amusement park

New ‘Ferrari Land’ amusement park to open in Catalonia by 2016

March 13, 2014 09:12 PM | ACN

Catalonia’s PortAventura and Ferrari have reached an agreement to build a new area dedicated to the illustrious sports cars, expanding the current amusement park. Thanks to an over €100 million investment, ‘Ferrari Land’ will open in 2016 with 75,000 m2 at its disposal. Visitors will discover several attractions designed for fans of the Italian brand, including a vertical accelerator announced as the highest and fastest in Europe. ‘Ferrari Land’ will also host the first Ferrari themed hotel, which will offer 5-star accommodation in 250 rooms. The Italian company had already opened a dedicated theme park in Abu Dhabi named ‘Ferrari World’, which was met with much success among fans of the prancing horse. The new amusement facilities will be built next to 'BCN World', a $6 billion resort that will open next to PortAventura, with hotels, conference centres, casinos, theatres and golf courses.

PortAventura theme park to open 2014 season with latest aquatic attraction, Angkor

February 19, 2014 12:43 PM | ACN / Lorna McGinn

PortAventura will be launching new attraction ‘Angkor: Adventure in the Lost Kingdom’ this year to coincide with the start of the 2014 season in early April. The new attraction will allow visitors to embark on a 300 meter boat trip through the Asian jungle, designed to simulate the historic Cambodian temple: Angkor Wat. The attraction is located in the China area of the park, near Shambhala, Europe´s highest rollercoaster. The new attraction is a replicate of the temple, which is said to be the largest religious structure in the world. Meanwhile, the park will host Cirque du Soleil’s ‘Kooza’ show during the summer months.

American KKR investment fund buys 49.9% of PortAventura

December 5, 2013 08:12 PM | ACN

Italian Investindustrial has sold 49.9 % of its stake in PortAventura amusement park to KKR, a US investment fund. With this operation Investindustrial has incorporated a long-term partner in the project, while making sure to be the majority shareholder with 50.1 %. The transaction will be effective in January 2014 and is only awaiting regulatory approvals. In the long-term strategy, PortAventura is looking for other agreements to broaden the range of leisure activities and develop further at international level. A few weeks ago it was made public that Investindustrial would join the BCN World project by building and managing 3,000 hotel rooms. Besides, it has been announced that the Cirque du Soleil would give daily shows in PortAventura from the summer of 2014.

Investindustrial, which owns PortAventura theme park, joins ‘BCN World’ by building 3,000 hotel rooms

October 16, 2013 10:25 PM | ACN

The Italian investment group has announced it will build and manage 3,000 of the 6,000 hotel rooms of the ‘BCN World’ mega resort, the competitor to Madrid’s Eurovegas that is being developed by Veremonte in Salou (Costa Daurada). The $6 billion entertainment resort will be located next to the beach and the PortAventura theme park, which is owned by Investindustrial. After a year of talks, the Italian company has finally decided to join the mega resort project, which will have casinos, hotels, convention centres, luxury shops, restaurants, golf courses and a beach club. The CEO of ‘BCN World’, Xavier Adserà, confirmed that the resort will begin building in the first half of 2014, employing 17,000 people. The hotel group Melià, shopping-mall company Value Retail and casino group Melco Crown Entertainment will build the first phase.

Catalan theme park PortAventura hopes to reach 5 million visitors anually within the next few years

March 14, 2013 10:27 PM | CNA

Investindustrial, PortAventura’s only shareholder since last November, will invest €75 million in enlarging the park’s facilities within the next five years. The amusement park, located in the Costa Daurada in Southern Catalonia, near Salou and Tarragona, has already been enlarged over the last few years adding the water park Caribe Aquatic next to the beach and several adjacent hotel resorts. Furthermore, the Italian group will change the park’s brand to: ‘PortAventura: European Destination Resort’. Investindustrial aim to reach 5 million visitors per year, half of which will come from abroad. As a start, the Italian group is investing €10 million in new projects for this new season, which will kick off on the 22nd of March.

The Italian Investindustrial buys the remaining 50% of PortAventura, owned by Criteria Caixa Holding

November 5, 2012 11:59 PM | CNA

The Catalan theme park PortAventura, located on the Costa Daurada, between Tarragona and Salou, will be completely controlled by Investindustrial, a fund run by the Bonomi family. Portaventura is the only profitable theme park in Spain and one of only a few in Europe. Investindustrial is buying the remaining 50% of the park for €105 million. Furthermore, they have announced a future investment of €80 million to foster the park’s international expansion. PortAventura is located next to the land where the €6 billion mega-resort Barcelona World will be built. The Italian group has a consolidated trajectory of investing large amounts of capital in businesses from a wide range of sectors to ensure growth.

$6 billion mega-resort theme park to be built in Catalonia instead of Sheldon Adelson’s Eurovegas

September 7, 2012 11:39 PM | CNA / Gaspar Pericay Coll

‘Barcelona World’, located next to Salou’s beaches and PortaAventura, will have 6 new theme parks, as well as 12,000 hotel rooms, casinos, convention centres, golf courses and other amusement facilities. 10 million people are expected to visit the mega-resort funded by Veremonte each year, which will create 40,000 jobs. ‘Barcelona World’, located next to Tarragona in the Costa Daurada, will be Europe’s largest amusement resort and among the world’s largest, targeting family and business tourism. Construction may be complete by late 2016. The project has been announced after the expiration of the offer made to Las Vegas Sands to build its casinos next to Barcelona. This American company has not announced if it will finally build ‘Eurovegas’ in Madrid yet, but the Barcelona option seems to be ruled out.

Catalan theme park PortAventura opens its doors expecting to host 4 million visitors this season

April 2, 2012 11:25 PM | CNA / Laura Quintana

The Catalan theme park PortAventura opened its doors last weekend for the new season. Despite the crisis, in 2011 the park registered 16% more visitors than in 2010, reaching 3.7 million in total. The park’s CEO, Fernando Aldecoa, has said they expect to reach 4 million visitors this season, which ends just after Halloween. This season, €25 million has been invested in a new rollercoaster called ‘Shambhala’, which will be the tallest in Europe and will reach speeds of 134 km per hour during a fall of 78 metres.

PortAventura theme park is building the tallest rollercoaster in Europe

October 21, 2011 10:35 PM | CNA / Núria Torres

The Catalan theme park, located on the Costa Daurada next to Tarragona, will invest 25 million euros building the new attraction, which will be 76 metres high and will emulate the Himalaya. In addition, users will reach a speed of 134 km/h. The new rollercoaster’s name and exact design are still a mystery, but it will cross the Dragon Khan four times. The Catalan President assisted in the ceremony of the laying of the first stone. The attraction will be ready in May 2012.