Investigation of Tourism General Environment of Disneyland Paris Theme Park: A Qualitative Research

Abstract

The theme parks are star players of leisure and tourism industry. They also have positive contributions to the economic, socio-cultural and physical structures of the tourism destinations they are in. While theme parks are the main attraction of many tourism destinations, theme and amusement parks have employment creation features in the destinations they are founded on. The aim of this study is to examine the general tourism environment of Disneyland (Marne-la-Valle, Paris, France) park, one of Europe's major theme parks. For this purpose, observation technique is used from qualitative research methods. Also photographs were taken to support the results of the observation. In this context, the general environment of tourism in Disneyland (Marne-la-Valle, Paris, France) theme park was examined in scope of economic environment, socio-cultural environment, physical environment, transportation, infrastructure, facilities and institutional. The theme park, the economic destination for Paris destination and the number of tourists are presented with figures, and the effects of the park on the socio-cultural and physical environment are presented. The park has been explored for its well-designed transport network within the Paris tourist destination. The infrastructure of the park has been touched upon and the coordination between the Disney Hotels for tourists' accommodation. Thanks to the additional facilities offered by the park, it has been observed how tourists have come up with innovative and attractive tourist products. Finally, the development process of the institutional periphery of the park was revealed. As a result of the evaluations, various suggestions have been developed to tourism managers who are responsible for the management and marketing of destinations.