Market Analysis
www.parkworld-online.com
Crane Dance at Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore
For much of the world, the last 18 months have represented challenging times, with financial crisis, natural disasters and social unrest grabbing the headlines. However, very quietly, Asia’s theme park industry continues to flourish. Chris Yoshii reports
T
otal attendance at the Top 20 parks in Asia rose over 9% in 2011, surpassing the 100 million mark. This occurred despite a fall in attendance
at Tokyo Disney Resort as a result of the Tohoku earthquake. Hong Kong’s Ocean Park and Hong Kong Disneyland, Lotte World in Seoul and Changzhou Dinosaur Park in China opened new attraction areas and saw massive market responses with attendance jumps of between 700,000 and 1.2 million per park. At the same time, these venues were able to lift ticket prices and increase in park spending, giving a triple bonus to revenue and profitability. These successes clearly show the power of reinvestment, both to bring back local residents and attracting tourist in greater numbers. Growing middle class and domestic tourism is giving existing parks confidence to invest.
In addition to expansion, a number of new parks and attractions have appeared or will open soon in Singapore, South Korea and secondary and tertiary destinations within China.
In 2011, new attractions in China included the regional parks Fantawild in Qingda and World Joyland in Changzhou, Polar Ocean Worlds in Wuhan and Jinan, and the Hot Go Park and Happy Magic Water Cube waterparks in Fushan and Beijing. In 2012/3, new major destination theme parks are expected including the latest Happy Valley park from OCT in Tianjin and the Chimelong International Ocean Resort in Zhuhai, close to Macau.
JUNE 2012
Singapore, never shy when it comes to promoting tourism, is now home to the ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands and will soon welcome the Marine Life Park as an added attraction at Resorts World Sentosa. Meanwhile South Korea has realised its second opportunity to host a World's Fair with Yeosu Expo 2012, now open.
The three Asian attractions recognised by the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) at its Thea Awards ceremony earlier this year represent only a small sample of the excellent creative work being done by the attractions industry in this part of the world.
The House of Dancing Water at City of Dreams in Macau is a stunning, spectacular live show based on Chinese legends, while Crane Dance at Resorts World Sentosa is an animatronic love story of gigantic proportions. Then there’s Space Fantasy The Ride at Universal Studios Japan, a spinning rollercoaster that provides an immersive story about the Sun.
Culturally relevant
I believe that these stellar attractions embody an important new direction for themed entertainment in Asia:
•Show-oriented. The Asian market particularly appreciates show-based attractions with strong storylines and theatricality. These projects are often modern and vibrant interpretations of ancient stories that resonate with their intended audience. •Culturally relevant. Although designed by an international cast, the stories and images are culturally relevant to the Asian market. Asians feel an emotional, historical and cultural connection to the stories, visuals and characters. •Technically bold. Gadget-crazy Asians love to be thrilled with new attractions, brilliant images and the marriage of theatre and technology.
Figures of Fun 2-2.5
million – average attendance of large theme park in China
billion RMB ($3.9bn/€3.0bn) – capital investment at Shanghai Disneyland
24.5 80
per cent – profit of typical Chinese theme park development represented by residential/real estate component
111.4
billion RMB ($17.6bn/€13.9bn) – total capital investment announced in new Chinese parks over next few years
2020
year combined theme park attendance in China is expected to match that in the USA
All figures courtesy AECOM Leisure + Cultural Services Asia
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AMAZING ASIA
Asian industry bucks global trend
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