“I want to express my gratitude to all those who are not optimistic about this project，Some people think that this project will definitely fail，The London resort will proceed as planned，”London Resort CEO、The former Vice President of Operations of Disneyland Paris said this in an interview last November。

Although the company is full of confidence，But this one is called“UK Disney”’s theme park resort recently suffered another setback，British broadcaster BBC and British independent television station ITV announced that they will no longer participate in the project。

The facts behind it are，An endangered spider only as big as a fingernail affects the progress of this 3.5 billion pound international cultural tourism project。

According to Daily Mail and Telegraph report，Animal activists oppose the construction of London resort，This area is believed to be a habitat for wild animals，Especially an endangered animal called jumping spider，This animal has only one other habitat outside of here in the UK。Although the company publicly opposed Natural England’s designation of this area as a research base in July last year，But the latter still made the decision，And under the pressure of propaganda from animal rights activists，Two major IP partners have announced that they will no longer or suspend business cooperation agreements with London resorts。

The launch of the London resort project has been full of twists and turns.

Project started in August 2013，Sixth change of opening time，Change CEO，Change IP partner，Submit development license documents from 2017，Almost five years and still not approved，This inevitably makes people feel ";Opening in the first phase in 2025、Opening in the second phase in 2029”Put a question mark on the schedule。

The challenges facing London resorts are undoubtedly daunting，If the project cannot be approved and launched，No matter how 188bet online sports betting beautiful the vision is, it will not become a reality。But for the theme park industry，Built with a massive investment of 3.5 billion pounds“UK Disney”What are the characteristics of the project？What a project leader from a former Disney Paris executive thinks about the resort？How resorts respond to the uncertainty of the future theme park market？

188bet app download

The three most obvious promotional highlights of the London resort are，The first world-class theme park project positioned as a resort since the opening of Disneyland Paris in 1992，The largest theme park in the UK and the largest entertainment center in Europe，And integrating sustainability and low-carbon concepts into design and operations。

Official information shows，The London resort is located on the Swanscombe Peninsula in Kent, southeast England，Next to the Thames，The total area is 465 hectares，The resort covers an area of ​​216 hectares，Equivalent to 136 Wembley Stadiums，larger than Disneyland, California (206 hectares)、Hong Kong Disney (126 hectares) and Tokyo Disney (201 hectares)。

London Resort Plan

According to the previously announced plan，London resort including The Studios、The Woods、The Kingdom、The Isles、The Jungle、The six theme areas of The Starport，Theme area IP content is provided by Paramount、Courtesy of BBC Studios and British TV giant ITV。

Also，Similar to Disney Springs in Disneyland, California，These major theme areas are organized by hotels、Tourist complex consisting of shops and restaurants High Street connection。Easy to find，Paramount’s “Star Trek”, which is as famous as “Star Wars”, meets the requirement of relevance，Possession may be introduced“23rd Century Drop Zone”The Starport；The car show program is consistent with The Jungle theme area，Many of Paramount’s Hollywood movies will be introduced to The Studios area。

Many entertainment experience items，Rich business types。The resort is three times the size of the largest existing theme park resort in the UK，More than one-third of it is used to build riding facilities and experience projects，In addition to two world-class theme parks and a water park，The largest entertainment center in Europe is also planned to be built，Includes 3,500-room hotel project 188bet app download plus shops、Catering、Theatre、Convention center and other business formats。

Wide surrounding radiation range，The transportation is very convenient。Only 17 minutes to London by high-speed rail，It only takes about two hours to take the Eurostar high-speed train to Disneyland Paris from the nearby Ebbsfleet International station，It takes less than three hours to reach Brussels，Easy to reach other European countries and central Europe。The resort has also developed a new expressway directly to the resort，And provide various conveniences for tourists arriving by sea。

London resort transportation location map

Executives have extensive experience running Disneyland Paris.

July 2019，PY Gerbeau officially becomes the new CEO of London Resort，And signed a new cooperation agreement with Paramount。He served as Vice President of Resort Operations at Disneyland Paris (then known as Euro Disney) from 1994 to 1998，Has extensive experience in operating large-scale theme park resorts。2013，X-Leisure, the largest leisure company in the UK that he co-founded, was acquired by Land Securities, a British commercial real estate development and investment company 1.£1.2 billion acquisition。

The details that highlight the level of personal operation and management are，End of 1994，European Disney’s cumulative loss is US$2 billion，Profitable for five consecutive years from 1995 to 1999，And Gerbeau participated in decision-making for four of the years，Personal abilities and contributions are self-evident。

Also，London Resort Company is invested and developed by London Resort Company Holdings (LRCH)，Acquired by Kuwaiti European Holding Company Group in 2013, KEH) Acquisition，The strong consortium support behind it is also one of the key factors for the continued advancement of the project。

However，The various problems faced by the resort are complex，IP partner withdraws，Development permit approval blocked，There is a lack of world-class outstanding IP except Paramount，The key to the first step of the project is to obtain the approval of the development permit application and start construction。

Comparing with Disneyland Paris?

