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Shenzhen Theme Parks to Expand
SHENZHEN is prepared to take on Hong Kong's Disneyland as it boosts its efforts to attract tourists to the Special Economic Zone. The city will open the second phase of its Happy Valley theme park next month. A spokeswoman said they would do their best to compete with the planned Disney theme park just across the border.
Shao Yongjie from Happy Valley's marketing department said the completion of construction on the second phase of the theme park had expanded the facility to more than 350,000 square metres from 170,000 square metres. The park now had almost 100 attractions, including advanced electronic rides brought from overseas.
''The amusement park is designed for children and families and is now is big enough for visitors to spend a whole day,'' she said. The Overseas Chinese Town (OCT) Holdings Company has also injected funds into other theme parks including Splendid China, China Folk Culture Villages, and Window of the World.
Shao said the introduction of new games and attractions to the theme parks, located in the OCT, would make the area more attractive to tourists. Shao also said OCT theme parks and Hong Kong's Disney park would result in two things - co-operation and competition.
''On one hand, the theme parks on both sides can attract more visitors from the Pearl River Delta. They can go to Disney World after visiting the theme parks here. On the other hand, there will be competition. So we are doing our best to grab as much of the tourism market as possible before Hong Kong completes its theme park by 2005,'' she said. The company plans to invest more than 250 million yuan (HK$235.72 million) to build a new theatre called the Global Stage at Window of the World, and to renovate the outdoor theatre at Splendid China and the public areas outside the two parks.
Shao was optimistic about the profits of theme parks after restructuring. ''During the week of the Lunar New Year in February, the Splendid China park attracted about 150,000 visitors, I believe the revamped Happy Valley will attract more visitors because the new games will win the hearts of kids and adults,'' Shao said. In 2001, Window of the World, Splendid China and China Folk Culture Villages attracted about 4.5 million visitors. The SAR has predicted the Disney park will attract 5.2 million visitors a year, 36 per cent of whom will be local and mainland residents.
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