Dominique Thillaud (Compagnie des Alpes): Share Your Power - Episode 12

Can you run a leisure group without ever seeking to move upmarket? That is the conviction defended by Dominique Thillaud, Chief Executive of Compagnie des Alpes, in this twelfth episode of Share Your Power, the podcast powered by OneFlash. A conversation with Lucas Di Franco about the visitor experience, flow management and innovation in theme parks and ski areas.

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An experience, not a brand

Compagnie des Alpes is little known to the general public as a group: it is its brands that speak for it, Parc Astérix, Futuroscope, the Musée Grévin, the resorts of Val d'Isère, Les Arcs, La Plagne or Méribel, but also Urban Soccer and Urban Padel. The result: one French person in four has an experience with the group every year without knowing it. Dominique Thillaud stands by a simple, non-negotiable promise: whether you are a billionaire or in serious financial difficulty, everyone has the same experience, at the same time, in the same place, for the same price. The stated aim is not to reduce attendance in order to target a wealthier clientele, but on the contrary to raise the share of French people reached from a quarter to a third.

Real-world leisure, a safe haven in a volatile world

After Covid, Europeans "ring-fenced" their leisure and tourism budgets, at the expense of impulse purchases. For Dominique Thillaud, this phenomenon is explained by a growing need to live in the moment and take back control of moments of life in a world seen as increasingly uncertain and anxiety-inducing. Real-world leisure, such as sport, the mountains or a theme park, becomes a safe haven, a moment of disconnection sought regardless of the economic context.

Managing flows, the real business behind entertainment

This is one of the strongest messages of the conversation: running a theme park or a ski area is not an entertainment business, it is a flow management business. Dominique Thillaud details the concrete levers deployed by the group: spreading skiers across the whole area rather than the 20 to 25% most frequented, queues turned into scripted "pre-shows", algorithms that recommend the least crowded attraction in real time. A clear cultural difference from the American model of booking rides two months ahead, to the hour: for Dominique Thillaud, "you have to leave room for happiness", far from lives already timed tightly enough.

Investing in immersion and detail

The group claims a deliberately capital-intensive approach: constant updating of attractions, creation of immersive experiences such as Futuroscope's AquaScope with video mapping, or the Futuroscope restaurant where dishes travel in loops from the kitchen. Dominique Thillaud insists on the demand for detail: in a leisure business, a customer who spots a finishing flaw, such as flaking paint or imperfect service, instantly loses confidence. Every year, the group commits hundreds of millions of euros of investment across its sites, including 250 million at Parc Astérix and 250 million at Futuroscope.

AI serving operations, not spectacle

On artificial intelligence, Dominique Thillaud shares a concrete use case that is unspectacular but very effective: a drone fitted with a LIDAR radar measures snow depth on the slopes, data cross-referenced with the overnight grooming plan to optimise artificial snow production and cut operating costs. His method for adopting AI internally: give autonomous teams ("free electrons") the freedom to test a process for a month, then decide objectively: it works, we continue; it does not, we move on to the next subject. On cybersecurity, however, he says he is in a state of permanent vigilance, aware that artificial intelligence also multiplies the risk of attack.

What this conversation says about the visitor experience

What stands out from this conversation is the central role of comfort and fluidity in a successful leisure experience. Reducing waiting, looking after every detail, anticipating the visitor's needs: that is what turns a simple outing into a memory. In this logic, the visitor's digital comfort, being able to keep their phone charged to capture and share their best moments, use the park's app or scan their ticket without battery anxiety, directly contributes to the perceived quality of the experience.

This is where OneFlash comes in. A self-service mobile charging station, installed at the entrance of a theme park, near a dining area or in a waiting area, removes a concrete friction point in the visitor journey. In a venue where, as Dominique Thillaud points out, flow management and attention to detail make all the difference, a phone charging station accessible in a few seconds fits naturally into this service philosophy: letting visitors enjoy the moment, without ever being held back by an organisational detail.

In summary

This conversation with Dominique Thillaud sketches a leisure sector where technology serves operations and fluidity above all, never spectacle for spectacle's sake. Flow management, continuous investment and attention to the smallest detail remain, for a group that reaches one French person in four every year, the real levers of a successful visitor experience.

Hear the full conversation between Lucas Di Franco and Dominique Thillaud by listening to episode 12 of Share Your Power.