Euro Disney S.C.A. Annual General Meeting
January 13, 2015
Speech of Tom Wolber, Président, Euro Disney S.A.S.
Thank you Gilles for your introduction.
Mesdames et Messieurs,
Bonjour et bienvenue à l’Assemblée Générale 2015. Je suis très heureux de vous accueillir aujourd’hui au
Palais des Congrès.
Figurez-vous que cela fait 22 ans que je n’ai pas pratiqué mon français ! Je suis un peu « rouillé » comme
vous dites. Je vous demande donc de l’indulgence et de la patience, et vous promets de travailler mon accent
pour la prochaine Assemblée Générale. D’ici là, je vous propose de poursuivre ce discours en anglais.
Thank you for joining us today to look back at 2014, an important year for our company, and to discuss what
lies ahead.
But before we do that, I would like to take the opportunity to introduce myself and to tell you how honored I
am to have been appointed head of this great company. Disneyland Paris has always had a special place in
my heart, as it is where my Disney journey began. I was here at Disneyland Paris before the grand opening in
1992. At the time, I was responsible for the construction and the opening of the Davy Crockett Ranch. Over
the following years, I got to know other Disney magical places, working both in the US and in Europe.
It is wonderful to be back! I can see how much Disneyland Paris has grown and transformed, thanks to the
amazing work accomplished by its impressive team of Cast Members. And, I would like to thank the millions
of guests and fans who have made Disneyland Paris the number one tourist destination in Europe.
I have spent a large part of my career with Disney. In fact, I have spent the last 25 years bringing the Disney
magic to fans around the world, whether it was at Disneyland Paris, Walt Disney World Resort, Disney
Vacation Club or Disney Cruise Line.
I have always prioritized the quality of the experience, not only for the guest, but for our thousands of Cast
Members as well. This focus has helped deliver the type of immersive experiences that Disney is renowned
for. And I can tell you from my own experience that these high-quality moments don’t happen on their own:
we bring these to life! We create them in an environment where excellence, creativity, innovation, and team
work are valued across the organization.
From the time I have spent around our guests, whether in Orlando, California or Europe, I have seen how all
our guests’ faces light up in the same way, no matter where they come from, when they meet their favorite
characters, when they experience the magic of our attractions and when they enjoy the special moments
with our dedicated Cast Members. Bringing the Disney magic to our guests is the cornerstone of our strategy,
and it will also be what drives our success at Disneyland Paris.
I am particularly honored to be back at Disneyland Paris at such an exciting time. So much has already been
accomplished over the last 6 years. As a reminder, it was only a few years ago that Disneyland Paris was
celebrating its 20th Anniversary in spectacular style.
The resort has also greatly increased the number of great experiences – in Walt Disney Studios Park, with the
opening of Tower of Terror, Toy Story Playland, and most recently our new Ratatouille experience. But also in
the Disneyland Park, with the dedicated character “Meet & Greet” experiences, and the addition of our new
nighttime spectacular, Disney Dreams!
Another recent development is the extension of our agreement with the French authorities concerning land
development on and around the resort. This has allowed us to continue developing the region as a tourism
hub, driving growth and jobs. Signed in 2010, it laid the foundations for the future “Villages Nature”
destination. Developed in partnership with Pierre & Vacances – Center Parcs, this venture aims to become
Europe’s leading eco-tourism resort, and is expected to open in 2016.
I would like to thank the group’s former President, Philippe Gas, who alongside our talented teams has
played a fundamental role in the Group’s development. With these accomplishments as our basis, we look
forward to achieving great things for the future.
It is no secret that 2014 was a very challenging year for us. There was not a meaningful recovery in the
European economy, and especially in France, our most significant market. As you know, the tourism industry
is highly sensitive to the economic climate and Disneyland Paris, like many of the operators in our industry,
was also affected.
However, despite these unfavorable conditions, we continued to invest in the quality of the Disneyland Paris
experience, anticipating a more stable economic environment and in an effort to achieve our long-term goals
of improving revenues and profitability. This investment involves not only the resort’s attractions and hotels,
but also the other experiences that shape the guest visit, including shopping, dining and cast interaction,
such as “Swing into Spring Festival Parade” and “Crush’s Coaster, The Game”. We are already beginning to
see the benefits of our investments: despite a challenging economic climate, guest satisfaction continues to
steadily rise and individual spending at the parks is up.
Last July, we opened our new attraction: Ratatouille. Inspired by the hit animated movie of the same name, it
brings to life an incredibly successful story, based on Paris and its culture of fine cuisine. It also illustrates the
company’s founding commitment to creativity and innovation! Our famous Imagineers have designed a 3D
ride that whisks guests deep into the world of Ratatouille, by shrinking them to the size of Rémy – the
movie’s star – and then taking them on a multi-sensory adventure, packed with surprises. As an experience,
it is the first of its kind, and it received huge praise from the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, at its opening. This
attraction has already welcomed more than 1 million guests since it opened and perhaps some of them are
here today!
For those of you who haven’t yet visited the experience, we have prepared a short video. Please take a look!
[VIDEO]
As reflected in Ratatouille, investing in quality is part of the fabric of our brand. Our ongoing refurbishment
and renovation program continued in 2014, with the entire renovation of the Temple of Peril attraction. With
regard to our hotels, the renovation program continued and we reached an important milestone by
refurbishing half of the Newport Bay Club Hotel. With the renovations at the Davy Crockett Ranch, the Santa
Fe Hotel and the Sequoia Lodge in previous years, more than 50% of our rooms have now been renovated.
