TIME EUROPE
August 28, 2000, Vol. 156 No. 9
Theme Park Debacle
World-class exhibitions are failing this year on a world-class scale. What do the folks at VW know?
By LAUREN GOLDSTEIN Wolfsburg
Whatever 2000 eventually will be known for, it won't be world-class theme parks. The turn of the millennium will go down as the year that the earth's fun-seeking public soundly rejected their governments' efforts to keep them entertained. Take Britain's Millennium Dome. Please. Conceived as a symbol of Cool Britannia, the government spent $1 billion on it and sold it last month for just $158 million to Japanese financial group Nomura amid a flurry of bad press, worse reviews and lousy attendance reports. The heads of both chief executive Jennie Page and Bob Ayling, chairman of the Dome operators New Millennium Experience Company, had already rolled. The government also announced that about $65 million of sale revenues will go toward keeping the Dome running through the end of the year.
Things haven't been much better for the organizers of Expo 2000, the world's fair taking place in Hanover, Germany. Meant to showcase a united Germany, it is attracting just a third of the expected number of visitors so far, and key sponsorships have yet to sign on. Organizers have fired hundreds of workers and cut ticket prices, but it may still leave the German government with some $1 billion in debt.
But just down the autobahn in Wolfsburg, Germany, Volkswagen has built a theme park that is drawing twice as many visitors as expected along with rave reviews. Autostadt, or Auto City, is the brainchild of VW chairman Ferdinand Piëch. Conceived as a place for VW customers to pick up their new cars — keeping VW perks in line with BMW and Mercedes — it quickly grew into the EuroDisney of the automobile. Piëch, unlike other theme park planners, never intended for Autostadt to become profitable. The $400 million development cost has been written off in the name of marketing. Now Piëch hopes that Autostadt's revenues will cover its operating expenses next year.
What makes Autostadt a better draw? The landscape for one. Architect Gunter Henn took an industrial wasteland and turned it into a magnificent park with shapely modern buildings, bridges and lots of grass. "Unfortunately for VW bosses. . . the best thing at Autostadt has nothing to do with extending brand awareness," said Richard Yarrow in London's Daily Telegraph, raving about the twin-tower car park.
But the attractions aren't bad either. There's a 360-degree theater showing a safety film by German director Dani Levy, rides which simulate the force of a car crash and pavilions for each VW brand. In the museum is John Lennon's white Beetle, featured on the cover of Abbey Road. But perhaps the smartest thing VW did was to keep prices low and to focus on fun — not hype.
With reporting by Ursula Sautter/Bonn and Elinor Shields/London
This edition's table of contents
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August 28, 2000
COVER STORY
Death Watch
A collision or explosion sank the Kursk, but the real cause of the tragedy was the rapid deterioration of Russia's rusting and underfunded armed forces
MIDDLE EAST
Reform Overruled
Iran's Supreme Leader quashes efforts to lift press constraints, angering those working for progress
AFRICA
Law in Search of Order
Northern Nigeria's Christian community is nervous as a strict Islamic judicial system is reintroduced
The Legacy That Won't Die
Racism remains a thorny issue in South Africa, and bitter exchanges between politicians are adding to the problem
BUSINESS
Architect of Reform
Hans Eichel's success in rewriting the tax code will have far-reaching impact on the German economy
Theme Park Debacle
World-class exhibitions are failing this year on a world-class scale. What do the folks at VW know?
SOCIETY
Face Lift in a Jar?
More effective than makeup but not as powerful as drugs, cosmeceuticals promise to turn back the clock on aging skin
ARTS
The Great Divide
Shocked by the radical changes in her homeland after the 1979 revolution, Iranian-born Shirin Neshat tries to understand and explain Islam through her art
DEPARTMENTS
World Watch
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
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