Asian theme parks lead the world
IAAPA vice president Robert Masterson, right, and acting Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau director-general Nipat Dithipen, left, enjoy a ride at yesterday’s opening ceremony for the IAAPA Asia Expo 2007 at Siam Paragon in Bangkok.
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The theme- and amusement-park business in Asia is booming, and the number of visitors to these attractions is expected to exceed 278 million a year by 2010, says the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA).
Vice president Robert Masterson said many new projects financed by both local and foreign investors were due to be launched over the next five years. Notably, these will include Universal Studios parks in Singapore and South Korea, a Paramount Pictures-themed park in South Korea, an MGM-Tengxun Entertainment park in Shanghai and perhaps a second Disney park in China. The potential for additional visitors to the region's parks and attractions is so great that experts predict that by 2010, Asia will account for 29.71 percent of the world's theme-park revenues, making US$8.2 billion (Bt283 billion) out of a global total of $27.6 billion. Such expectations are further supported by a rapidly expanding middle class in China and an increasing number of budget airlines flying more routes in the region, which has broadened access to travel to beyond only the wealthy, he said. Both of these developments are fuelling growth in Asia's consumer tastes and sophistication when it comes to entertainment. PricewaterhouseCoopers analysts say attendance at Asia's theme parks are expected to reach 278 million by 2010, growing at an annual rate of 3.5 percent, with China and India the main markets. It foresees revenues of the Asian attractions industry growing 5.9 per cent annually until it is generating $8.2 billion a year by 2010. They see Asia leading the way in terms of the industry's physical growth around the world, with the regional industry growing at an annual rate of 6 per cent over the next few years. Another consulting firm, Economics Research Associates, believes numerous new projects will accelerate that expansion, with the annual growth rate more likely to be 8 percent. Vithaya Sintharapantorn, exhibition director at the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau, said the Kingdom would take a share of this growth by becoming a Southeast Asian exhibition hub within five years. Stepping in this direction, it is hosting this year's IAAPA Asian Expo.
Suchat Sritama The Nation
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