Europa-Park: Groundbreaking ceremony for the third themed hotel - the ancient Romans are coming to Rust

It was finally here on January 21^st: the official start of construction on the new Europa-Park hotel was denoted by the symbolic groundbreaking.  The executives of the Park, Roland and Jürgen Mack, along with the mayor of Rust, Günter Gorecky, presented the plans for the mammoth project.

According to Roland Mack, "Especially in difficult economic times, one must have the courage to undertake such a large project.? The start of construction represents a "new chapter in the story of Europa-Park" and will also have a decisive impact on the future of the region. The opening of the third hotel in Germany's largest theme park is planned for the beginning of 2004.

Life like in ancient Rome

The new hotel will be built across from the two existing hotels in a Roman-Italian style and, with about 1400 beds, will be the biggest hotel in southwest Germany.  Including the "El Andaluz? and "Castillo Alcazar?, the hotels will be the largest resort in Germany based on number of beds. The total effective area will cover approximately 23.000 square meters.

The design has its roots in Roman architecture with an open ground plan in the shape of an octagon. The facades of this octagon display various Italian-style elements and will give the impression of a view onto an Italian city. About 320 rooms with two to six beds each will be located on four floors above the ground level, and about 20 luxuriously equipped suites will be on the top floor.  The ground floor will have a restaurant with around 1400 seats. Additional plans for the hotel include a Roman-styled wellness area with indoor and outdoor swimming pools, several conference rooms, two bars with a café, an open-air theater and a parking deck with about 550 spaces. 

According to research, concerns that a new hotel will take guests from existing hotels, guesthouses and vacation resorts in the region are baseless.  From observations over the past few years, the increase in overnight guests in the Europa-Park hotels have clearly had a positive effect on the overnight figures for the entire region around Europa-Park.  Since the construction of the theme hotel "El Andaluz? in 1995, a trend among Europa-Park visitors toward multi-day visits could be established. 

This tendency can be seen in the entire German tourist industry - the trend is moving away from long trips abroad that last several weeks to shorter trips within Germany that last several days.

With the existing hotels experiencing a room occupation rate of approximately 99% in the past year, the overnight capacity in the Park is at its limit.