SHANGHAI, July 24 (Xinhua) -- As summer rolls in, with children out of school, families are flocking to theme parks, making them some of China's hottest summer destinations.
This year, theme park bookings have soared by 70 percent year on year, according to data from the Chinese travel services platform Qunar.
In the newly opened LEGOLAND Shanghai Resort, visitors are greeted by a 26-meter-tall "Dada," the iconic giant LEGO figure. Surrounding colorful and dazzling attractions make them feel like stepping into a fairy tale.
"My five-and-a-half-year-old child has been talking about coming to the resort for half a year. As soon as the tickets were available, we booked them," said a visitor surnamed Wang. "My child loves the park, taking photos with every character and enjoying every ride."
Since its opening on July 5, the LEGOLAND Shanghai Resort has injected new vitality into China's theme park market, boosting local and surrounding cultural tourism consumption.
Data shows that the park is expected to welcome 2.4 million visitors this year. This summer, the surrounding hotels in Jinshan District, where the park is located, have seen a 3.5-fold increase in bookings compared to the same period last year, and the increase in homestay bookings has reached a remarkable sixfold. Over two-thirds of the hotel bookings in Jinshan are from non-local visitors.
Similarly, the Universal Beijing Resort has also shown its economic power. In its first year of operation, it drove a 367.4 percent increase in revenue for the cultural and entertainment industries in Tongzhou District and a 122.6 percent increase in accommodation revenue.
According to the Institute for Theme Park Studies in China, every 1 yuan (14 U.S. cents) earned by a theme park can generate 3.8 yuan for the city and drive 6 to 15 yuan in revenue for upstream and downstream industries.
Data from the institute shows that as of October 2024, there were 385 theme parks nationwide. In 2023, 86 key theme parks in China welcomed 130 million visitors and generated more than 30 billion yuan in revenue, representing increases of 71.84 percent and 97.86 percent year on year, respectively. With such a large market scale, China has become a hotspot for global theme park investments.
POPLAND, also known as the Pop Mart City Park, with its popular IPs such as Labubu, has become a hit in Beijing's Chaoyang Park. According to data from Qunar, thanks to Labubu's growing popularity, the park's bookings in June increased sixfold year on year.
In south China's Guangdong Province, the gigantic Qingyuan Changlong Resort will soon open its doors to visitors.
Lin Huanjie, head of the Institute for Theme Park Studies in China, said that in the next few years, several large theme parks will open one after another, covering IPs in the fields of animation, film and culture.
The new parks will further enrich the product supply of the domestic theme park market, meet consumers' increasingly diversified needs, and drive the theme park economy to a higher level of development, Lin added.
Recently, Universal Beijing Resort has launched its summer signature limited-time event "Universal Cool Summer," featuring a comprehensive upgrade of graduation-themed interactions and the return of the Universal Cool Summer performance and Hogwarts events. These activities, which will run throughout the summer, are designed to ignite the passion of the season.
In the ancient town of Fengjing in Jinshan District, a LEGO brick installation art exhibition has been set up at the core of the scenic area. Visitors can search for hidden LEGO characters while touring the ancient architecture and exchange limited-edition badges after completing tasks.
"While exploring the ancient town, the children play treasure hunt games, which significantly increases their interest in historical buildings," said a tourist surnamed Zhu.
Driven by technological progress and market demand, China's theme park industry is expected to expand, offering higher-quality services and stronger innovation in the future, according to Lin. ■
