A foreign tourist is attracted by a traditional Chinese wedding dress at Tianjin aircraft carrier theme park. The theme park industry is seeing rapidly growing footfalls and ticket revenues. [Photo / Provided to China Daily]

Global players add more fizz to theme parks with new offerings

At the age of four, Xiong Zimi has traveled to the Universal Studio in Japan and the Disney resort in Los Angeles in the United States. The globetrotting traveller has many favorite characters and programs gleaned from her visits to various theme parks. Her home in Beijing is filled with toys, costumes and other souvenirs collected during the trips.

Like Xiong, many Chinese children and their families are passionately embracing theme parks, their story telling techniques and exciting rides and programs. And that in turn, is propelling an increasing number of investments in building theme parks and fueling existing theme park operations in China with growing footfalls and ticket revenues.

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Last year was a particularly strong year for theme parks and water parks across Asia, with most of the top sites seeing a surge of over 7.5 percent in combined attendance, said Chris Yoshii, vice-president at AECOM (Hong Kong), a US-based consultancy group.

According to Yoshii, a significant outcome of the trend is that the large theme parks are not only becoming bigger in size, but investing and expanding further with new themes, anniversary celebrations and a host of other attractions.

Fantawild Holding Inc, the Shenzhen-based culture and technology company that owns theme parks including Fantawild Adventure, is now among the top global operators in terms of great attendance growth, together with OCT Group－the owner of many brands including Happy Valley Chain.

Guangzhou-based Chimelong Group, which opened their new destination theme park and resort Ocean Kingdom in Zhuhai recently, is another Chinese company that enjoys booming business.

Evidence that the theme park industry is on strong ground in China can also be seen from the 6 percent growth rate in visitor numbers, with Chimelong alone reporting an increase of 7.5 percent, according to AECOM.

The industry got a shot-in-the-arm after some scenes of Chinese blockbuster movie Dad, Where are We Going? were shot at the Chimelong facility, further enhancing its reputation with Chinese visitors.

In terms of reinventing guest experiences, Chimelong's outdoor heated water system was extended to cover the entire park. The newly opened Zhuhai Chimelong Ocean Kingdom Resort also added to its growing stature in the industry.

Though Chinese companies are pressing ahead with new attractions and projects, all eyes are of course on Shanghai, as the much-anticipated Shanghai Disneyland is expected to open its doors late next year.

The project, which has stirred up much hype and anticipation, is expected to become one of the top five theme parks in Asia and put China firmly on the map for the first time, according to AECOM.

Yoshii said that there are growing expectations that other players will also up the ante in terms of quality and services.

The huge outlay for the Shanghai Disneyland also seems to be prompting such changes. The Walt Disney Co and the Shanghai Shendi Group, the two owners, are expected to spend another $800 million on further attractions at the park in future.

The additional spending raises total investment on the project to about $5.44 billion.