Euro Disney Failure

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One of the many factors which contributed to EuroDisney’s poor performance is culture differences which is one of the forces for national differentiation and responsiveness. Many ideas which Disney tried became conflicting with the local culture of which includes:

1. Contrasting American characters with French characters
2. Not understanding the French's’ grooming standards and habits of eating

Characters such as Mickey Mouse did not appeal to the French because the French grew up with a different set of French Characters such as Asterix the helmeted and pint sized Gallic. To further add on, the Asterix theme park is only a mere 42 minute drive from EuroDisney. This in turn ends up to be a competition for EuroDisney as at that period of time, more were receptive towards the French characters rather than Mickey Mouse.

The second time it was seen that EuroDisney was insensitive towards European culture was seen in their not understanding of European dining culture as well as their personal grooming habits. Forbidding wine in EuroDisney was a huge mistake to make because the French are the biggest wine consumer in the world. Also, they made an erroneous mistake through a hearsay that Europeans do not take in breakfast which they eventually had to accommodate to.  In addition to that, they did not agree to Europe’s culture of having facial hair on their employees. As such, it was proof of Disney not understanding the French culture.

Besides cultural differences, another reason Disney also failed was their inability to forecast. Not only have they failed to forecast the upcoming European recession as well as the many other events happening near EuroDisney in the year 1992 but they were not able to forecast the number of visitors attending the park. For one, they failed to see that a world fair was going to happen in Seville that year as well as the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona caused them losses as people were attending the events near EuroDisney but not to EuroDisney.

Also, they tried to apply an American formula of forecasting in Europe. They expected the American culture of having short but frequent family trips to displace the traditional culture of Europeans and their  one month long family vacation. To further add to that, Disney forecasted for families to stay at EuroDisney for at least 3 days like how the Americans did it but in Europe, families spent a maximum of 2 days there only. The American mindset which was being applied in Europe obviously failed as they weren't able to adapt to the european culture eventually cost EuroDisney millions of dollars even in its first year.

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Gold Coast, Australia is the most suitable place to expand to after Hong Kong Disneyland.

The city of Gold Coast, Australia is home to approximately 538,000 people and is one of Australia’s fastest growing cities (City of Gold Coast, 2016). With an average increase of 3% of its current population of 500,000, Gold Coast has estimated a total population of 740,000 by 2026 and more than 1 million before 2050 (TourismBrokers, 2016). With a GDP per capita of over 60,000USD, Australians have one of the highest disposable incomes in the world and thus is a good place to target (World Bank, 2015). In addition to targeting only the Australians, Gold Coast attracts approximately 12 million tourists a year to the stretch of theme parks available there (City of Gold Coast, 2016). Since it is a city which is growing rapidly as well as has the ability to attract so many tourists, Gold Coast indeed is a good place to build Disneyland.