Asia is ripe for attractions and theme parks

Who does not love an attraction or theme park? There are rides a plenty or lots of sights to gawk at, and all the junk food you can stuff yourself with. Asia’s attractions and theme parks are seeing a surge in popularity. Said Andrew Lee, executive director – Asia Pacific, International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA Asia Pacific),“The region is home to almost 61percent of the world’s population. Asia’s middle class continues to grow increasing the number of people with money to spend on leisure activities. As a result, Asia is the strongest region for amusement industry growth. According to a report from the Pacific Asia Travel Association, many expect Asia to become the world’s biggest market for theme parks within the next 15 years.”

Look at Hong Kong Disneyland (HKDL) which gradually built up attendance with more than 20 million guests in the first five years of HKDL’s operation. Performance of key lines of business including hotel, merchandise, F&B and park attendance to date is showing strong recovery from last year’s dip arising from the H1N1 scare . HKDL is tracking solid momentum of growth. Save for unforeseen weather and emergency situations, the park expects its business to have satisfactory results for this fiscal year.

Ocean Park is another example of strong growth, during the 2009/10 financial year attendance eclipsed the 5.1 million mark which is its highest ever annual number on record. This also marks the sixth year out of the last seven in which the Park has broken its attendance record, and an increase from the 4.8 million recorded in 2008/09. Ocean Parkis aiming to double the number of attractions to over 70 by 2013 with the Master Redevelopment Plan well underway. Next year, its flagship attraction area Aqua City will be launched, featuring a one-of-a-kind aquarium in the world, which will appeal to local and international guests. Said Tom Mehrmann, chief executive, Ocean Park, “We hope that the launch of this attraction will attract more guests to come, not only from Mainland China, but also from around the world. We anticipate a growth in attendance of 10-15 percent after the opening of Aqua City.”

Singapore is also faring well with its attractions and theme parks. In August 2010, Universal Studios Singapore welcomed its first millionth visitor after only opening in March 2010 and is not yet a year old. The entire Resorts World Sentosa, which includes Universal Studios Singapore, will expect to receive about 13 million visitors in its first year of operations. Universal Studios Singapore is the only Universal Studios theme park in the region. With its broad appeal and family fun, it is something that many visitors – locals and overseas guests alike appreciate. Its ‘ride the movies’ theme appeal very much to the region, considering the large movie going population.

Yet at the same time, every Universal Studios theme park is unique. Universal Studios Singapore, for example, will have a total of 24 rides and attractions, with 18 specially re-designed or brand new –just for Singapore – making it unique in the world.

Singapore’s long time favourite, the Singapore Zoo, Night Safari and the Bird Park is also faring well. Said Isabel Cheng, director of Sales, Marketing and Communications, Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS).

“In 2009, 3.6 million visitors came to our three parks – Jurong Bird Park, Night Safari and Singapore Zoo. This year, we are experiencing a healthy increase in visitorship as we emerge from the global economic crisis. Our parks’ reputation as world-class wildlife institutions and tourist attractions has secured a steady stream of both first-time and repeat visitors. Our guests are drawn to our attractions because of the excellent visitor experience, which includes the appreciation of animals in their natural environments. Altogether, the three parks offers visitors an unparalleled experience that is world class and unmatched by any other wildlife parks in this part of the world.”

Hence while Asia is poised to be the theme park region in the future,the attractions still have to keep up to international standards to attract visitors. The more theme parks and attractions there are in Asia, the better it will be for the country to draw more tourists to their shores.

Summed up Robin Goh, assistant director, communications, Resorts World at Sentosa, “The next few years will be exciting, with the opening of either new theme parks, or new attractions within existing ones, but how successful these theme parks become largely depends on both regional and the world’seconomic climate as well – and of course, how well they reinvent themselves, making them relevant in today’s market, and continually attractive to repeat visitors. Obviously, the theme parks in Japan have always done well, and from what I understand, continues to do exceptionally well, with great support from the domestic market. With new parks such as Legoland, Universal Studios Korea, Disneyland Shanghai, coupled with growth rates leading the world economy and an increasing number of potential customers, Asia has become a promising market for developers of entertainment parks. Asia and especially China, with their growing economies and an expanding middle class in the medium to long term, is far from being saturated with theme parks. The potential for growth moving forward will be

<strong>What makes a successful theme park?</strong>

Hence what makes for a successful theme park? Said Lee, “There area number of factors that going into making a theme park successful, including: the location; a strong product mix; compelling marketing and advertising; and the ability to keep the guest experience fresh to encourage repeat visitation.”

Added Goh “It’s broad mass appeal, slick marketing, and having rides and characters that locals can recognise, identify with and have an affinity towards. The regional theme park industry experienced an awakening of sorts over the past five years, peppered with the announcements of new players into the market , the rejuvenation of mature parks and the introduction of mega integrated projects –a gradual but seemingly-steady transformation of a landscape that has been traditionally slower here, as compared to that of the western world.”

The theme park industry is undergoing a revolution of sorts as new trends prevail. Consumers are always eager for a new experience and that ‘Wow’ factor and theme parks need to keep reinventing themselves to keep the crowds coming.

Afterall they are paying top dollar for the theme park or attraction experience. Said Mehrmann, “It’s always important to differentiate oneself and rise above the competition, especially at a time when there’s an unprecedented number of themed attractions and parks across Asia. A successful attraction would give guests reasons to come back time and again. In Ocean Park’s case,our animals and our breathtaking natural scenery offer us the biggest differential quality along with our special events, which are constantly being re-invented every year to give new value and variety to the attractions.”

Added Cheng from WRS, “The theme park cum attractions industry is a very competitive market. To stay on top of the game, one has to be constantly innovative in coming up with novel ideas to attract visitors. For example, our fourth park, RiverSafari, which will open in 2012, is Asia’s first river themed wildlife park. It will house one of the world’s largest collections of freshwater aquatic animals.

As is clearly seen these two theme parks are demonstrating the trends that are showing up in the industry. As Lee points out, “There are two trends emerging within the theme park industry. In recent years there has been a move away from stand-alone parks toward mixed-use, integrated tourist areas. Another trend is an increase in the number of interactive experiences, which give guests the ability to play a role in the outcome of the experience and as a result no two are the same.”