by Juliana Gilling
“Water will find a way in,” the adage says, just as waterparks have successfully filtered into peripheral sectors over recent years. The traditional North American outdoor waterpark model has rippled outward into the rest of the world, producing a wave of new entertainment products ranging from indoor waterparks and hotel/resort waterparks to those serving as second gates for theme parks. That trend is now starting to move beyond the borders of the traditional attractions industry.
“New multileisure mixes are definitely a growth area for the waterpark industry,” says Roger Currie, co-owner/director of Aqua Leisure International. For developers, the benefits are clear, too: “Water has always had a footfall with it, and it’s a family- based environment,” says Currie. Now that companies are finding funding again in the wake of the financial crisis, Currie is seeing more waterpark-related projects emerge from development limbo.
In Europe, several multileisure projects have already made it off the drawing board. Vitam’Parc (www.vitamparc.com/en), located 10 minutes’ drive from Geneva on French soil, is a flagship project topped with a futuristic transparent roof made from cutting-edge ETFE plastic. The €70 million (US$94 million) development is backed by Migros France, a subsidiary of Migros Geneva. The Migros group, a leading operator of shopping centers, also has interests in education, leisure, travel, banking, and the food industry. It employs more than 80,000 people and has an annual turnover of CHF25 billion (US$23.5 billion).
 Vitam’Parc: A Complex Combination Vitam’Parc is no simple waterpark, according to Laurent Dupain, head of development at Migros France. It opened in stages since September 2009; the exterior aquatic facilities were the last to debut in May this year. The development features a shopping mall with anchors, a Migros supermarket, an indoor and outdoor waterpark, a spa, a climbing wall area, indoor squash and badminton courts, a series of cafés and bars, and an 83-room hotel. “The leisure and well-being activities [account for] about 80 percent of the surfaces; only 20 percent is dedicated to pure retail,” says Dupain. “That’s very different from the banal commercial offer that is commonly marketed with a so-called ‘leisure zone.’”
Vitam’Parc targets a family audience: “From swimming babies to seniors, young adults, teenagers, and sports addicts, everyone can find their own personal level because well-being is a different concept for everybody,” says Dupain. Vitam’Parc’s diverse offerings require a multilevel pricing policy: “You can enter with a one-shot ticket: halfday, full-day, hour, annual fee, combined, or solo activity,” says Dupain. Migros’ priority is to tailor prices to individual customers’ needs and to keep them as clear as possible.
The project team hopes the venue will attract 630,000 guests annually. “As a group, we need to be innovative to keep our place in the market,” says Dupain. “This kind of agility will help us keep a strong connection with our customers’ hearts. Being strongly involved in our region’s life gives us the means for success. No risk, [equals] no potential success.
“Objectively, we are one of the most outstanding leisure places in the greater Franco-Swiss Geneva area, and customer responses are positive,” says Dupain. “We need to strengthen our activity and be ready to think about the next steps. We’re focusing daily on all the details—even those that the clients don’t see—to achieve the level of service that we want. Optimization is a never-ending process.”
 Aquabasilea: Swiss ‘Water World’ Cold and snowy weather didn’t dampen visitors’ spirits at the March launch of Aquabasilea in Pratteln, Switzerland (www.aquabasilea.ch). This 13,000-square-meter (140,000- square-foot) “water world” is the centerpiece of a multipurpose project that combines leisure, business, and shopping facilities. Credit Suisse Real Estate Asset Management initiated and backed the CHF230 million (US$215 million) project (CHF105 million of that went into Aquabasilea). GMF, a German company specializing in leisure pools and thermal spas (www.gmfneuried.de), manages Aquabasilea.
The operation includes a waterpark, Vitalbad (vitality pool), spa, sauna, fitness center, restaurants, and cafés. A new Courtyard by Marriott Basel hotel also gives business and leisure guests direct access to Aquabasilea’s attractions.
In Europe, “taking the waters” at a spa is a time-honored tradition, and Aquabasilea capitalizes on the practice: “Water is an archetypal element with a timeless appeal for any age, from families with babies to seniors striving for vitality,” says Simone Hess, head of marketing at Aquabasilea. Aquabasilea’s location at a mixed-use destination allows it to appeal to hotel guests, employees working on site, and shoppers. “They have many opportunities to use breaks or time after work for relaxing and revitalizing,” says Hess. According to Aquabasilea’s managing director, Oliver Heintz, Aquabasilea aims to be a “wellness oasis for the modern spa community” by meeting the needs of diverse audiences.
