Bobbejaan Schoepen - Challenges

Challenges

Bobbejaan Schoepen’s life was not without its difficulties: he was thrown into prison twice during wartime, he lost his virtuoso whistling ability due to a surgical intervention, and in 1986 he underwent a serious heart operation. In 1999 he was diagnosed with intestinal cancer, which raised the issue of selling Bobbejaanland, his life’s work. But he continued and, in the winter of 2003, a major investment of nearly 12 million euros was made on two unique rides ("Typhoon" and "Sledge Hammer"). That year, the Flemish consumer magazine Test-Aankoop conducted a comparative survey of 13 European amusement parks. Bobbejaanland was the most highly esteemed park in Belgium on almost every level, and in Europe it shared second place, together with Disneyland and the Parc Astérix.

However, in April 2004, after preparing for more than three years, the family finally decided to sell the park. At that time Bobbejaanland employed 400 people and was taken over by Parques Reunidos, a Spanish-American amusement park group. It remained uncertain until the very last minute whether the founder would put his signature on the deal. Uncertainty over the future of amusement parks was ultimately decisive. The Schoepen family chose the more certain path, which also seemed evident to the founder. After the sale, when the news program Terzake on the Flemish Broadcast VRT asked him if he had chosen to take the big money, Schoepen answered, staring ahead blankly, “What am I going to do with all that money; I can only eat twice a day.”

Schoepen was considered to be the artistic attraction of the park; his wife Josée (the oldest of eighteen children) was a leading figure and the commercial backbone; and her sister Louise (Wies) was the solid foundation with respect to accounting and finances.

The key to the success of this family business is found in the loyalty within this triumvirate, as well as their work ethic, which was strengthened from the 1990’s on by three of their five children.

With the sale of the park, the last family business in the amusement park sector in Belgium disappeared. Schoepen and his wife lived on the domain together, until his death in May 2010.