Legoland will settle in Beijing, can it beat Universal Studios?

After Universal Studios, Beijing is welcoming the news that an international brand theme park has settled down.

A few days ago, the "Notice of Beijing's Key Projects Plan for 222" published on the website of Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission showed that legoland was listed as a newly-built project of "Cultural Tourism Industry" and its construction address was Changyang Town, Fangshan District. Including legoland, theme hotels, commercial streets and parking lots, the total construction scale is about 34, square meters.

This is the fourth legoland in China after Sichuan, Shenzhen and Shanghai.

Supplement to the theme park market

legoland, together with Disney and Universal Studios, is known as the "three major theme parks in the world" brand. After the latter two landed in China, they attracted a lot of attention as soon as they opened the park, and they soared to the top.

in contrast, legoland's layout in China did not seize the time advantage. It was 15 years after Disneyland entered China that news of legoland's settlement in China came one after another.

Before the news of legoland's settlement, the only super-large world theme park in the north was Universal Studios. In September 221, Beijing Universal Studios Theme Park opened in Tongzhou. The data shows that after its opening, it received an average of 15, tourists every day, and the number of tourists on weekends reached about 3,.

Zhang Mingyang, a senior researcher at Tongcheng Research Institute, told the reporter of China Report that Universal Studios Beijing has brought a huge number of tourists and considerable revenue to Beijing, which has promoted the surrounding areas and even the whole northern tourism industry. In Zhang Mingyang's view, the layout of legoland in Beijing reflects the huge space of Beijing and the north in the theme park market to some extent.

According to the published data, the planned construction area of Universal Studios Beijing is 4 square kilometers. In contrast, the area of legoland is much smaller.

Different from the IP projects of many film and television works in Disneyland and Universal Studios, legoland mainly uses building blocks as the carrier to carry entertainment projects. Lin Huanjie, president of China Theme Park Research Institute, told reporters that legoland mainly targets younger groups. "This group of people belongs to passive consumer groups, and most of them are young people who have neither economic strength nor limited play time." In his view, legoland's audience is not as broad as Universal Studios and Disneyland, and its interactivity and story connotation are also weaker than the latter two.

"But that doesn't mean it has no market in China." Lin Huanjie pointed out to reporters that the field of professional children's theme parks in China is blank at present, and the presence of legoland can fill this vacancy. For Beijing, the theme park for teenagers also has a certain supplementary significance to the theme entertainment industry in Beijing.

It's not a vicious competition.

According to the published news, the first Jialegong Park in China will be opened in Meishan City, Sichuan Province in 223. Shenzhen and Shanghai followed.

according to the industry forecast, if all four Jialegoo amusement parks, including Beijing, are successfully opened, they will occupy three China's first tier cities cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, and Chengdu with a population of 4 million in southwest China.

legoland has successfully landed in Britain, the United States and Germany before, but compared with Universal Studios and Disneyland, legoland's popularity in China and even Asia is not high. What worries Lin Huanjie is how legoland, which has never been deeply cultivated in China before, can adapt to the tourists and markets in China.

"As an international brand, legoland has great difficulty in flexibility." How to implant China elements into its original building block technology is the key to their integration into the China market. Lin Huanjie told reporters that the core of legoland is its building block carrier, and once it is over-transformed, its original attraction and brand influence will be discarded.

In Zhang Mingyang's observation, if legoland wants to develop well in China, it must adapt to the ever-changing needs of China tourists, find and strengthen the differentiation from other theme parks, and enhance the loyalty and repurchase rate of sticky users. He suggested that we can consider adding some localized products that are suitable for different ages to attract more tourists.

"This is not to divert tourists from Universal Studios." Zhang Mingyang told reporters. As two international theme parks known in the northern market, there is a concern that after the opening of legoland, the tourists of Universal Studios will be diverted, or they may form a vicious competition relationship.

In Zhang Mingyang's view, the entertainment projects of Universal Studios are usually more exciting and have a sense of big IP. It is a national theme park suitable for all ages, which is more comprehensive and entertaining. Legoland, on the other hand, pays more attention to appreciating the vivid scenery and hands-on happiness. It is a professional theme park with more focused products.

He further pointed out that from the market point of view, users in legoland are more sticky and do not need to poach tourists from competitors' parks. At the same time, legoland can also form a linkage with Universal Studios, and the two forms a complementary relationship, and there is no vicious competition in the traditional sense. The opening of Universal Studios has promoted the popularity of Happy Valley and improved its operating status, which is a good example.

Since the opening of the first phase of shenzhen happy valley in 1998, Happy Valley has been operating in China for more than 2 years. Lin Huanjie takes Beijing as an example. He believes that legoland's competitors in Beijing are not only Universal Studios Beijing, but also Happy Valley. As a paradise for all ages, Happy Valley is more cost-effective, and as a local brand, it has stronger autonomy and can attract tourists by setting up different theme activities, while legoland's flexibility is a weakness.

It's a "golden age", but it will also make waves.

Many practitioners in the cultural tourism industry have found that although the domestic tourism industry has been hit hard by the COVID-19 epidemic in recent two years, the theme park industry has maintained a relatively rapid growth trend.

incomplete statistics show that during the epidemic period, there were nearly 2 new theme parks in China, and the number of theme parks in China exceeded 34. Experts interviewed generally believe that theme parks in China are in a "golden age".

Previously, the Competitiveness Evaluation Report of China Theme Parks in 221 showed that by the end of 219, there were 339 theme parks in China, of which 25% were at a loss, 22% were flat and 53% were profitable (operating).

Zhang Mingyang, who is engaged in the research of cultural tourism industry, told the reporter of China Report that the rapid growth of theme parks depends on the increasing demand of the consumer market. At present, the pattern of theme parks in first-tier cities in China is basically determined, and the theme park market in second, third and fourth-tier cities is still expanding.

Zhang Mingyang pointed out that compared with the vigorous development of quantity, competitive projects in domestic theme parks are still scarce, and high-quality projects are scarce. There are still many deficiencies in facilities innovation, operational thinking, IP attraction and anti-risk ability of theme parks in China, and there is still much room for improvement in consumer groups and consumption structure.

He pointed out that the presence of international brands will, to a certain extent, increase the competition in the theme park market in China, and on this basis, promote the "survival of the fittest" of the industry. Lin Huanjie judged that a number of small and medium-sized theme parks with poor geographical location, inadequate design and no classic projects will be eliminated in the next five years. "International brands have landed strongly and local brands have accelerated their elimination." Lin Huanjie said that there is still a long way to go for local paradise brands to break through international brands and form their own unique competitive advantages.