Park News
parkworld-online.com
Wanda’s global ambition Chinese developer plans up to five overseas parks
he scale of Wanda Group chairman Wang Jianlin's global ambition in the theme park and tourism industry was highlighted during a speech at the real estate, hospitality, entertainment and tourism group's annual meeting held at Hefei Wanda City, Anhui Province, on January 14. The Chinese group will break ground on
T Enchanted
Kingdom evolves The Philippines' leading amusement park is to undergo an expansion as it aims to evolve over the next decade from a single-day park into a multi-day, integrated destination, in the process growing from 25 to over 100 acres (10.1 to 40.5 hectares). Falcon’s Creative Group from Florida has been appointed to masterplan the first phase of the expansion at Enchanted Kingdom. Located in Santa Rosa, the park is run by past IAAPA chairman Mario O Mamon and family and hosts over 1.8 million visits a year. In 2015, it celebrated its 20th anniversary. “After two decades of firmly establishing the
Enchanted Kingdom brand in the Philippine market, we are very well-positioned to take advantage of our country’s growing tourist arrivals and widen our market demographics,” notes Mamon. “We see Cecil Magpuri [Falcon's Creative president], with his strong local roots to our country, playing a key role in turning our vision and future plans into reality.” The new areas for expansion will showcase
the rich culture, history and beauty of the Philippine archipelago of more than 7,000 islands. A water feature and a new zone for Enchanted Kingdom’s own intellectual properties are planned, amongst other developments. Rides, attractions and other entertainment elements are still to be determined. In addition to expanding the footprint of park, and placing a greater emphasis on theming, Enchanted Kingdom also has plans to develop a waterpark, added retail and dining opportunities, plus facilities targeted at the MICE (meeting, incentives, conventions and events) market including hotels and a convention centre. “Enchanted Kingdom over the past two decades has become a popular destination among local and foreign guests in the Philippines and being a part of this initiative is both humbling and extremely rewarding,” concludes Magpuri at Falcon's Creative.
6
six new Wanda City projects in 2017, each of them containing a theme park element, and also wants to build as many as five projects overseas in the next eight years. “The year 2016 was a crucial year in
Wanda’s transformation and saw the group make major progress in diverse aspects,” Chairman Wang noted at the meeting. The company opened two Wanda City projects, in Nanchang and Hefei, the reception to which has
Hefei Wanda City
encouraged it to take the concept overseas, initially to India and Paris, while building up a chain of outlets domestically. Over the seven-day National Day holiday period in October, Hefei Wanda City welcomed more than one million visitors. The existing Harbin Wanda City fared less well, revealed Wang, “because the Northeast region of China has
been rather economically difficult in recent years. The project is strongly positioned, being located in the urban area and having the world’s largest indoor skiing centre, but its operation is expected to be not easy.” In the transcript of Wang's speech published on Wanda's website, nothing was said about the status of Wanda
Movie Park in Wuhan, the indoor project which was closed abruptly last summer after less than two years in business. As well as breaking ground on six new Wanda City projects in the coming year, and opening new attractions in
Harbin, the group hopes to sign contracts for “approximately three” further Wanda City projects, including two developed on an asset-light basis. Locations identified include Guilin, Chongqing, Changsha, Xi’an and Haikou. More about the French and Indian projects, land for which has yet to be secured, will be announced later this year. Discussing Wanda's plans to develop a global brand, Wang observed: “There are only three global cultural and tourism brands, and all American brands. Wanda aims to become the fourth, and the first Chinese global cultural and tourism brand. By 2025, we will have 25 Wanda Cities, including five overseas. Only when we become the global no.1 in scale is it possible for us to gradually catch up in brand influence..”
Six Flags comfirms waterpark plans for
China as construction kicks off in Haiyan Six Flags Zheijiang, set to be the Six Flags branded amusement park in China, will be complemented by a Hurricane Harbor branded waterpark when it opens in 2019. Construction has already started on the resort style development on the coast of Hangzhou Bay in Haiyan, part of the Zheijiang province. The RMB 30 billion (US$4.6 bn) development is being built by Six Flags in partnership with the Riverside Investment Group. It has been confirmed that Mark Kane will serve as general manager and park president. Previously president
for Six Flags Great Adventure and Six Flags New England in the USA, Kane boasts more than 35 years’ experience in the theme park and hospitality industry and most recently served as vice-president of the specialty restaurant and theme park division of Landry’s Inc, where he was responsible for the development of Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier in Texas.
Six Flags Zhejiang will be home a variety of
rollercoasters, rides and attractions and also feature themed sections celebrating Chinese traditions, together with live shows, seasonal events and a wide variety of culinary offerings. The accompanying Hurricane Harbor will feature a wave pool, lazy river and a children’s water play area in addition to various slides.
FEBRUARY 2017
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128