Disney has quite a few apprentices in China.

From Theme Park、Indoor Park、Ocean Park，To toys、Film and TV，The entire entertainment industry chain involved in Disney has almost all imitators in the country，Companies with slogans are spread across many industries，"Oriental Disney" "Indoor Disney" "Blue Disney" "Sea Disney" "Airline Disney".......

No matter from the project progress，Looking at performance，There is nothing particularly outstanding about these Disney apprentices，Some companies’ performance has stagnated。But why can’t domestic theme parks imitate Disney?？

In fact，Some insiders divide global theme parks into two categories，The first category is Disney/Universal Studios theme park，The other category is other theme parks。

If the various theme parks in the world can be divided into three levels according to their revenue: more than 1 billion US dollars，3.USD 5-1 billion and 1-3.USD 500 million。For a single theme park，Disney and Universal Studios are among the few theme parks in the world with revenue of $1 billion。The status of the two giants in this industry is evident。

However，What really makes Disney or Universal Studios special，In addition to its own strong brand influence，Comprehensive government support，A large amount of low-priced land hoarded in the surrounding area，And the synergy of the entire multimedia industry chain of the group is also very critical。

For the theme park industry，The three most important indicators are revenue、Development costs and profit margins (EBITDA indicator that measures cash flow capabilities)。

Want to become a Disney-level theme park，You must first pass the revenue level。But income depends not only on the number of tourists，Also look at the average consumption per visitor、Indicators such as length of stay。

The number of visitors to Ocean Park in Hong Kong has been higher than that of Hong Kong Disneyland 188bet online sports betting before 2015，But the income is less than half of the latter。Samsung Everland has one of the fewest visitors in Asia，But the income is only at the mid-to-low level of the second tier (about 200 million US dollars)。

This is also an ocean world、Six Flags Entertainment、Cedar Club Entertainment、Theme park giants such as Legoland continue to invest in accommodation every year、Catering、Reasons for activities and other activities to increase tourists’ consumption levels。

Magic Kingdom Theme Park at Walt Disney World，Visitor volume increased from 16.6 million tourists in 2006，20.45 million passengers by 2017，Being the most visited theme park in the world for 13 consecutive years (2018 is no exception)。

A world theme park value ranking report shows，This Disney theme park opened in 1971 is worth up to $22 billion，Much higher than the $18.3 billion of the original Disneyland。The average annual revenue of the six Disney theme parks in the United States is $1.4 billion，With its strength，Magic Kingdom’s annual revenue is likely to exceed Tokyo Disney’s average of $1.6 billion，The average spending of visitors to the park is close to US$800，Visitors are also likely to stay longer than at a typical Disneyland park。

However，To achieve billions of dollars in revenue，It will also cost billions of dollars。

According to cost，Theme parks can be divided into four categories。Building a large Disney or Universal theme park would cost $2-4 billion，Building a regional theme park costs $200-500 million，The investment in most water parks is US$10-40 million，The cost of indoor parks is generally US$10-30 million。

In the past ten years，Building a Disney or Universal theme park costs $2-3 billion。If there are exceptions，That is also the reason why land costs have dropped significantly。

For example，The land cost of Universal Studios Japan is amortized year by year in the form of lease，Universal Studios Singapore is located in Resorts World Sentosa and did not disclose the land cost，The cost of Tokyo DisneySea is relatively low because Oriental Land Company purchased the land as early as the 1960s when it built Tokyo Disneyland。

Not only is the construction cost extremely high，Following continuous operations also require a lot of investment。Based on the current market environment，A new attraction in a Disney or Universal Studios theme park will cost US$30 million to US$100 million。

On the one hand，These 188bet app download theme parks are facing increasing visitor expectations over the past few decades，Every time a new attraction is added, it strives to be bigger and better than the existing park attractions；On the other hand，They want to play video games、Internet、Social Media、Competition in various entertainment forms that did not exist when cable TV was opened。

As the threshold for building a well-known theme park becomes higher and higher，Not only are other theme parks that are not Disney or Universal Studios unable to compete with the two giants，Even Disney and Universal Studios themselves are finding it increasingly difficult to exceed their own expectations。

For example，Tokyo Disney proposed last year，Invest approximately US$200 million in the resort’s two parks in the next five years，This amount is close to the total investment cost of a regional theme park；Universal Studios Japan plans to launch a single Nintendo World theme park next year at a cost of US$500 million，The cost of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which was previously introduced to the park and was a huge success, was around US$300 million。

What is the concept of US$500 million？The total investment in Legoland New York, which is expected to open next year, is only US$500 million，The gap between large Disney or Universal theme parks and other theme parks can be seen。

Different from the large fluctuation in development costs，The obvious restriction of ticket prices is also an important factor affecting the operating performance of theme parks。Whether it’s a theme park，It’s still a water park，The price tourists are willing to pay for attraction tickets is roughly between US$10-70。

