Universal to open Beijing theme park

Plan set to boost local industry, employment

US entertainment firm Universal Parks & Resorts will build a theme park in Beijing, which will be its first in China, the builders and operators of the theme park announced on Monday.

The theme park will include Universal's most popular entertainment experiences and some new attractions with Chinese cultural elements, according to the press release issued Monday.

The overall investment in the Universal Beijing theme park will be more than 20 billion yuan ($3.26 billion). The park will be jointly owned by Universal Parks & Resorts and Beijing Shouhuan Cultural Tourism Investment Co (BSH Investment), which is a consortium of four State-owned companies including Beijing Tourism Group Co, according to the press release.

The park and its supporting facilities will occupy a 120-hectare site in Tongzhou district in Beijing, and it is scheduled to open in 2019.

The plan for the theme park - which Universal and Beijing Tourism Group Co have been working on since 2001 - was finally approved by the State Council on September 25, Duan Qiang, chairman of Beijing Tourism Group Co and BSH Investment, said at the press conference in Beijing on Monday.

Universal operates entertainment services around the world. Its parks are known for their film and television-based attractions, such as The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and a Transformers 3D ride.

The Universal theme park in Beijing will also include "Chinese cultural elements," Tom Williams, chairman and CEO of Universal Parks & Resorts, told the Global Times.

Williams noted that the major reasons why his company chose Beijing for its new theme park are the "large number of tourists" coming to the city and the "fast growth of the country's economy."

The number of tourists who visit Beijing each year is around 250 million, far more than the 59 million who visit Orlando in the US, where Universal has two of its most well-known theme parks - Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure, according to Williams.

The Beijing theme park will be the company's largest, said Williams.

Analysts said the global brand was drawn to Beijing because of the capital city's cultural and economic position, as well as its large population.

"Beijing, as China's cultural and economic center and an international metropolis with a population of 21 million, is the best candidate," Wei Changren, CEO of Beijing-based Jinlü Consulting, told the Global Times on Monday.

The theme park is likely to attract both local Beijing residents and people from other areas of North China, he noted.

Another reason for the company to open its theme park in Beijing is to avoid too much local competition, as its rival, Disneyland Resort, already has theme parks in Shanghai and Hong Kong, Li Mingde, vice president of the Beijing Tourism Society, told the Global Times on Monday.

China's first Disneyland theme park opened in September 2005 in Hong Kong, after six years of preparation. The Disneyland park in Shanghai is still under construction, and is expected to open in late 2015.

Once established, the Universal theme Park in Beijing is expected to have a big impact on Chinese peers such as Beijing Happy Valley, given its bigger brand awareness among the public, Li said.

Analysts also said the new theme park will benefit local economic development and increase employment in the capital city.

"Hosting the world-renowned theme park will boost the entertainment and cultural development in China's capital city," Wei said.

Tongzhou district will especially benefit from the theme park in terms of tourism, retail, restaurants and real estate as it currently has no strong industry or services to support the area's economy, Wei said.

The theme park will be accompanied by a Universal CityWalk entertainment complex featuring multiple retail, dining and entertainment outlets, and a Universal-themed resort hotel. The resort eventually will encompass 400 hectares after additional phases are built, according to the press release.

"A large number of jobs will be offered by the theme park projects," Dai Bin, director of the China Tourism Academy, told the Global Times on the sidelines of the press conference.

Despite the bright prospects, there are also risks for the theme park, such as a potentially long wait before breaking even, something that Disneyland Paris experienced, experts said.

There are also concerns that construction of the theme park could add to traffic congestion problems in the area.