What is Edenya, and why does it matter for every attraction marketer?
Christina Mazza, Marketing Manager at Pairi Daiza — Best Zoo of Europe — closed the afternoon with the case everyone had been waiting for: how do you launch a €230 million tenth world inside an 80-hectare park that Belgians think of as "my garden"?
Edenya is a living sanctuary: beneath a monumental glass canopy, mountains, jungles, rivers and tropical seas coexist in one tropical garden. The numbers, as presented:
| Edenya in numbers | |
|---|---|
| Greenhouse | 40,447 m² — the world's largest tropical greenhouse |
| Animals & plants | 230 animal species, 1,675 unique plant species |
| Water | 17,000 m³, with a 17-metre-high waterfall |
| Resort | 88 rooms, including underwater rooms; an underwater restaurant with sharks, turtles and manatees |
| Records | Three Guinness World Records: largest tropical greenhouse, largest covered zoological ecosystem, most plant species cultivated in a tropical greenhouse |
| Time & money | 7 years from vision to opening (4 years of construction), €230M investment |
The third record was "a nightmare" to prove — every unique species photographed, alive, located in the greenhouse, and validated by an external adjudicator. But three world records in a small country gave the launch its news hook.
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Who does the marketing?
Everything at Pairi Daiza is imagined, designed, analysed, developed, produced and tested in-house: filmmakers, photographers, a YouTuber, social media, influencer relations, graphic design, illustration, media management, press and journalism, copywriters, translators, web and app development, CRM, events, VIP hospitality. Partners such as Red Online Marketing are brought in for specific work — for Edenya, international reach in the Netherlands, Germany and the UK.
Alongside the marketing sits the Pairi Daiza Foundation, with five conservation projects tied to Edenya (including the Komodo dragon, West Indian manatee and Parson's chameleon), and a sustainability story — solar energy, water collection, efficient energy — that is part of the brand, not a footnote.
How do you plan a launch of this scale?
Four phases, each with its own job:
- Teasing — build curiosity and anticipation (from January). A six-episode creative mini-series, a countdown on the website — with a 360° experience built with a Belgian agency that let you look around Edenya on your own screen — and a teaser campaign at Brussels Airport.
- Announcement — reveal and build media momentum (January). Behind-the-scenes content for press and social, showing architects, keepers and the scale of the construction; an international press trip with influencers; and the opening of resort room reservations.
- Opening — create an unforgettable global event (6 February 2026). Official ceremony with founder Eric Domb and shareholder Marc Coucke, the Guinness World Records presentation with the official adjudicator, a press conference, 150 media features and reports, major national TV coverage in Belgium and in France (TF1, France 2, M6) — and the story continues with an M6 construction documentary and TV reports on the arrival of new animals.
- Reach — extend the emotion and amplify (from February onwards). Belgian and international media campaigns (OOH, DOOH, TV, radio, digital, social), local market strategies per country, press, influencers and celebrities, VIP experiences, events and partnerships, an education programme for schools, and growing visibility in key international tourist destinations.
What did the resort teach them?
Bookings for the first period (21 February – 31 May) opened before a single room was finished — the team was working day and night right up to the opening. With no photography available, Pairi Daiza used AI-generated visuals to show the rooms and the experience. Result: 30% of the first period sold before opening, before anyone had seen a room. Guests at the resort come from Belgium (52%), Netherlands (18%), France (17%), Germany (4%) and England (4%); the most popular rooms are the walruses, penguins, manatees, jaguars and polar bears.
Listen, learn, adapt: the hard lessons
- Pricing. Should Edenya cost extra on top of park entrance, or should numbers inside the greenhouse simply be managed? Pairi Daiza chose a supplement — €5 for members, €7 for non-members. In Belgium the park is "everybody's garden", and paying extra for part of it caused real pushback at first. It took explanation and time; today it is accepted. Finding the balance between value perception and accessibility was the hardest call of the launch.
- Accessibility. Make the experience understandable and accessible to very different audiences.
- Details matter. The visitor experience is shaped by hundreds of small details and premium service.
- Listen. Feedback arrives every day, from every tour — visitor feedback becomes a marketing tool.
- Adapt. A launch is not the end. It is the beginning: opening creates attention; the challenge is to sustain it.
From data to action, and from visitors to community
Collecting data is the easy part — app, CRM, membership card, website, visitor behaviour. Turning it into action is the challenge: analyse, connect, identify patterns; then adjust, correct, personalise, anticipate; then create value — a better experience, stronger loyalty, better performance. That needs the right tools and a team working on it every day.
The relationship is built before the visit (create desire: inspire, recruit, prepare), during (create connection: guide, personalise, enrich) and after (create belonging: stay connected, build loyalty, give reasons to return) — and even when guests are not there. From visitors to members to a community, held together by recognition, exclusive experiences and meaningful privileges.
The results so far: more than 3 million visitors a year; on average 54% of visitors enter Edenya; 170,000 active members (adult card €132) with a 53% renewal rate and around seven visits a year; 92.9% occupancy across the established hotels. Visitors come from Belgium (70.3%), France (20.9%), the Netherlands (5.1%), Germany (1.2%) and England (0.4%) — which is exactly why international reach is the next job.
Think long term
"A living ecosystem never stands still. Neither can we." Plants grow, move and sometimes get eaten; animals lead the way and the park adapts to their behaviour and well-being; new species and encounters create new stories; operations, visitor flows and storytelling evolve. Visitors shape the experience — observe, listen, learn.
Questions the room asked
What is Edenya?
The tenth world of Pairi Daiza in Belgium: a four-hectare tropical garden under one glass canopy where mountains, jungles, rivers and tropical seas coexist, with jaguars, manatees, sharks, an underwater restaurant, a suspension bridge, a 17-metre waterfall and a premium resort with 88 rooms. It opened on 6 February 2026.
Do visitors pay extra for Edenya?
Yes — €5 for members and €7 for non-members on top of the park entrance, partly to manage the number of people in the greenhouse. On average 54% of Pairi Daiza visitors choose to enter Edenya.
How did Pairi Daiza sell resort rooms before opening?
Bookings for the first period (21 February – 31 May) opened at the announcement, before any room photography existed. The team used AI-generated visuals to show the rooms and the resort experience, and sold 30% of the period before opening.
About the speaker
Christina Mazza is Marketing Manager at Pairi Daiza, the Belgian animal park voted Best Zoo of Europe, with twenty years of branding experience. She led the marketing strategy for the launch of Edenya, the park's tenth world, in 2026.
Want to talk about this for your park, museum or destination?
Red Online Marketing works with attractions, zoos, museums, holiday parks and destinations across Europe on exactly these questions. Read more: Red's cases for attractions. Or email events@redonlinemarketing.com / get in touch via redonlinemarketing.com.
