Initiated in 2019 the study for the opening of a LEGOLAND® Resort in Charleroi is progressing and has just hit a new milestone. On August 30, 2022, the project stakeholders – Merlin Entertainments Group, SOGEPA, SFPI and SORESIC – signed a first partnership agreement. This document sets out the main guidelines for future collaboration on this major project.
Led by Merlin Entertainments, the European leader in attractions and theme park sector (and the second largest in the world), the project to build and open a LEGOLAND® Resort in Charleroi not only holds the promise of regenerating the former Caterpillar site with a strong and globally recognized brand such as LEGOLAND® but with Merlin’s expertise and successful track record in developing similar complexes. Creating over 1,000 jobs from the very first day of operation, the project would also strengthen the wider tourism ecosystem of continental Europe at large and of Wallonia in particular.
“This is another exciting ‘building block’ laid for bringing a potential LEGOLAND Resort to the many LEGO Fans across Wallonia, Benelux and Northern France. We will continue to work closely with the Walloon Government and the City of Charleroi and our stakeholder partners at SOGEPA, SFPI and SORESIC to hopefully make this vision an awesome reality,”
says John Jakobsen, Merlin Entertainments Group’s COO for LEGOLAND Resorts Group.
Key figures of the LEGOLAND® Resort Belgium project:
- 14th LEGOLAND® Resort in the world (currently 10 now and 3 opening in China)
- Estimated investment: $370-400 million
- Jobs created: Over 1,000 jobs from the opening
- Rehabilitated area: 90+ ha of which 70 ha directly operated
- Location: immediate proximity to a catchment area of 21 million potential visitors