Euro Disney

Attention Stakeholders:

Since the park opened in April of 1992, Euro Disney, now Disneyland Resort Paris, has brought the

magic of Disney to the heart of Europe. From a somewhat bungled beginning, the company's recent efforts

have made significant headway in adjusting to the European context.

A customer intimacy strategy is apparent, as Disney focuses on pleasing guests via excellent service

and a variety of "immersive" experiences within the park. In pairing this with the unique Disney brand in a

resort style format, Disneyland Paris has been able to horizontally differentiate itself among its competition.

The customer base of Disneyland Paris is comprised of mostly families and adults who are either

Europeans or tourists visiting the E.U. In response, Disneyland Paris has had to make changes in procedure

based on their constituency's eating, spending, and relaxation habits. In terms of location, Disneyland Paris is

truly in an ideal spot. Customers from around Europe can travel by plane, train and automobile and get to our

park within a few short hours.

Disneyland Paris competes in the amusement/theme parks sector, in the lodging sector, as well as

commercial real-estate. Direct competition stems from European theme parks offered by Grévin & Cie,

Merlin Entertainments, and StarParks who offer convenient, short stay, and localized thrill entertainment

options. Disneyland Paris competes more broadly with lodging options in nearby Parisian areas, for

commercial development with surrounding business districts, and globally with other resort-style family

destinations. In addition, Disney has consistently been able to identify developing trends and thus create

products and services that exploit underlying consumer behaviors.

Disneyland Paris exhibits considerable clout through its strong brand, "world-like" size and

entertainment experience, decades of customer intimacy and marketing expertise, as well as its strategically

visible partnerships. Structurally, Disneyland Paris benefits from its favored position as a key job-creation

vehicle by the French government, providing it with additional monetary and political support; France's focus

on tourism offers Disneyland a continuous stream of travelers with the park positioned as an increasingly

attractive landmark. Such factors, along with the capital-intensive requirement for new entrants, allow

Disneyland Paris to be situated in an environment with considerably high barriers to entry and a well-fortified

competitive position.

In attempts to connect with visitors on a personal level, employees at the park speak multiple

languages and marketing efforts are tweaked to cater to dozens of cultures. In the past, efforts had not been

focused enough on the customer base. Today, the company strives to meet and exceed the expectations of the

European customers. Instead of imitating the American and Japanese theme parks, Disneyland Paris must

create its own unique identity.

The current weaknesses of the company present possible threats in the areas of economic failure,

customer loss, and labor strikes. However, there are several opportunities Disney can take advantage of,

whether it is capitalizing on the Paris and European tourism industry or becoming a French landmark.

Additionally,