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European Funding

Nic

Strata Poster
Earlier this evening, I somehow ended up looking through the RCDB photos of El Toro at Freizeitpark Plohn. I stumbled across this:

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First question is, can anyone be arsed to translate that? I googled EFRE and found this: http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/ ... 015_en.htm

This regulation defines the scope of assistance from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) during the period 2000-06. The Fund aims to promote economic and social cohesion by correcting the main regional imbalances and participating in the development and conversion of regions, while ensuring synergy with assistance from the other Structural Funds.

I know that Clone Zone at Milky Way was also built using some form of European grant (I can't remember what for, farm diversification maybe?) Despite spending half the night looking (and subsequently getting distracted by old PTRs) I can't find a photo of the sign there. So, second question, does anyone have a photo of the sign to hand?


Can anyone else think of any other coasters that were built using European funding? Are there any similar schemes elsewhere in the world that have funded coasters?
 
It says: This project is co-financed by the European Union under the European Regional Development Funds "Investing in your future".
 
I'm trying to hunt for a list of sorts of other European Regional Development Funds projects, but as far as I can tell this is the only roller coaster that has been funded as such.
 
I didn't know that parks could get a European fund to help invest in new rides.

I guess it comes down to region needs and such. As in, maybe the park where El Toro was built was in need of a tourist draw, and the region agreed that investing in a roller coaster would be a good way to achieve this goal.

If it's not the case, I wonder under what circumstances can a European park ask for these funds.
 
As it's title suggests, the European Regional Development Fund is established to help stimulate economic growth, create jobs, and promote community. Building a roller coaster a local park would definitely fall within that criteria.

Throughout the world there is much collaboration between government and theme parks to help promote a sustainable economy and promote tourism. My foremost experience is obviously with Cedar Point - the taxes of which keep the city of Sandusky in the black year in and year out. To lose Cedar Point would mean the loss of seasonal jobs, the recreational area of Cedar Point, and the money that 3+ million visitors bring each year.

Amusement parks and their surrounding communities are heavily intertwined. Either both succeed or both fail.
 
I don't know about Europe, but Phaethon (B&M invert) had similar funding from the local Korean government. The park is just outside a major tourist city - Gyeoungju, the ancient capital - so I'm guessing it was about bringing even more people into the area.
 
And I'm sure China has bankrolled some of those huge new amusement parks that have been cropping up.
 
^Yeah,the Happy Valley parks, at least the first couple that cropped up, had some serious funding from the government.
 
^ I don't think so, but might be wrong. Megafobia was sold to Oakwood at cost price, a little under 2 million, so that the manufacturer had an example of their product in Europe.
 
gavin said:
^ I don't think so, but might be wrong. Megafobia was sold to Oakwood at cost price, a little under 2 million, so that the manufacturer had an example of their product in Europe.

As well as the reduced price, they also had a grant from the Welsh government (as far as I'm aware), but I'm not sure if that stemmed from some higher grant system.
 
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