Zhang Fan, a digital art designer in his 30s, was excited when Universal Studios Beijing opened in September, being a longtime fan of Happy Valley, another theme park in the Chinese capital.
"I love going to Universal Studios, which has strong movie themes and modern technologies," he said.
Last year, Happy Valley reduced its admission prices and launched a series of promotions. Zhang bought an annual pass for the venue, which cost 399 yuan ($62), and frequently visited the park for fun and relaxation. However, the price of this pass has since risen to 499 yuan, while a single entry ticket costs 299 yuan.
In comparison, Universal Studios Beijing offers different types of tickets－priced from 418 yuan to 748 yuan, according to the date of admission. Prices also change on weekends and during major holidays. To allow visitors more time for a trip, last month, the venue started providing tickets for one-and-a-half days.
Zhang visited the park in October－one month after its official opening.
"I used to work in the movie industry. Many of the features at this park are spectacular, and it is well worth a visit. However, as an ordinary consumer living in Beijing, I prefer to visit Happy Valley more frequently as a leisure destination," he said.
According to local media reports, attendances at Happy Valley have been little affected by the launch of the Universal Studios park.
During the three-day Mid-Autumn Festival holiday in September, when its rival opened, Happy Valley's visitor numbers and overall revenue reached record highs compared with previous years.
Li Wei, deputy head of Happy Valley, told the Jiemian news website that the number of visitors rose by 80 percent year-on-year on Sept 21, the day after Universal Studios Beijing opened. Revenue at Happy Valley was up by 260 percent year-on-year that day.
Although strict measures have been taken in Beijing to control COVID-19, they have failed to dent enthusiasm for visiting the Universal Studios park.
Tickets sold out before the opening, while the resort's two hotels were fully booked. Room rates at some 50 hotels outside the resort rose by 3.5 times.
The new venue has clearly fueled interest in the domestic theme park industry.
Song Yu, chairman of Beijing Tourism Group, one of the main investors in the new park, said Chinese are no longer satisfied to merely check out scenic spots for tourism products and services－they want a deeper experience.
Theme parks can meet their needs by creating a fantasy world for them to escape real life. More important, visitors are happy to pay for this experience, Song said.
International attention
With increased demand for entertainment among Chinese, global players are eyeing this booming market.
Following the opening of Shanghai Disneyland in June 2016, and Universal Studios Beijing last year, another international giant－Merlin Entertainments, which is based in the United Kingdom and known for its Legoland parks－also entered the Chinese market.
Construction of the Legoland Shanghai resort in the southwest of the city started on Nov 17. The venue, which covers 318,000 square meters, is expected to open in 2024. Similar to Shanghai Disneyland and Universal Studios Beijing, the project has Chinese and overseas investors.
In addition to Shanghai, Legoland resorts are also reportedly scheduled to be built in Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangdong province, and in Sichuan province, along with hotels to serve these venues.
It is easy to understand why global players and their local partners have huge confidence in the Chinese market.
Tickets for Universal Studios Beijing went on sale on Sept 14 and were quickly snapped up on the resort's app and at authorized tourist agencies.
According to online travel agency Ctrip, more than 120,000 tickets were sold by noon that day, while room rates for hotels within 5 km of the resort rose by 150 percent.
Since the venue opened, excited visitors have formed long lines as they wait to enter the park, regardless of the weather.
Lin Huanjie, head of the Institute for Theme Parks Studies in China, an industry think tank registered in Hong Kong, said at a forum in November that the rapid arrival of several international theme parks in China proves this market has huge potential.
According to the institute, the pandemic has halved the number of visits to theme parks outside China, while the number of visits to such venues in the country has continued to rise. From 2020 to last year, China surpassed the United States to become the nation with the highest number of visits to theme parks in the world.
Lin said, "It's only natural that these experienced global players will pose challenges to domestic theme parks. Some local venues with a bad location, unattractive features and immature operational experience will fall victim to this industry transformation."
He anticipates that as more international players arrive, only about 10 local theme parks will remain in the next five years.
Zhang Yi, an analyst at iiMedia Research, a consultancy based in Guangzhou, the Guangdong provincial capital, said international theme parks might affect visits to major domestic venues in the short term, such as the Happy Valley parks in Beijing and Shanghai. However, in the long run, international parks will benefit domestic venues by giving them a competitive edge.
He added that global players will provide incentives for the market, which is good for the development of the theme park industry in China as a whole.
Rapid expansion
According to a report by the Institute for Theme Parks Studies in China, Shanghai Disneyland topped the list of such venues for competitiveness, followed by Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in Zhuhai, Guangdong, and Window of the World in Shenzhen, Guangdong. Happy Valley in Beijing made it into the top 10.
Lin said China's theme park industry has grown fast. In 2019, the institute's report assessed 42 major theme parks, while in 2020, the number grew to 50, and to 64 last year.
"It's a super-complicated task building a theme park－from the original idea, to planning, design, construction and operation－requiring a huge amount of time, energy and capital," Lin added. "Thus, the park has to fit the market. In many respects, domestic venues still have a long way to go."
He suggested that domestic theme parks look more to Chinese traditional culture and "tell good stories" to attract Chinese and foreign visitors.
Yu Zhimei, an official in the general management department at the Happy Valley park in Beijing, said that to stand out from its rivals, the venue has gone to great lengths to inject a flavor of Beijing and elements of Chinese culture in its projects.
"Culture is the soul of tourism, which Beijing Happy Valley has believed from the very beginning. We have never stopped innovating since 2006, when the venue opened to the public for the first time," she added.
Over the past 15 years, six phases of the park have been completed. Projects focusing on numerous themes have been created, including Chinese cultural relics, car racing, domestic cartoons and the night economy.
"We have created a big stage for Happy Valley by providing 60 to 80 entertainment and cultural shows every day," Yu said. "We also have many themed activities from time to time to attract local visitors back to the park.
"Due to their heavy emphasis on culture, people can enjoy a strong immersive experience by visiting international theme parks such as Disneyland venues and Universal Studios, and we can learn from these venues.
"As the Chinese economy grows rapidly and people increasingly demand more forms of entertainment, the domestic tourism industry will continue to develop, giving us plenty of scope," she said.
