Located in the east of the Netherlands, in Groenlo, Marveld recreatie is a large resort with a hotel, luxury cottages and campsites. Although the park is very well known to the Dutch, the owner wanted to identify the resort with a real Dutch icon. The idea of creating an attraction around one of the most known comic strips in The Netherlands, Meneer Bommel and Tom Poes was born.

Cultural heritage

Marten Toonder’s 177 stories about their adventures, which ran daily in newspapers for half a century, are part of the Netherlands’ cultural heritage; generations grew up with Meneer Bommel and Tom Poes. Creator Marten Toonder is honoured at the Museum of Literature with a place in the Pantheon, which pays tribute to the 100 greatest Dutch literati.

The plans include a building of around 9000 square meters in which guests can explore the world created by Marten Toonder, with as centrepiece Meneer Bommel’s castle. The world of Meneer Bommel and Tom Poes will be the central theme for all the attractions. The indoor Theme park will include the magical atmosphere of Rommeldam, the Black Mountains and the Dark Trees Forest.  Marveld recreation asked TDAC to guide them through the entire process: master planning, implementation and operation.

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The Case:

A private real estate investor acquired a unique building opposite the Prague clock tower, a location that draws millions of tourists every year. Recognizing the potential opportunity of this many tourists to this location, the investor hired TDAC to investigate the potential of the building to house a tourist attraction.

The Approach

After a research phase through desktop research and visits to Prague, TDAC developed a report for this client weighing the potential of the building as a tourist attraction. With this report, the client was able to balance this potential against alternative possibilities, which ultimately led him to conclude that an alternative use would provide a better business case.

The Case:

Our client owns an amazing location in Croatia. On the edge of a canyon, overlooking a steep mountainside, this piece of land was one of the locations where famous films were shot in the past.

These specific movies are still immensely popular, which made our client wonder if there is a small theme park based on the movies logical at this location, or are there other approaches that would improve the feasibility?

Approach:

TDAC, after extensive research in the region, many interviews and of course close cooperation with the client, created a balanced mix of attraction ideas (which still might include the movie theme) and worked them into a business plan including feasibility, which is now ready to be further elaborated by specific design studios.

TDAC will continue to guide the client as client representative through the next phases of the site development.

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Case

Oliver Wyman approached TDAC to review the Cultural attraction offering in their first concept for The Rig, a new to build entertainment destination in a unique location: Offshore in the Arabian Gulf.

The Approach

We reviewed their plans and discussed our conclusions with the Oliver Wyman team, followed by a client presentation in which we provided our vision on the cultural elements at The Rig.

To learn more about the TDAC services for theme park developments, please check here.

The Case:

Valkenburg aan de Geul is a small historic town not far from Maastricht. This picturesque town is situated in a unique environment for the Netherlands: in a valley between a few hills. Since the end of 1800, the town is mainly dependent on tourism, making it the oldest tourist town in the Netherlands. The caves, ruins, the casino, the amusement parks, the thermal baths and of course the landscape around Valkenburg make the city known to almost all Dutch people.

Because tourism is important in Valkenburg, the city constantly renews itself to stay up to date. After refurbishing the inner city, the city is now focusing on the western part, the area where most attractions are located. TDAC was asked to create a vision for this area and to investigate how this area can be made more attractive for tourists, while balancing this with respect for the residents of this area.

The Approach:

Creating a tourism vision for a certain part of a city requires a tourism vision for the whole city. As this did not exist, we started with a group of key stakeholders to create a Theme Statement for Valkenburg as a tourist city. This statement could serve as the overall direction for tourism development in the city in the coming decades, and which provided us with a basis for the Vision of Valkenburg-West.

Creating a tourist vision in a city means that one of the most important stakeholders for this vision are the residents. We teamed up a local specialist in resident participation processes. Together, we researched the area, with TDAC concentrating on the tourism sector in combination with an analysis of the potential of the area for the creation of new tourism. We investigated the guest flows in the area, including the parking challenges. We investigated the possibility of creating attraction zones, that would respect the people living in the area. We drew up attraction matrices and organized several brainstorming sessions with entrepreneurs, residents and officials..

As a result, we jointly drew up the first vision for Valkenburg-West, which was presented to the municipal council.

The Case

The Turkish real estate developer ISKA acquired a large piece of land near the new Istanbul airport,. At this land they had the intention of developing a large new (outlet) shopping centre, with an adjacent Theme Park. The first vision for the Theme Park and shopping centre was developed by ISKA and a theme park design company. TDAC was approached to evaluate the plans.

The Approach

After analysing the plans, TDAC prepared a report with feedback. As a result of this feedback, a clear vision for the development was formed, leading to a more integrated approach between leisure and shopping.

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Hosso owns and operates several inner-city shopping centers in northern Poland. Some of these shopping centers include leisure activities.

As Hosso expands, they are planning to extend their leisure experience to a newly built theme park in northern Poland. Hosso asked TDAC to assist them in their initial business planning.

The Case

Every 10 years, the Floriade is organized in the Netherlands. This “Bureau International des Expositions” accredited world exhibition will take place in 2022 in Almere, near Amsterdam.

TDAC was honoured to organize a review session one year before opening. We were asked to assess the master planning and the pavilion entries and create an advisory report on how the existing plans can be improved to make the Floriade in 2022 a success.

The Approach

Together with the management of Floriade 2022, we selected a balanced group of external experts, whom we invited to attend a two-day review session. During this review, the management of Floriade 2022 presented its plans and ideas to this group of experts, moderated and structured by TDAC. These plans included master planning, pavilion designs, events, marketing and hospitality. During the reviews, the experts provided suggestions for improvement and discussed as a group identifying the best solutions.

The results of the evaluation session were documented in a report with clear recommendations on how to improve existing plans.