Who manages Vulcania?

The Auvergne Regional Council is the owner of Vulcania. SEM Volcans, or “Vulcania”, is a semi-public company governed by private law, bound by a contract with the Auvergne Regional Council to operate the theme park.

SEM Volcans has public shareholders (Regional Council, the 4 counties of Auvergne, Clermont Communauté) and private shareholders (Société Générale, Crédit Agricole, Caisse d’Epargne, Michelin, Limagrain, Volvic, France Télécom, Air Régional). There are 53 permanent employees and about a hundred seasonal workers. The chairman is Jean Mallot and the manager, Catherine Damesin.

History of Vulcania

Vulcania is the product of a dream: Katia and Maurice Krafft dreamed of creating “Volcania”, a museum devoted to volcanism in the heart of the Puy-de-Dôme. In 1992, the Auvergne Regional Council decided to launch a museum devoted to volcanism and to build it in the heart of the Chaîne des Puys mountain range, inside a national park, the Parc Naturel Régional des volcans d’Auvergne on a former military site covering 57 ha.

The descendents of M. and K. Krafft decided to donate their collections as well as the rights to soundtracks and images to the museum.

In 1994, the project (Architecture and Scenography) was awarded to an Austrian architect, Hans Hollein.

The investment (118 M€) was financed by the Region (85 %), the European Union (10 %) and the French Government (5 %).

On February 20th 2002, Vulcania, property of the Regional Council, opened its doors to the public. It is run by SEM Volcans and has two main objectives:

• To disseminate the most recent knowledge in the field of volcanology, Earth sciences and the universe,
  

• To contribute to economic development, culture and tourism in the 4 counties that make up the Auvergne Region.

This dual objective makes Vulcania a special place:

    A scientific theme park, with displays and activities designed with the park’s scientific team, under the supervision of an external Scientific Committee made up of Europe’s top specialists in Earth Sciences,
    An attractive park that encourages visitors to come and stay in Auvergne by appealing to a wide audience.

Striking a balance between these two goals is what gives Vulcania its specific identity.
 
Learning while having fun is the goal of the New Vulcania, which opened to the public in 2007.

The results for 2007 have confirmed that these changes were justified:
       - + 20 % visitors in 2007 (262,000 compared to 220,000),
       - 93 % of our visitors say that they learn a lot at Vulcania and 91 % say they have a really good time.

And they have confirmed the role of Vulcania as a tool for developing tourism in the Auvergne region:
-More than 80% of visitors come from outside Auvergne
40 % of them came to the region specially to visit Vulcania, which highlights that Vulcania is a real focal point for tourism in Auvergne.

According to a study by an independent organisation (SPOT), the economic fallout from Vulcania represents for Auvergne between 32 and 48 M Euros a year.