Surrounded by woodland, Aquabasilea blends European spa culture with contemporary design: “The classical tradition of bathing was always combined with the profound experience of relaxation, health, and enjoyment,” says Heintz. “Aquabasilea triggers that feeling by using high-quality equipment, natural materials, and organic forms.”
Hess says the focus is to “fulfill or even exceed the expectations of the most demanding guests.” Heintz emphasizes guests will find “personal attention and exclusivity as well as professional know-how” at the center.
 “Aquabasilea is a little more expensive than an ordinary indoor pool, but a ‘water world’ is something other than that,” says Heintz. “We offer guests an authentic experience, which has a lasting effect even after they leave. In the sauna and spa areas, especially, there are many short-lived trends that come and go like all fashions. We’ve taken special care to combine established treatments with modern developments so that they respond to sophisticated needs and create a harmonious choice.”
With Aquabasilea projected to attract 650,000 people annually, Hess says the team’s immediate priorities include “smoothing teething troubles, and through innovative events, building more and more awareness of Aquabasilea as a really beautiful place to be.”
Bernaqua at Westside: Urban Marketplace
Bernaqua at Westside (www.bernaqua.ch/index/bernaqua_ eng.htm), the first shopping center to be designed by iconic architect Daniel Libeskind, is another Migros-backed project making waves in Switzerland. At its launch in Bern-Brünnen in October 2008, Studio Daniel Libeskind described Westside as “one of a kind—a complex mixture of retail, residential, and recreational facilities—an urban marketplace full of experiences that attracts visitors of all ages, interests, and backgrounds.”
Built at a cost of CHF60 million (about US$57 million), Bernaqua combines a waterpark, Asian-inspired spa, sauna, steam baths, and gym. It offers 2,000 square meters (22,000 square feet) of water areas, complete with 18 indoor and outdoor pools. Guests can experience three giant slides: the 175- meter-long (574-foot-long) “Magic Eye,” which riders travel down using plastic rings; the “Black Hole” tube slide, which features rotating lights; and the “Emotion Ride,” which stimulates guests’ senses using scents, sounds, mist, and lighting effects. Also, a wild-water canyon—featuring an adjustable current simulator—takes guests on a 75-meter-long (246- foot-long) river trip.
“Guests see the combination of everything in one place as an advantage,” says Sharon Zwahlen, head of marketing and communications at Bernaqua. Bernaqua has more than 2,000 members and expects to attract 410,000 guests annually. “Until now we’ve been very successful, and we are confident that with friendly personnel and special offers, guests will come back again and again,” says Zwahlen. Bernaqua’s proximity to customers, and the project team’s focus on achieving high-quality products and services, should put the attraction on a firm footing in the future, Zwahlen believes.
This chimes with Currie’s view of waterpark development: “In more mature markets, quality of experience is becoming more important and valued. People are prepared to pay more for something better rather than just being given a lot of the same thing.” He is seeing operators and manufacturers responding with more “bespoke experiences” and new rides that mesh the “viewing, queuing, participation, and interactive aspects based on the core, shared family experience.”
According to Lesley Morisetti, director of economics at AECOM, waterparks continue to be attractive to developers because of their scale: “They don’t need as much investment as a larger attraction like a theme park; their operating costs are lower, and in mature markets, there are probably more opportunities to find locations for viable waterparks.
“Also, if an attraction is located in a shopping mall it can share infrastructure costs,” says Morisetti. “Shopping malls typically have good road access and public transport access, all of which can benefit a visitor attraction, too. There can be synergies, but whether a lot of people actually come to use both facilities at the same time is more debatable.”
So while it may be too early to predict a trend of waterpark, spa, and shopping developments spreading across Europe, by watching the performance and impact of the new European combinations, we can add to our understanding of the science behind waterparks. As Currie points out, adding water to the mix is “always a delicate balance; it’s definitely a case of a project-by-project assessment, rather than saying that there’s a cookie-cutter solution to it all.”
Juliana Gilling is a specialist attractions journalist. E-mail: julianagilling@gmail.com.
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