How Puy Du Fou Revealed The One-Phone Problem For Visitor Attractions
The person holding the phone on your day out is having a completely different day to everyone else. This is the one-phone problem and it doesn’t have to be that way.
This was my reflection from a visit to Puy du Fou, an immersive attraction in the Vendée in France that is frankly quite bonkers and may soon be coming to the UK.
Part stunt show, part historical reenactment, part theatre, part theme park. I saw a possessed tree wielding swords. There were explosions. It was a lot. It was also part holiday, part research trip. My family have made peace with this.
The shows themselves are technological marvels. Hydraulics, pyrotechnics, projection mapping, the list goes on.
There’s also a companion app with a map and schedules like you'd expect from a theme park or heritage site, but also live translation and a way to create personalised schedules. I used it very sparingly to keep my head up and eyes open.
Walking through Viking villages and Roman amphitheatres, I didn’t really want to be using my device. Being in the environment was enough and I wanted that immersion. But using the app to navigate and make sure we didn't miss the shows we wanted to see was a must.
In the end, my party relied on me to get them to the right places, at the rights times, to ensure we all got what we wanted out of the visit. I had a really clear role, but no one else did. This is the one-phone problem.
Which got me thinking. There must be a way to give my family or fellow visitors a bit of the responsibility and give them a more active role in the wayfinding.
And it clicked that the gaps between the shows, and the walks between locations were big missed opportunities for immersion that would also benefit the park's dispersal and operations.
I found myself wanting was a way for my kids to be more invested in finding the route, spotting the landmarks, working out where we were going next. What I got was sleeve-tugging and “how far is it?”
This isn’t a Puy du Fou problem. In fact, the wayfinding is pretty intuitive. But it’s every museum, gallery and venue I’ve ever walked around. One person with the app leads, everyone else follows.
And the answer isn’t just another app. I wanted another reason to look up. Symbols to find. Something to collect. A character who’s expecting you. A story running between the shows that makes you someone in the era you’re walking through, and just happens to get you to the amphitheatre on time.
Digital connectivity to the app, to the park itself, and to the data about me as a guest could elevate those moments of pure transit into part of the experience.
Technology can absolutely carry that. But my view is it should mostly be invisible while it does so.
Family trails have existed for decades. The difference here is there is room for multi-generational engagement that makes a family a team, not just two demographics having different experiences.
It’s wayfinding as roleplay. It’s a navigation as a game. It’s collaborative storytelling with a practical purpose.
I think there are several solutions to the one-phone problem. And most of them involve good old communication and storytelling. But more than that, digital connectivity to the app, to the park itself, and to the data about me as a guest could elevate those moments of pure transit into part of the experience.
You could hand over the routing itself and personalise it even further rather than adding activities on top or just the occasional side quest.
A Puy du Fou is proposed for the UK potentially opening from 2029 if it clears planning (there's another one in Madrid too) . I’d love to see one-phone problem cracked before it lands. Everything in between the main events is an opportunity. Give people a role to inhabit, a story to be in, and a mission to finish.
I’m still processing some of the sights we saw. You should go. But there’s a big opportunity across culture and attractions to make the boring bit of getting from A to B the thing you take home. Do it with smart, considered tech that blends into the background and everyone stays immersed in the experience.
Ian Ravenscroft is a freelance startegist, consultant, and advisor working across the creative and cultural industries under the name Green Raven. Want to explore the ideas raised in this article? Get in touch. Want to run a workshop on this topic? Get in touch.
