The Not So Wonderful World of Eurodisney
The first year of Eurodisney in Europe was disastrous for many reasons. Actually, the first one could be the weather. People who are going on vacations to have a good time, but more importantly to enjoy the weather. People in Europe or from everywhere are not going to vacation at a spot where the weather is going to be irregular; they choose a place where they have more chances to enjoy the journey. France get cold in the winter, therefore going to Disney World in Orlando would be more logical. It will be cheaper and the weather is going to be decent for whenever you choose to go.
Secondly, European and other people havent got the same Fairy-tale culture. In France, they have their own characters and stories. Maybe its because of that Mickey did not create reason or attraction enough for the European community, unlike at the sister theme park Tokyo Disneyland.
The diffenrence of price could be also a reason of this failure. For example, if we compare how much can pay a French and a Japanese family to enjoy a whole day in family in Eurodisney, the gap is really big ($280 and $600).
The macro-environmental scanning of namely, the political, the cultural, and the economic aspects of Europe had been grossly miscalculated. They definitely had to change their way of seeing European people like American people and adapt Eurodisney to the European culture.
For the Hong kong one, I think the most important thing is that the designers didnt create the park as the population wanted to. Actually, the park wasnt as big as they expected and not very different from the other parks they had.
Plus, there were only 16 attractions instead of 52 in Eurodisney Paris, which is a huge mistake.
To begin, we have to know that mistakes are not allowed to a company named Disney. Disney could be able to foresee the unforeseen.
Disney should have foreseen the changing economic scene in France with the coming recession. Relationships with the local governments should have been kept with greater care and delicacy, because of the size of the investment involved. In fact, the number of jobs dependent on the success of the project is giant.
Concerning the marketing aspect (identify the needs and wants of the customer) Disney didnt succeed in both because they couldnt adapt their selves to the local culture. Disney has to reconcile with the environment it has settled into and to find its own ways.
Ethnocentrism has played a conflicting role in the launch of EuroDisney. The Disney belief was that what it sells in the U.S. and Japan could be sold just as well in Europe. A marketing mix was to be adopted similar to that of what was developed in other markets. The case indicates how the promotional strategy of Disney was more about how to make it beautifull than about how Disney would