The Mouse continues to be mighty, however there’s a dragon rising within the east.
That’s the top-line takeaway from the most recent version of the 2023 TEA/AECOM Theme Index, an authoritative yearly survey of developments within the theme park trade. The Index is compiled by the Themed Leisure Affiliation and infrastructure consulting agency AECOM. It reveals Disney Leisure nonetheless firmly atop the record of theme park attendance per operator in 2023, with a Chinese language firm leaping into the No. 2 spot.
Enterprise is nice throughout the board, in keeping with the report, with “the highest 25 attended theme parks world wide collectively elevated attendance by a formidable 23% over 2022’s figures.” In fact, many parks have been shut down in 2022, so the success is relative. In comparison with 2019, “the trade has mainly returned to its pre-pandemic place,” notes AECOM senior analyst Francisco Refuerzo.
That return to pre-pandemic attendance worldwide was powered largely by Chinese language parks, which have been most impacted by Covid shutdowns.
“The biggest jumps in year-over-year [attendance] figures (78%) got here out of parks in China, which noticed probably the most restrictive working setting all through practically all of 2022. The Americas noticed a small 3% enhance, with some main parks within the Orlando space barely down – the results of smooth demand for worldwide journey to the USA. Europe remained comparatively sturdy, with a 5% enhance pushed largely by parks which have invested in additional expansive resort choices.”
Chief amongst Chinese language operators is the burgeoning Fantawild Group which has added a staggering 10 new venues between 2020 and 2023, regardless of the pandemic. Fantawild had some assist, nonetheless.
Its “asset mild” mannequin “depends on authorities entities to fund new parks whereas Fantawild operates them,” in keeping with this 12 months’s Index, which notes that additional development from Fantawild is predicted within the years to return.
With that, right here’s the breakdown of the highest operators worldwide in 2023, in keeping with the TEA/AECOM evaluation.
2023 High Amusement Park Operators Worldwide
- Disney Experiences, up 23% to 142M admissions
- Fantawild Group, up 111% to 85M admissions
- Merlin Entertainments Group, up 16% to 62M admissions
- Common Locations & Experiences, up 18% to 60M admissions
- Chimelong Group, up 148% to 36M
