SIM LEISURE MOVES INTO CHINA’S WATERPARK MARKET

BY GABRIELLE


As part of its expansion into the Chinese market, waterpark and theme park design and build specialists Sim Leisure, has announced it has signed an agreement with China-based Guangzhou Daxin Water Park Equipment Co., one of the biggest waterpark designers and equipment suppliers in China.

The agreement will give Guangzhou Daxin the right to use the Sim Leisure name to secure theme park design and building contracts within China and the ASEAN region. In return, Sim Leisure will receive a 5 per cent royalty payment to the company’s 60 per cent-owned subsidiary, Sim Leisure Creative.

Sim Choo Kheng, founder of Sim Leisure, who has spent years propagating the Sim Leisure name through being involved in more than 100 major waterpark and theme park projects around the world, spoke about what the partnership with Guangzhou Daxin means to him: “I have put in blood, sweat and tears over the decades to build this business to the point of being recognized as the only renowned theme park design and contractor from Asia.

“I have waited for the right moment to enter China and the ASEAN market. We are ready for the next stage of growth with our new partner Guangzhou Daxin Group, capitalising on our common business philosophy of providing Asian business economics with a global approach in our creativity,” Sim Choo Chang added.

Wilson Wu, CEO of Guangzhou Daxin, shares enthusiasm for the partnership, stating: ”We see an increasing demand for world-class design and execution of theme parks in China, which in the past had to rely on foreign expertise. Teaming up with Sim Leisure Group means Guangzhou Daxin is now an international theme park solution provider operating locally, which gives us a tremendous competitive edge. We are very excited to tap into this booming market.”

SIM LEISURE GROUP REACHES NEW GLOBAL EXPANSION MILESTONE

 BY GABRIELLE


Sim Leisure Group, a leading designer of theme and water parks, has reached a new milestone in the international expansion of its ESCAPE brand.

The company has signed an agreement with Sri Lankan-listed Elpitiya Plantations, to develop and operate a theme park in Sri Lanka under the ESCAPE brand.

The ESCAPE Sri Lanka theme park will be located between Colombo and the city of Galle. The first phase of construction of the site on 30 acres of land will begin in 2020.

The island of Sri Lanka has a huge untapped domestic tourism sector. In 2019, the island welcomed 1.91 million international tourists. The opening of a family-friendly theme park is poised to be a successful and welcome addition to Sri Lanka.

Sim Choo Kheng, founder and CEO of Sim Leisure spoke about the potential of bringing the ESCAPE brand to Sri Lanka: “We see a remarkable opportunity in brining the “ESCAPE” brand to Sri Lanka’s domestic tourism landscape. Sri Lankans are very eager for a world-class tourist attraction, and we are very excited for this chapter in Sim Leisure’s regional growth.”

OCEAN FLOWER ISLAND IN CHINA TO OPEN AS SCHEDULED

BY GABRIELLE


Ocean Flower Island, the artificial archipelago off the north coast of Danzhou, Hainan, China, is to open as scheduled, despite setbacks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

On April 13, Zhang Weidang, chairman of Evergrande Fairland Operation Group and of Ocean Flower Island Company, announced that although construction of the site had been affected by the COVID-19 virus, Ocean Flower Island will open this year, as scheduled.

Ocean Flower Island will feature more than 200 internationally renowned brands, including 12 Michelin-starred restaurants. The entertainment site will be home to state-of-the-art marine museums, fantasy dramas customised by world-famous directors, five-star resort hotels, duty-free shopping malls, theme parks centred on a fairy tale theme, marine interactive themes park, snow mountain themed water park, and much more.

Ocean Flower Island is expected to welcome 10 million visitors each year.

LATEST NEWS FOLIDAY TO FUND SANYA FOSUN CULTURAL TOURISM CITY

 BY GABRIELLE


The Chinese holiday group known as Foliday has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Sanya municipal government. The agreement states that Foliday will inject large capital sums to build the Sanya Fosun Cultural Tourism City.

The destination will feature world-class theme parks, themed hotels, international shopping centres, wellness centres, wealth management centres, and more.

Shanghai Foliday announced it was to ‘invest heavily’ in the Hainan province several years ago. The company has subsequently introduced a number of well-known international brands to Hainan.

One such brand is the Sanya Atlantis park, which opened in April 2018. In 2019, revenue of the park reached 1.31 billion yuan (approx. US$0.18 billion). The site attracts an annual visitor count of around 5.2 million.

SUNAC CULTURAL TOURISM CITY TO BE BUILT IN NANTONG

 BY GABRIELLE


The Sunac Cultural Tourism City is to be built in the city of Nantong, in the Jiangsu Province of China. The project will have a total investment of 38 billion yuan (approx. US$5.37 billion).

The site will combine Chinese classical cultures and local cultures, with the aim of being a world-class cultural and business resort complex.

The eight principle projects of the destination include a TOD complex, ice and snow complex, one-stop experience business area, river and sea cultural town, resort hotel, international conference centre, art exhibition centre, and folk cultural village.

Sunac themed attraction projects extend across 13 cities in China. Eight of the sites have already opened, three are about to open, and one is under construction.

