experiences.

It has taken Phantasialand some 55 years to get to where they are now.

Building such unique experiences doesn’t come quickly nor easy. It takes a long-term perspective, a rock-solid belief in the desired future, perseverance and hard work. It requires a clear vision, very careful planning and perfect execution. It takes convincing local and regional governments, the local community, shareholders, employees, partners and suppliers to help build something great. It means putting the bar higher every time and not just by a little, but by a lot; it means having the ambition to create something iconic every time. ?It takes building an ever-increasing base of loyal guests, who become the strongest ambassadors of the company.

Is 55 years a long time to achieve this? Looking in terms of a lifetime of a person maybe yes, but companies like Phantasialand don’t limit themselves by taking that as a timeframe. They take a long-term perspective as a basis as their ambition is to be there for many more decades to come.

Is it worth investing all that time, energy and money? Go look and decide for yourself.

?

If you have the ambition of becoming a great experience builder and you feel you are in need of inspiration, support or assistance, please contact me by email on [email protected] or by phone on +32 474 96 77 07

?

A big thanks to Glenda Ballieul for making this article possible and to Glenn Homburg for providing all the information during an extensive tour in the park.

?

Source: Pine, J. and Gilmore, J. (1999)?The Experience Economy, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, 1999