The opening of Ferrari Land, the new theme park dedicated to the Prancing Horse within the PortAventura resort and amusement park, near Barcelona, Spain, is scheduled for 2016. PortAventura Entertainment SAU (“PortAventura”), controlled by an investment company of the Investindustrial group, has in fact reached a licensing agreement with Ferrari SpA (“Ferrari”) to create the new area, which provides for a total investment of over 100 million euros.
Ferrari Land will cover 75.000 square meters and will include various attractions for fans of the brand of all ages, including the tallest and fastest vertical accelerator in Europe. The other big news is the birth of the first Ferrari-themed hotel, a 5-star luxury hotel located within PorAventura, with 250 rooms, restaurants and driving simulators.
Andrea C. Bonomi, Senior Partner of Investindustrial, explains the reasons for the partnership with Ferrari as follows: “PortAventura is a leader in the tourism sector in Europe. At the same time Ferrari is an icon that represents the best of 'Made in Italy'. The synergy between the two groups creates a powerful combination that allows us to offer customers of both brands a unique experience..”
The partnership between Ferrari (which according to the Global 500 annual report, February 2014, was ranked as the strongest brand in the world for the second consecutive year) and PortAventura (the largest amusement park in the Mediterranean and the second in Europe ), will therefore allow PortAventura to further improve its leadership among destination resorts in Europe and to offer its visitors a once-in-a-lifetime experience. PortAventura welcomes around 4 million people every year, almost 50% of whom come from abroad.
Since the acquisition of PortAventura by Investindustrial, which took place in 2009, the new management has successfully implemented a business plan conceived with industrial logic which has allowed PortAventura to become the second destination resort in Europe through new investments for a total amount of 125 million euros in 4 years.
Andrea Perrone, CEO of Ferrari Brand, the Ferrari subsidiary that manages the activities related to the brand, concluded: “After the success of the Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi we have received many requests for new amusement parks. We have carefully selected the various proposals and have decided to accept that of Investindustrial because it is a solid project made by competent people and which brings the charm of Ferrari to Spain where we have many supporters and enthusiasts and where every year, also thanks to PortAventura, many tourists.”
