Pan-Europeanism and the Disney version: Place attachment of German and French visitors to Europa Park and Disneyland Paris

Proceedings of The 3rd International Conference on Tourism Management and Hospitality

Year: 2023

DOI:

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Pan-Europeanism and the Disney version: Place attachment of German and French visitors to Europa Park and Disneyland Paris

Prof. Dr. Filareti Kotsi, Dr.William McCarthy

 

 

ABSTRACT: 

With the first and second highest attendance among theme parks in Europe, Disneyland Paris and Europa Park present marked thematic contrasts as the former is a renowned American cultural brand in France, and the latter showcases pan-European identity in Germany. The study used two online surveys, one of French visitors to Disneyland Paris and another for German visitors to Europa Park, to determine their sense of place attachment using the tripartite model of people, place, and process. The study’s findings revealed greater place attachment by the French to Disneyland Paris than Germans to Europa Park, not only in line with previous place attachment research indicating greater attachment to countries than regions and continents but also to their symbolic representations.

keywords: Disneyland Paris, Europa Park, place attachment, theme parks, leisure