Merlin Entertainments looks to break ground on new Legoland Beijing resort this year

Already developing Legoland resorts in Shanghai, Sichuan and Shenzhen, Merlin Entertainments is reportedly planning to break ground on a new Legoland attraction in the Chinese capital of Beijing this year.

As reported by the South China Morning Post, having fallen by the wayside in 2022, the Beijing Municipality’s 2023 annual economic plan has set out that the city “seeks to initiate the construction of Legoland” this year.

Previously listed among nine priority projects that Beijing authorities were expected to break ground in 2022, Merlin Entertainments has not made a recent announcement on the Beijing attraction. Currently, it is developing three Legoland attractions in China - Legoland Shanghai Resort, Legoland Sichuan Resort, and the world’s largest Legoland resort in Shenzhen.

While details have not been announced, the Beijing attraction is understood to be a 304,000 metre² resort with a theme park and hotel.

By contrast, Legoland Shenzhen will be almost double the size covering 580,000 metre² resort. Expected to cost more than US$1 billion, it is due to open in 2024.

2024 is also set to see the opening of Legoland Shanghai while Legoland Sichuan is due to launch this year.

The South China Morning Post has reported that local governments across China are unveiling major  construction plans, with initiatives to attract foreign investment to counter unemployment pressure and bolster the Covid-battered economic growth.

Lin Huanjie, of the University of Florida (USA)-based Institute for Theme Park Studies advised that China still remains a huge market for theme park consumption, and that this market is not saturated.

Lin said that the potential of theme parks to boost local economies is significant, as these tend to provide a big boost to the surrounding restaurants, hotels, transport and employment, in addition to park income. They can also help cities develop their brand and woo foreign investors.

He advised “it will take about two years for the tourism market to return to pre-pandemic levels (and) this will benefit Legoland because it coincides with their opening time frames in China, and I believe the robust traffic will give the Merlin group more confidence in the Chinese market by then.

“Paramount and Warner Brothers in the USA, Puy du Fou in France, and Bollywood in India all want to enter the Chinese market. This means that China still remains a huge market for theme park consumption, and this market is not saturated.”

Image: Children at Legoland Korea.