Duchess turns to Disney chief as new era dawns at Alnwick
A former Disney vice-president is to take over the running of Alnwick Castle and The Alnwick Garden as part of a bold move to establish the town of Alnwick as a global visitor destination.
The unusual move represents a new era for the town of Alnwick and its two largest attractions and sees Frenchman Christian Perdrier become the first Disney-trained CEO ever to run a major historic UK attraction.
A former Disney vice-president is to take over the running of Alnwick Castle and The Alnwick Garden as part of a bold move to establish the town of Alnwick as a global visitor destination.
The unusual move represents a new era for the town of Alnwick and its two largest attractions and sees Frenchman Christian Perdrier become the first Disney-trained CEO ever to run a major historic UK attraction.
The news contrasts with the recent announcement that regional development agency One North East is axing a number of projects to meet a budget cut of nearly £50m, with rural programmes, tourism and culture all set to suffer.
The attractions will jointly become one of the UK’s top ten most popular paid-for visitor destinations* and the single largest attraction in the North East of England with visitor numbers approaching 800,000 a year.
The appointment marks the beginning of a new strategy to become increasingly creative in how both sites attract visitors. Perdrier’s objectives include overhauling customer service levels and increasing the amount of revenue generated by both Castle and Garden for North East businesses. His number one priority, however, is to transform the town of Alnwick into a world renowned visitor destination by promoting the joint advantages of the town, the castle and the garden.
Christian Perdrier commented: “Alnwick has huge potential. The combination of attractions makes the region a unique place to visit. We should start to think of Alnwick as the leading international visitor attraction in the UK.
“The benefits to the Northumberland community and the North East as a whole could be huge. We have always been conscious of how our visitor numbers can positively affect the local economy. Alnwick Castle and The Alnwick Garden attract tourists from around the world and we will ensure our new approach benefits as many businesses in the region as possible.”
Perdrier will also spearhead the final push to secure the capital needed to complete the construction of The Alnwick Garden so that it can continue to deliver its charitable objectives.
The Duchess of Northumberland, who oversaw the appointment with top head-hunters Veredus, said: “This is such an exciting opportunity, not just for Alnwick Castle and The Alnwick Garden, but for the town of Alnwick and the wider region of the North East.
“Christian is hugely experienced and can do for visitors to Alnwick what Walt Disney has done for children and families all over the world.
“As with any growing business, we needed to bring in the appropriate expertise to ensure further growth and improve our professionalism. Christian has world class credentials and is the perfect person to ensure Alnwick becomes a worldwide visitor destination.”
Christian Perdrier
Christian Perdrier, who is from Burgandy in France, has over 35 years of experience in the hospitality, leisure and entertainment industry. He was a vice president at Disneyland Paris for 12 years, overseeing the development of the theme park from the daily operations of attractions to security, hospitality and service quality. Perdrier also successfully opened the unique Walt Disney Studio in April 2002.
Most recently Perdrier worked as master developer for the company tasked with delivering the ‘Dubailand’ vision of Sheik Mohamed Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai. In just two years Perdrier signed six world class theme parks to the region including Universal Studios, Legoland, DreamWorks and Marvel.