In other words，There is a ceiling for attraction tickets，Except Disney and Universal Studios，There are very few theme parks or attractions that cost more than $90 now。In fact，95% of theme park tickets in the world currently cost less than $60。

The maximum ticket price for large theme parks is around $100，The difference from the lowest of less than 20 US dollars is not too obvious，But the difference in development costs per visitor of these theme parks is obvious。The difference in development cost per visitor of Disney or Universal Studios theme parks is relatively large，Especially in the upper limit range。

For example，Universal Studios Japan costs US$2.2 billion，Average visitors 188bet app download 9 million，Development cost per visitor $244，Hong Kong Disney invested US$4.2 billion，Average annual visitors: 4.7 million，Development costs close to $900 per visitor per year。

This indicator is very important，Because the revenue per visitor is closely related to the ticket price，The ticket price is determined by the visitor’s maximum single consumption in the park and the visitor’s experience value。If the development cost of Hong Kong Disney is more than 12 times the revenue，This shows that the cost recovery period of this project is very long。

In a sense，Theme parks are indeed not an easy business，It is often not possible to achieve breakeven even after several years of operation，The following data about the three major theme parks may shed some light on some issues。

First，In the third year of Disneyland Paris’ opening, the entire resort generated only US$50 million in operating cash flow，Even negligible compared with the development cost of nearly 4 billion US dollars。However，At least it can generate positive cash flow that year，Due to huge debt pressure，Disney Paris has not even been able to generate positive cash flow in recent years。

Second，The situation of Hong Kong Disneyland and Paris Disneyland is similar，Development costs exceed $4 billion，But it was not profitable until five years after opening in 2010。However，The entire resort’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization is only US$30 million, which is not a good performance compared with the development costs。

Third，Universal Studios Japan achieved positive EBITDA profits in its first year of operation，But cash flow dropped significantly as visitor numbers dropped in the second year，The operating performance in subsequent years did not return to the level of the first year，This also results in a long-term return on investment below 5%。

But this does not mean that the projects invested by Disney and Universal Studios are unprofitable。Opposite，Various financing channels of the two giants can greatly enhance the return on investment of the project。

Except equity financing，Recent theme park projects by Disney and Universal Studios have taken full advantage of various sources of financing:

The total investment in Hong Kong Disney exceeds US$4 billion，But Disney’s investment is less than 10%，The remaining 90% is directly or indirectly owned by the government through equity、Loan、Infrastructure、188bet online sports betting Provide funds through land recycling and other methods。Same，The construction of Shanghai Disneyland also received support from the government in the subway line、Preferential loan、Government Equity、Help with land resettlement, etc.。

Disney Paris went public through an IPO、Release equity、Government loan、Low tax rate、Infrastructure subsidies、Currency devaluation、Obtain financing through various methods such as real estate sales。Universal Studios Japan invests in infrastructure、Loan、Equity financing and other aspects have been subsidized by the Osaka City Government。Universal Studios Singapore obtains financing through Resorts World Sentosa’s casino license。Casino revenue accounts for more than 70% of the entire resort’s revenue，Universal Studios Singapore’s revenue only accounts for 15-20%。

However，The reason why operators invest heavily，Because their government partners do not judge the success of a project solely on financial data，It also depends on the economic benefits brought by the project、Taxation、Foreign exchange income、Create jobs、Promote tourism growth and other indicators。

In terms of return on investment (EBITDA profit/total development cost) at the project level，Large-scale theme parks like Disney may have the lowest profit margins，But it is undeniable，Before opening，The two giants have already received design fees when signing the cooperation agreement、Management fee、Operating expenses、Licensing fees and other income，Income even before the project enters the design stage。

Not only that，Disney and Universal Studios are both entertainment and media giants，There is a movie behind the theme park business、TV、Mutual support of other services such as IP authorization，Thereby creating a powerful synergy effect，This is the foundation of the entertainment value theory designed by founder Walt Disney in 1957。

Statistics display，In the past ten years，Theme park projects developed in China are far ahead of the rest of the world，A quarter to a third of the number of new theme parks opened worldwide since 2000。Most of the currently being built in China are regional theme parks。Viewed from the built amusement attractions，These theme parks are more similar to the Six Flags and Cedar Club entertainment brands，The development cost of a single theme park is mostly US$100-500 188bet online sports betting million，Similar to the situation in the American theme park market in the 1960s and 1970s。

IP is a key element for theme parks to create core attractions，will determine whether the project can successfully achieve traffic aggregation。With the changes in the domestic cultural tourism market environment，IP is indispensable for the development and construction of cultural tourism projects，It will further test the IP operation and creation capabilities of many theme parks。Today，What are the development trends of IP operations at home and abroad？How to localize foreign IP？How to iterate and innovate operation of cultural tourism IP？2019 The 4th Cultural Tourism Consumption Innovation ConferenceHold in Beijing on June 19-20，International IP trading and destination marketing matchmaking activities will be held at the conference，Discussing cultural tourism IP operations、Problems of implementation and iterative development，Welcome to sign up，Scan the QR code to participate。