Merlin Entertainments Chief Executive confident about China's theme park market

Merlin Entertainments Chief Executive Fiona Eastwood is encouraged that Asia's attractions market, and particularly in China, is showing positive signs of growth.

Talking to Bloomberg after the opening of Legoland Shanghai, Eastwood said that while China is a competitive market and its economy has faced challenges in recent years, Merlin’s two decades of experience in the country stand it in good stead:

Eastwood advised "we’ve operated in China for just shy of 20 years, so we are at an advantage. We know the market. We’ve catered to millions of guests.

“In terms of the market, there are good signs in the last few months. If you take retail spending as a good gauge of consumer sentiment, that has been up in the last few months, six and a half percent.”

With Legoland Shanghai, the first Legoland resort in China and the biggest to date, having experienced sold out days since opening, Eastwood noted “it’s a very competitive market, but it’s also a significantly huge market. Legoland Shanghai…has 55 million people living within the drive time for the theme park. And then, if you consider we’ve also built a themed hotel that has a quarter of a billion people living nearby because of the high-speed train links that have been built to cater for the park.”

Looking to the future, Eastwood is encouraged by Merlin's prospects across its multiple brands, adding that the new Legoland park in Shanghai is just the beginning - with three other parks - in Beijing, Shenzhen and Chengdu - set to open between 2026 and 2028.

She went on to state "it is our biggest at launch. It’s our 11th Legoland Park, and you’re going to see much more of that from Merlin in terms of scaling on much-loved brands. We have Lego, which is the biggest toy brand in the world. We did a deal last year with Minecraft, which is the biggest gaming brand in the world. And we also have several Peppa (Pig) parks around the world, and that’s the biggest toy brand.

“I’m really excited about the brand partnerships.”

Built at a cost of US$550 million, Legoland Shanghai is expected to attract 2.4 million visitors annually.

It is the fourth Legoland in Asia (after the Legoland Malaysia, Legoland Japan and Legoland Korea).

Images: Fiona Eastwood (top) and the Big Lego Coaster at Legoland Shanghai (below).