Research - 13.03.2025 - 11:00
At today's press conference marking the opening of the season for the theme park, Europa-Park revealed findings from a study undertaken by the Institute for Systemic Management and Public Governance (IMP-HSG) at the University of St.Gallen (HSG). The authors, Dr Roland Scherer and Daniel Zwicker-Schwarm, have calculated that the family business in Baden-Württemberg generated a turnover of over one billion euros in the 2023/2024 season. 896 million euros were generated in the German state of Baden-Württemberg and 156 million euros in the neighbouring region of Alsace. These revenues include the purchase of goods and services, visitor spending, consumer spending by employees and advance payments from regional companies. The study thus shows the important role of Europa-Park as a regional economic engine. “This study by the University of St.Gallen demonstrates that Europa-Park is not only a popular leisure and holiday destination, but also an important economic engine. Our investments, the large number of visitors and the regional orientation of our purchasing and employment policies sustainably strengthen the entire region,” says owner Roland Mack.
Europa-Park is an important tourist magnet in southern Germany. In particular, the entrance fees as well as the costs for accommodation, gastronomy and retail that are important in terms of regional value creation. The impressive growth of recent years is all the more encouraging: in the 2023/24 season, Europa-Park and the Rulantica water park recorded over six million admissions, an increase of 14 per cent over the previous year. This was associated with 1.4 million overnight stays in the park's own accommodation and a further 2.4 million overnight stays outside the Europa-Park resort. Since 2018, bed capacity in the Europa-Park resort has increased by 78 per cent and overnight stays have increased by 154 per cent.
The operation of the park and the other tourist attractions creates jobs. But that's not all: Europa-Park is also an important purchaser of numerous products and services in the region. Around 550 medium-sized companies from the region have received orders from Europa-Park, which in turn creates and secures jobs. Overall, the authors of the study estimate that Europa-Park and its visitors have now created around 7,800 jobs in Baden-Württemberg and 2,100 in Alsace.
This was the second time the HSG research team worked with Europa-Park, having already completed an initial value creation study in 2020. This enabled the team to analyse the effects of the theme park on tourism and the regional economy over time. Roland Scherer, Director of the IMP-HSG, emphasises: “In comparison with our analysis for the 2018/19 season, it is clear that the growth of Europa-Park and its development into a year-round destination have also led to a significant increase in the two regional economic indicators of purchasing power and value added. So Europa-Park and the regional economy are growing together.”
Director IMP-HSG
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