Much like Six Flags, all the leading operators and media property developers have accelerated their plans for China. The massive, $5 billion Shanghai Disneyland Resort opened last month and has already welcomed 1 million guests which would put it on trackshanghai disney resort logo for 17 million guests a year in the short term. By comparison, Disney’s Magic Kingdom in Orlando, FL had 20.5 million visitors last year and it has been open since 1971.
DreamWorks Animation plans to open its $2.4 billion DreamCenter in Shanghai next year and Universal Studios is building a $3.5 billion park in Beijing to open in 2019. Lionsgate, LEGOLAND and Nickelodeon all have branded parks in development to open in the coming years.
Local operators have ambitious plans as well. Dalian Wanda Group Co. opened a $3.2 billion “Wanda Cultural Tourism City” in Nanchang last month, the first of 15 entertainment complexes that it plans to build over the next four years. Haichang Ocean Park Holdings will unveil what’s slated to be China’s biggest marine park next year. The US-based consultancy AECOM expects China to surpass the US as the biggest theme park market in the world by 2020, drawing 221 million people by that time, nearly double the number last year.
Whereas the American parks are situating themselves in first-tier cities like Beijing and Shanghai, where 300 million live within 3 hours, Wanda is focusing on places like Xi’an, Dujiangyan and Wuxi, where land is cheaper and consumer expectations are measured. Former head of 20th Century Fox Consumer Products, Jeffrey Godsick observed in an interview a few months ago “China is the only place in the world that has a giant catchment of 50 million people living in a 3-hour drive or train ride away. We are looking at a number of opportunities there.”
There is no doubt that domestic consumption in China will continue to grow in the coming years. However, intellectual property and management expertise are still the keys for running theme parks and these are in short supply. Theme parks without a strong concept and marketing will dissolve as quickly as they are conceived. The history of the Chinese attractions industry looks like it just may repeat itself.
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