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 What brought you to this industry?
We started in the real estate market, then we spread our business into building and developing fashion outlets in Italy. These are the places where people spend their spare time. Amusement parks have the same aim, even if they are a different format. They attract the same public, and they provide people with entertainment occasions. Moreover, Mario Dora, chairman of Alfa Park (Rainbow MagicLand’s parent company), is one of the pioneers of amusement parks in Italy and the creator of Mirabilandia. He gave us the boost to invest in this industry.
What is the story behind the park?
After some studies into the Italian entertainment market, we had the idea of building Rainbow MagicLand, which would be the first fully themed amusement park in Italy. We wanted to compete with the most famous amusement parks in Italy and Europe, following American best practices. We chose magic as the park’s theme because it fascinates the public; both adults and children like it. In 2009 we signed an agreement with Rainbow Group (an Italian animation and children’s entertainment company). Six of the park’s 24 themed areas are inspired by their famous characters, such as Winx, Monster Allergy, Huntik, and PopPixie. The other areas are characterized for a young public and families.
What are the advantages of the park’s location?
Rainbow MagicLand is situated in Valmontone, a town in the countryside that is 40 minutes by car and approximately 60 minutes by train from Rome. The park is part of an integrated tourism center. This includes the Fashion District Outlet, which with its 180 shops and 45,000 square meters (11.2 acres) is the most visited in Italy. It had more than 6 million visitors in 2010. The advantages of this location are strong because it can intercept the tourism flow of Rome. The main goal of Rainbow MagicLand is to add new value to what Rome and its area can offer.
How much have you invested in the park?
Alfa Park invested about €300 million (US$425 million) in this project.
Who are your target customers?
Rainbow MagicLand includes different kinds of attractions (35 in total), which makes the park suitable for everyone, from young people to braver visitors who look for exciting emotions. Also, families can enjoy themselves with family coasters, shows in the park’s two big theaters, and lots of funny attractions for kids.
How is Rainbow MagicLand’s launch going?
In our first month of opening to the public, we were satisfied with almost 100,000 visitors. At the opening ceremony in May there were 13,000 visitors and during the first weekend we had peaks of more than 10,000 people, despite the bad weather.
What are your attendance predictions?
It is estimated that the park will attract more than 2.7 million visitors in 2011. Rainbow MagicLand is going to generate an incremental tourism rate in the Valmontone area of 500,000 new presences every year at its full potential.
Why do you think Rainbow MagicLand is the right product for this market?
Rainbow MagicLand is the first amusement park located in the midsouth of Italy that can offer a variety of attractions for everyone. The park has innovative attractions, one of which—“Huntik,” inspired by the eponymous television series—is unique in the world. In this dark ride, guests are personally involved in an adventure inside the Earth. In addition, there are other attractions with elements that have never been seen before in Italy. For example, the “Shock” coaster, which launches passengers at a high speed of 100 kph (62 mph) in less than three seconds; the drop tower of over 70 meters (230 feet) high; and “Cagliostro,” a spinning coaster with fast and turning sections. Il Castello di Alfea is a planetarium that will be used also as a 4-D cinema. There are 15 attractions for children, who can choose among different kinds of amusements.
What can visitors expect when they walk through Rainbow MagicLand’s gates?
Magic is the main feature of this amusement park for families, which features big themed sets and attention to little details. Guests experience a trip through a fantastic land, among enchanted castles, brave Vikings, fairies, powerful wizards, and clever adventurers. They are completely absorbed by a magic, multidimensional environment beyond reality. Our visitors usually spend a whole day at the park, experiencing the attractions and being amused by the large number of shows that Rainbow MagicLand offers every day in its theaters and on the 16,000-square-meter (4-acre) lake situated in the center of the park.
How much scope do you have for growth?
We haven’t used the whole surface area that Rainbow MagicLand is built on, so we can easily enlarge the park with new attractions in the future. Of course, we would like to know how the park will perform in the first year of opening before we start thinking about growing. There are development possibilities, but we need to know how people will react to such a new structure. It is too early to make predictions.
What are your long-term ambitions?
In 10 years, Rainbow MagicLand aims to position itself between fifth and ninth place in the top 20 European parks ranked by the number of visitors per year.
What have you learned from Rainbow MagicLand’s sister park, Miragica, that has helped you with this new park?
Miragica helped us to understand the Italian market better. But it is a very different project from Rainbow MagicLand, in terms of its dimensions and the area (Molfetta) where it is located, which is not as tourism-driven as Rome. Today, Miragica meets our 2011 expectations [to June], although the period in which it shows its full potential is the summer.
How is the business financed and how will you fund developments in the future?
Rainbow MagicLand is a completely private initiative, and it is a very ambitious project. Although it was not easy to find funds because of the particularity of the asset, we can count on the 10 banks that funded the project, including Unicredit Bank.
How is the Italian parks market performing?
The market is growing. The attention is toward high-tech, themed structures. For this reason, I consider Rainbow MagicLand to be in line with the demands of the public.
Juliana Gilling is a specialist attractions journalist. E-mail: julianagilling@gmail.com.
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