Will Shanghai Disneyland lead the charge for Asian theme parks?
Dan Steinbock says the long lines at its newly opened store underline the lucrative promise of the emerging Chinese market, and herald the Asianisation of Disney
As the construction of the US$5.4 billion Shanghai Disney theme park entered the last mile, Disney's largest flagship store worldwide was opened, with a line seemingly more than a mile long.
Disney's arrival in the city's Pudong financial district reflects not only China's rising level of prosperity; it also heralds the Asianisation of Disney and the global theme park industry.
There was a time when English was enough for Mickey. As Disney's little mouse began to travel, the language studies began; first French, then Japanese. That's no longer enough. After Cantonese and varieties of Malay, Mickey is busy learning Putonghua - and that will transform Disney itself.
In the postwar era, the theme park industry was mainly American. Since the 1980s, it has expanded in the advanced economies. Today, more than a third of the top 25 parks worldwide are in Asia.
Even before the global crisis, the industry generated US$25 billion in revenues from more than 550 million people across the world. With the rise of Asia, the region is beginning to pull head of North America in the global amusement/theme park business.
Among the theme park groups, Disney is still sovereign. It generates about a third of all global theme park revenues and as much as its three closest rivals together, including the UK-based Merlin Entertainments, Universal Studios in the US, and the Spain-based Parques Reunidos. In the top 25 list, Disney parks dominate the rankings, with Magic Kingdom in Florida topping the list.
Within Asia, interest is increasing in building a wide variety of theme parks, heralding a trend towards large, enclosed projects in many cities in China and Southeast Asia.
