Competition a boon for Asia's attractions landscape: industry leaders

The growing presence of new, world-class theme parks and attractions in Asia is a boon for the industry, as it helps to raise the standards of properties and create a greater interest among consumers in theme park-based holidays, opined industry leaders at the Asian Attractions Expo 2013.

Speaking at the expo at Marina Bay Sands Singapore, Paul Nolan, president and CEO of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA), said: “The presence of world-class attractions helps to expand the market, as they educate the market on what truly world-class attractions are.”

While acknowledging that competition between attractions exists, Nolan observed that the benefits were more prominent.

“When Disneyland first opened in southern California, just down the road from Knott’s Berry Farm (one of the earliest amusement parks), people said ‘Oh, Knott’s Berry Farm is going to close’. But attendance at Knott’s Berry Farm went up because more people now knew what a theme park is…and were coming to southern California just for a theme park-based vacation.”

“Similarly, when Hong Kong Disneyland opened, people said Ocean Park might as well close. But Ocean Park is doing better than ever before because it learned a few things, it changed, it expanded.”

Nolan pointed out that theme park attendance in Asia had thus also “grown tremendously” in recent years.

According to US-based AECOM’s latest report on global amusement park and attraction attendance for 2012, Asian properties saw a 5.8 per increase in visitorship to 108.7 million. In comparison US attractions recorded a 3.6 per cent rise to 131.5 million visitors, while Europe registered a 0.3 per cent slide to 58 million attendees.

Will Morey, chairman of IAAPA, and president and CEO of Morey’s Piers in Wildwood, New Jersey, US, described the growth of Asia’s attractions industry as amazing, pointing to the number of major projects on the horizon such as Shanghai Disney Resort and Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in Zhuhai, China.

He said: “The enemy is not in the number of attractions. The enemy is in attractions (themselves) when they do not (differentiate). Designers and owners must focus on the authenticity of their attractions.” Morey added that attractions must “innovate and be creative” when faced with challenges.

Edward S Marks, executive producer and co-CEO of US-based The Producers group, an international attraction development and production company involved in several successful attractions such as Crane Dance at Resorts World Sentosa and Universal Studios Japan, said attractions should aim to “come up with something new every year” to stay competitive and fresh for repeat visitors.

-TTG Asia.