HOLOVIS DEVELOPS FREE SOCIAL DISTANCING APP TO HELP THEME PARKS REOPEN SAFELY

 BY GABRIELLE

Holovis, specialists in creating immersive and mixed reality to engage audiences, has developed a social distancing app. The Crowd Solo app is designed to help themed entertainment venues reopen safely following closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The app features a reservation and queue management system with real-time alerts. The purpose of the app is to ensure venues avoid crowd hotspots by providing operators with instant insights into the movement of guests.

Crowd Zero is powered by Holovis DeepSmarts data analytics engine, which visualises the movement of guests. With tracking capability, guests are made aware of social distance metrics from other visitors. Guests are alerted when they get too close to other visitors via audible and vibration feedback.

The app will be free to all single ticket destinations, including theme parks, museums, cultural centres and zoos.

Holovis is looking for feedback from the industry to support further development of the app. As Peter Cliff, creative director at Holovis, says: “We are committed to helping the industry that we love get back on its feet as quickly and as safely as possible. It looks likely that the need for some form of safe crowd management will be around for the foreseeable future meaning attractions and entertainment venues will have to adapt and learn to operate differently in order to give guests peace of mind and confidence to re-visit.

“We believe Crowd Solo could significantly assist with this process, whilst remaining socially responsible whilst creating safe places to visit. Based on informal conversations, our initial concepts have been positively received, so we are now ready to test market appetite more thoroughly. The basic app will be available in the next four to six weeks,” Cliff added.

SICHUAN ZIGONG FANTAWILD DINOSAURS KINGDOM TO OPEN IN LATE 2020

BY GABRIELLE


The Fantawild Dinosaurs Kingdom in Zigong City, Sichuan Province, China, is on target to open by the end of 2020.

Construction is now completed for the seven indoor themed areas of the theme park. The supporting infrastructures such as office building, canteen, and staff dormitories, have also been completed and are now being used. The construction of 13 interactive experience attractions has begun. Each attraction covers 5,000 to 10,000 sq. mt.

The park is centred on the ‘dinosaur culture’ of Zigong and will explore fascinating stories of dinosaur excavations in the area to create immersive, themed stories. The park will be home to high-tech replicas of of different types of dinosaurs.

Zigong City Government teamed up with Shenzhen Fantawild Group to develop the theme park, which has a total investment of 3.1 billion yuan (US$0.44 billion).

The Fantawild Dinosaurs Kingdom is expected to attract an annual visitor number of around three million.

SUNAC TEAMS UP WITH WUHAN REAL ESTATE GROUP TO DEVELOP A CULTURAL TOURISM CITY

 BY GABRIELLE

Sunac China Holdings, a leading property developer headquartered in Tianjin, China, has teamed up with the Wuhan Real Estate Group. The companies have signed for a project investment and cooperation agreement with the Huangbei District of Wuhan City.

The project will involve Sunac working with Wuhan Real Estate Group to develop the Sunac Wuhan Yangtze River Cultural Tourism City project. The two companies will work together to bring their expertise and influence in cultural tourism operation, conferences and exhibitions, hotel operations, industrial real estate, commercial real estate, and property services.

The Wuhan Yangtze River Cultural Tourism City is likely to become a benchmark cultural and tourist complex in the Huangbei District.

VANTAGE PIVOTS TO PROVIDE CONTACT TRACING SOLUTIONS DURING CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

BY GABRIELLE


Vantage Pivots, providers of innovative technology to the attractions industry, is to use its tracing software to help in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The tech was developed to trace guests visiting waterparks via smart wrist bands.

The tracking software enables waterparks to see how guests circulate and which attractions they spend the time the most on. The technology thereby provides a waterpark with a snapshot of the number of visitors at a site and where the most popular places within a waterpark are.

Philip Edgell, Vantage’s president, described the benefits of the technology. “The value stems from linking wrist bands to guest profiles. Each guest of the park is incentivised to create a profile that records any number of details a park wishes to know and that the guest is willing to share.

“The guest receives a more personalised experience and the operator, in turn, receives guest details, while allowing them to respond to customer behaviours in real-time,” Edgell added.

Knowing where visitors are and how long they stayed in specific areas, could prove beneficial to businesses other than attraction sites, during the era of social distancing. Having the ability to trace people, without using a mobile phone, and within a confined space and known who they have come into contact with, could be an accurate and effective way to help stop the spread of viruses.

FORMER BALPPA CHAIRMAN ANTHONY BRENNER LOSES BATTLE WITH COVID-19

BY GABRIELLE


On April 14, Anthony Brenner, former BALPPA chairman from Teignmouth Pier, sadly lost his battle with COVID-19.

Anthony Bremmer worked with his father in the late 1950s. In 1961, his father bought the Grand Pier at Teignmouth. In 2002, Brenner became chairman of the BALPPA Trade Association for theme parks, aquariums, leisure parks, piers, zoos and other visitor attraction sites in the UK.

Brenner started to suffer from dementia, not long after losing his wife in 2009. He spent the last three years of his life being cared for in Exeter.