This focus on investing in the quality of our assets, directly contributes to the pride and satisfaction of our
14,000 Cast Members. We regularly measure their engagement through a company-wide survey. Our most
recent study, showed a marked improvement over our last survey in 2012. We know that improving our cast
members’ engagement has a direct influence on our guests’ satisfaction. In other words, the smiles on the
faces of our guests reflect the happiness of our cast. Efforts to improve the Cast Member experience are
centered around the ongoing remodeling of our backstage areas, including the renovation of Cast cafeterias
and break rooms. We know that improving our Cast Members' engagement has a direct influence over our
Guests' satisfaction.
As a result of this investment-focused strategy, year after year, Disneyland Paris has remained Europe's
leading tourist destination.
Due to this consistent focus, the Euro Disney Group's 2014 results remained resilient in a difficult
environment. Our revenues decreased by 2%, primarily due to lower volumes. This reflects the economic
softness in Europe I mentioned earlier, most notably in France. We also saw a decrease in our hotel volumes.
This was related to the ongoing refurbishment work in our hotels I just told you about. This meant that
roughly 10% of our total hotel inventory, - about 500 rooms -, was unavailable. That said, thanks to our
pricing strategy, and our continued investment in the guest experience, guest spending was up 5% over the
year.
However, despite this resilience and the undisputed success of our destination for more than 20 years, the
deterioration in the economic climate in Europe, coupled with Euro Disney's high debt levels, has affected
the company's financial performance. Losses have increased, reaching 114 million euros in 2014 and limiting
the opportunities for future investments.
To structurally improve the Group’s financial position, we have developed a 1 billion euro recapitalization
plan with the backing of our main shareholder, The Walt Disney Company. We are asking you to vote on this
plan today. This plan will significantly improve our financial structure by: reducing our debt, improving our
cash position and enabling us to improve liquidity.
If the proposal is accepted, it will restore the financial flexibility Euro Disney needs to continue investing in
the guest experience. It will allow us to prepare for the next major milestone of the resort: Disneyland Paris’
25th Anniversary in 2017, marking a quarter of a century of bringing the Disney magic to life in the heart of
Europe. We will increase our investments in our Resort over the next three years in order to continue
delivering on the Disney promise of a high-quality experience. Our Chief Financial Officer, Mark Stead, will
very shortly give you more details about the plan. He will also explain the impacts of this proposal on your
shareholding, depending on the option you choose.
Although the economic environment has put pressure on our results since the start of the financial crisis, we
can see promising signs in some of our key markets. Obviously we remain cautious about our future financial
results, but as I said, we have a strategy that will put the resort in a position to benefit from economic growth
when it returns to Europe, and to France.
As President of Disneyland Paris, the guest experience and cast interaction are my top concern. Quality,
creativity and innovation are part of the DNA not only of the Disney brand but also of all the individuals who
make up our Group. Quality and creativity have always been, and will always remain my priorities.
So it is in keeping with this spirit that we intend to continue projects initiated over the last few years, such as
the plan to continue renovating our hotels. At the end of 2014, we had already refurbished a large part of our
facilities. The benefits of this should start materialize in 2015, and will drive further increases in guest
satisfaction. Of course, we also intend to continue investing in the entertainment of our two parks in addition
to renovating, upgrading and renewing our attractions.
And I have kept an announcement for today , that I am very proud to share with you : In the next few months
we will give our guests a new offering based on the recent Disney blockbuster, Frozen. You’re probably
already aware that Frozen, which was actually based on a fairy tale from here in Europe, has been a huge
success throughout the world. Guests’ enthusiasm for the Disney movie has made it one of the biggest
animated movies of all time. And Disneyland Paris will soon feature this movie’s story in our brand new
“Frozen Summer Season” that will go live by the end of May 2015. This will enable guests to experience
Frozen in a compelling new way, through a live show performed several times a day. Kat, the Creative
Director for the Frozen project, will give you a sneak peak of that a little later.
Of course, it is still too early to talk about other specific projects, but our future investments will all have the
same objective: to give our guests an even more unique, memorable and magical experience. Let’s have a
look at how we make this Disney magic a reality!
[VIDEO SHOWN ON SCREEN]
I want Disneyland Paris to remain Europe's leading tourist destination! Whether it's their first or their
hundredth time to Disneyland Paris, we must ensure our guests enjoy theme park experiences that are truly
unforgettable and create magical memories that last a lifetime. Each of our Cast Members is key to ensuring
we achieve all of this. In order to continue to engage them in delivering excellence, I fully intend to continue
the work done by Philippe to strengthen the experience for our Cast Members. It is a great honor for the
Euro Disney teams to have provided to all our guests from France, Europe and the world over, with these
moments of pure magic since the first park opened in 1992.
Reflecting the continued magic that the Cast deliver, we expect to celebrate the 300 millionth guest to
Disneyland Paris in 2015!
We will have another occasion to celebrate the excellence of our destination at our 25th anniversary in 2017.
This anniversary will crown 25 years of our presence in France. During 2015 we will begin our preparations
for a celebration worthy of this event, worthy of you continued confidence in the resort and, worthy of your
passion for the Disney magic!
With your support, we will continue to develop the Disneyland Paris of the next 25 years. I have already had
the opportunity to some of you since my arrival, and I can safely say that we share the same commitment to
our resort, to our company, and to the Disney magic.
Together we will continue to give our guests an exceptional experience and make sure that Disneyland Paris
remains Europe's leading tourist destination.
Thank you for your attention.