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Investors still keen to ride theme park craze

By Zhou Weirong (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-07-25 08:59

At the opening of the IAAPA Asian Expo 2006 held in Shanghai recently, IAAPA President and Chief Executive Officer Charlie Bray said the "explosive" development of China's theme parks has seen the country emerge as a driver for the Asia-Pacific region, which is set to enjoy the fastest growth of this industry in the coming five to 10 years.

"The Asia-Pacific is clearly an emerging market for the amusement park and attractions industry. I think the future growth of the region will largely depend on China and India," he said.

According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers report, "Global Entertainment and Media Outlook," revenue generated from theme parks on mainland China is expected to grow 7.1 per cent annually to reach US$1.8 billion in 2010, up from US$1.3 billion last year.

The performance in Hong Kong is even better, with the opening of Disneyland Hong Kong in 2005 and the redevelopment of its Ocean Park. It expects an annual growth of 21.8 per cent to reach US$362 million in 2010 from US$135 million in 2005.

Meanwhile, the Asia-Pacific region is expected to generate an average annual revenue growth of 5.9 per cent to reach a total income of US$8.2 billion by 2010.

Attendance at Asia's theme parks is expected to hit 278 million in 2010, up from 234 million last year, equalling an increase of 18.8 per cent.

However, the report also pointed out that investments in many theme parks in the country are not successful. The poor performance of these parks was attributed to a lack of major reinvestments.

According to Liu Jingwang, deputy executive president of the China Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, China's amusement parks and attractions industry is already plagued by repetitive investments from local governments.

"If you go to any medium-sized and large-sized cities, you will find a theme park that is built up or under construction. I am kind of worried  what do we do with so many amusement parks?"

Local governments should therefore carefully evaluate the market and control the scale of investment to avoid huge losses incurred by insufficient demand, he said.