China set to become world’s largest theme park market
Mainland China is poised to leapfrog the US as the largest theme park market on the planet within two years.
AECOM released its China Theme Park Pipeline Report which projects annual visitor numbers to exceed 230 million by 2020.
The past decade has seen average annual growth of 13% and the double digit growth will likely continue.
About 190 million visited Chinese parks in 2017.
A rising middle class and disposable incomes have spurred consumer demand for travel and entertainment, the report says.
The demand is still there as China has a much lower per-capita attendance rate than many other countries.
"These findings demonstrate a significant opportunity for future growth in the Chinese market," said Chris Yoshii, vice president for Asia and global director for leisure and culture at AECOM.
There are at least 70 new parks under construction or in the advanced planning stage, the AECOM report found.
"Parks with a clear and distinctive theme, such as those tied to international intellectual property brands, stand a higher chance of business success than independent parks. Overall however, trends for China’s theme park industry are strong and offer myriad opportunities for both themed and non-themed owners and operators," it said.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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