Chinese theme park to open on NSW Central Coast as of 2016

Updated plans for a Chinese-themed visitor attraction, due to be developed at Warnervale on the NSW Central Coast, have been revealed.

The $500 million attraction, which will be developed on 15 hectares of land sold by Wyong Shire Council to developers Australian Chinese Theme Park Pty Ltd in 2012, will feature a replica of Beijing's Forbidden City and a massive standing Buddha statue at its centre.

To be known as Chappypie China Time, Australian Chinese Theme Park plan to open the attraction as of early 2016. It will feature 12 main sections; including the Meridian Gate, thanksgiving Temple, Zheng He’s Treasure Ship, arts and crafts workshop, Spring Festival Square and Panda Paradise.

With plans for the first stage of the attraction now being at the Development Application lodgement stage, Wyong Mayor Doug Eaton stated "I’ve truly never seen anything like this before — it’s going to blow people away when they watch the video and get a sense of how big and imaginative this concept really is and what it can do in terms of tourism for our shire.

"The developers have long been telling us that this theme park will be up there with the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge in terms of tourist attractions and I’ve got to hand it to them — it’s absolutely in that category.

"(This) is just the beginning. Wyong Shire is now set to become the theme park centre of NSW’.

Mayor Eaton said the project represented an incredible boost for the Shire’s tourism and economic development and would not only create jobs but have a flow on effect to local retailers and the hospitality sector.

Australia Chinese Theme Park Chief Executive Bruce Zhong added "the Mayor understands Chinese culture and the need for local government involvement in terms of attracting Chinese investment and now the results are in for everyone to see."

Currently Australia’s fastest growing and most valuable international tourism market, Chinese visitors accounted for more than $3.8 billion in 2011 while Tourism Australia reported that 700,000 Chinese tourists spent over $4 billion in 2012.

Australian Chinese Theme Park Secretary General Amanda Li concluded "There are lots of benefits in Chinese tourism.

“China is so big, people cannot travel all around the country. But the China theme park will contain the most wonderful parts of China with the unbeatable Australian environment. This unique and novel project definitely will attract Chinese tourists and, of course, tourists from all over the world.”

Destination NSW’s China Tourism Strategy predicts that the value of Chinese inbound tourism to NSW will almost double by 2020, becoming NSW’s largest international market in terms of visitor arrivals, visitor nights and expenditure. 

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