Currently，The largest theme park resort in the UK is Elton Towers in Staffordshire，its theme park、The indoor water park and three themed hotels are operated by Merlin Entertainments。

188bet online sports betting But this destination was not originally planned as a resort，Why has no one proposed building a theme park as large as the London Resort in the UK for a long time？

The main reason is，The European theme entertainment industry is relatively mature，High concentration，Mainly in Britain, Germany and France。

For example，The Mack family controls Europa-Park (also one of the major manufacturers of roller coasters in the world)、Netherlands Efteling、Disney Paris and other top European theme parks，Disney Paris accounts for more than a quarter of the top 20 tourists in Europe。In the UK，Merlin operates four theme park resorts including Elton Towers，But the scale is not very large，The highest number of visitors to theme parks in most countries is less than the number of visitors to Happy Valley, an OCT in China。

TEA/AECOM 2019 and 2020 European theme park top visitor numbers

Global theme park attendance report in 2019 before the epidemic，Elton Tower has 2.13 million visitors ，The year-on-year increase is only 1.4%，Not as good as Denmark, also operated by Merlin、Three Legoland parks in the UK and Germany。At the same time，Merlin Entertainments accounts for eight of the top 20 most visited theme parks in Europe，The total number of tourists is about 16.42 million，Slightly higher than the number of visitors to the two theme parks of Paris Disney Resort (15.5 million)。

The world’s second largest theme park operator has multiple brands. The number of tourists in the European market, where it has the most outstanding advantages, is only equivalent to that of a Disney resort，The London resort that will have to wait at least three years to open may become a dark horse，Superpass Disneyland Paris in one fell swoop？

Forecast report display，The London resort theme park has about 50,000 daily visitors，Annual tourists are expected to be 17 million。This goal reaches the level of Tokyo Disneyland, which has been operating very successfully for more than 30 years，The difficulty is not small。

However，The proximity to central London is the biggest advantage of choosing a location for a London resort。London has a population of 20 million，The surrounding passenger flow reaches 46 million，This advantage of the resort is also expected to have a great impact on the economic development of the entire UK。

CEO Gerbeau once said，Since the London resort 188bet app is located on the Eurostar Express route，This will go a long way in attracting international tourists。There may be some former Disney Paris colleagues who are deeply disturbed by this，But the European market is big enough，Can accommodate two large theme parks。Viewed from the Central European Theme Park Market，The market-educated tourist base here accounts for a large proportion，London resorts can attract all tourists passing through London，“The resort can attract a very wide range of customers，Able to meet the various needs of tourists aged 3-70。”

But another fact that cannot be ignored is，The European theme park market is highly mature、Growth is slowing down，Not as fast as the Asia-Pacific and North American markets，Merlin Entertainment continues to increase investment、Accelerating the layout of the Chinese and North American markets is one example。Want to attract more tourists from the current market，Special test of London resort’s creative design、Ability in marketing and promotion, etc.，Not to mention opening in 2025，It is difficult to accurately predict the changes in the theme park market and consumer preferences three years from now。

Gerbeau said，It is difficult to judge the preferences of consumers in 2024 (the opening time before delay) now，It’s even harder to say in 2029。What’s more，The second theme park must be different from the first，The key is to increase the number of tourists at the same time，Still trying to make the first theme park profitable。

London resort concept design drawing

Park expansion、Hotel catering and membership system are considered to be the three magic weapons to increase the number of tourists。Themed accommodation has gradually become an important part of the themed entertainment industry products。A new hotel in the theme park will be transformed into a resort，This situation is relatively common in this industry，But to become a real resort，Paradises that have not been expanded need to introduce more entertainment projects after closure to keep family consumers staying，For example, introducing various performances and immersive experience projects，And add elements of retail and entertainment。

Although it has attracted great attention in the industry as a large-scale theme park project，But 188bet app the London resort is still questioned by many critics，Many people believe that such a large-scale project will ultimately be difficult to build，The&ldquo who once ran Disneyland Paris;Firefighting Captain”Can we solve the current project startup problem，It remains to be seen whether the UK's largest theme park resort, even comparable to Disneyland Paris, will be built。