TOP TEAM
JOHN JAKOBSEN MANAGING DIRECTOR, LEGOLAND PARKS
What’s your role?
I oversee the operation of our four Legoland parks. This includes develop- ing them into short stay destinations with accommodation and potentially the addi- tion of other midway ‘second gates’. I also make sure the guests are happy and, most importantly, that everything is safe. The other side to my job is developing
new Legoland parks. I spend a tremen- dous amount of time searching for suitable locations and for potential local partners and investors – It takes around US$200m (£130m, 149m) to establish a new Legoland Park.
What makes Legoland so special?
It’s in the name. Lego appeals to not only theme park goers, but also to fans of the toy. It’s the ultimate Lego experience – you can’t get that anywhere else. Plus we’re the only theme park completely focused on providing an interactive experience for families with pre-teen children (two to 12). We’re not trying to offer something for eve- ryone, that’s what makes us so successful.
Legoland specifi cally caters for families with children up to 12-years-old
How were locations chosen?
The original park in Denmark opened in 1968. People were coming to the fac- tory to see how Lego was produced so a showcase was built outside to stop fans wandering through the manufactur- ing plant. That evolved into a theme park. It’s not a logical location, but it’s fared extremely well and now has a hotel too. The locations for the other three parks
[Windsor, UK, California, US and Günzburg, Germany] were chosen because they have both a strong resident and tourist base and a community which supported the con- cept. Our parks planned for Florida, US; Malaysia and Dubai also fi t this criteria.
When will the next sites open?
Cypress Gardens in Florida will open late 2011. It’s a big and exciting project and
we’re giving ourselves a very tight time schedule to have it completed, but I’m absolutely comfortable we’ll get there. Malaysia’s on track to open in 2012. For
now, Dubai has been put on hold – it’s no secret that the global economic crisis has hit Dubai more than anywhere, but we still have strong intentions of making that park a practical reality.
Who owns the parks?
All four existing Legoland parks and Florida are fully owned and operated by Merlin Entertainments. Malaysia and Dubai are being developed with local investors. Strategically they were markets that we felt had huge potential, but needed strong local involvement to succeed. Despite cur- rent problems, the local government in Dubai has incredible vision and Malaysia has huge growth potential. Sixty per cent of the world’s population live in Asia and they have no Legoland parks yet. I have no doubt Malaysia won’t be the last Legoland park we open in that region.
How many are you planning?
Merlin Entertainments is looking to roll out the Legoland brand in Asia
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We think the world can certainly host sev- eral more Legoland parks. I’d hate to put out an explicit number, but the opportuni- ties are huge for us. We have three parks in Europe today, and could have more, and that’s just a small corner of the world com- pared with North America, South America and Asia. There’s plenty of rollout opportu- nities to keep me busy until I retire, which is many, many years away.
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AM 2 2010 ©cybertrek 2010
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