Chinese billionaire Wang Jianlin
has officially inaugurated Dalian Wanda Group Co.’s Wanda Cultural Tourism City
on May 28 in Nanchang city of southeastern Jiangxi province. Wanda City appears
to be the first of the company’s 15 planned theme park and entertainment
projects in China apparently to compete with US giant Disney.
The theme park, developed with an
estimated cost of $3 billion (just over £2 billion), features rides, shopping
centers and an aquarium. The inauguration draws attraction since Disney is expected
to open its own theme park in Shanghai during next month.
The amusement facility includes China-themed
Park built with cost of $800 million, bamboo forests and a gigantic indoor
shopping mall. Wanda City also claims to offer the world’s largest ocean park.
Wanda property group has invested heavily in the film and cinema business with
a view to get triumphant over Disney in the Chinese market while representing
itself as a global entertainment brand, reports BBC.
The complex is expected to
attract some 10 million visitors a year, reads an email statement from Wanda
group. Disney’s yet to be inaugurated lone theme park won’t be a match for
Wanda, commented Wang recently. Highlighting his Group’s plan for opening 15
new theme parks, he has also commented in a China Central Television show that ‘one
tiger is no match for a pack of wolves’.
Wanda appears in a tug of war with
Disney over stakes in China’s $160 billion tourism industry. Chinese government
expects the industry to grow double within 2020 ignoring the fact of ever
growing middle class segment. Disney enjoys decades’ long experience in
operating theme parks and is already familiar in the Chinese market with the
Hong Kong Disneyland inaugurated in 2005, according to a report published in Bloomberg.
Dalian Wanda Commercial
Properties, the power house of Wang’s empire operates more than 135 malls
across China and accounts for two-third of Wanda’s revenue. The group has been gradually
increasing its overseas investments through acquiring U.S. studio Legendary
Entertainment and American theater chain Carmike Cinemas.
‘Keeping ticket prices lower than
Disney’ may be a probable business trick for Wanda in attracting China’s middle
class. The Nanchang theme park charges ¥198 for each ticket while Shanghai
Disneyland is predicted to charge ¥370 from its inauguration date (June 16),
reports Nikkei Asian Review.
Though relatively lower, the
ticket price seems to be higher compared to the offering, comments Zhou Bo, 22
from Changsha city. He observes, the ticket price is at least 10 times higher
than what he usually spends for recreations a day.
