Analysis on Theme Park Industry in China

January 18, 2018 Yuwenhaotheme park

In recent years, China has witnessed a rapid growth in tourism. As post-80 and post-90 generations become the mainstay of customers, family tours, especially those of young post-80 generation families have taken up the majority of the market. China ranks the first in the world in the number of visitors and in the amount of consumption both home and abroad.

When GDP per capita in a country or a region reaches USD 5,000, a tourism resort economy matures naturally. In 2015, a GDP per capita over USD 7,000 stimulated the demand for entertainment in China. Indulging in theme parks with vagarious styles represents a new way of fun and theme parks in China are expected to see continuous progress in the years to come.

Currently, theme parks in China are still at the initial stage of development. It is estimated that China’s theme parks will welcome 221 million visitorsby 2020, with an annual growth rate of 10% – 12%, equivalent to that of the U.S. in 2010.

Research Report: Research Report on Theme Park Industry in China, 2017-2021

Distribution of Theme Parks in China

Theme parks in Northeast China are characterized by featured sports (or Ice and Snow). Parks in North and East China provide experience of adventures (or the instrumental entertainment). Those in the Southwest focus on themes of histories (Studio City), cultures and the ocean. Those in South China are also ocean-based and nature-based.

At present, theme parks in China locate mostly in Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta and Beijing, among which there are 300 parks with investment of more than CNY 50 million. The distribution of theme parks is in a marked positive correlation with regional GDP. On the other hand, it is noticed that currently theme parks in China are over concentric.

Locations of the theme parks are chosen based on multiple factors, including development of the economy, population density, accessibility and so on. Eastern China that enjoys a better economic performance owns a larger number of theme parks. Adventure-based theme parks, for their high requirements in urban population, consumption per capita and holidays on the average, are distributed mostly in Eastern China — the most economically developed region in China. For parks of other types of themes, no remarkable signs of regional distribution are found and they scatter nationwide in a relatively mean way.