The amusement park market is “up and down”, the local tourism market is still in demand
The pandemic caused the amusement park market to experience a “cold spring” at the beginning of this year, just like today’s weather. On March 27, Beijing Business Daily learned that following the suspension of Shanghai Disney Resort, some hotels in Guangzhou and Zhuhai Chimelong Resort were also temporarily open. In addition, amusement parks such as Tianjin Haichang Polar Ocean Park were temporarily closed. The Epidemic once again hit the campus—the epidemic ark industry. In fact, in the past two years, affected by the changes of the Epidemic, the performance of many amusement parks has not been ideal, and the market volatility is also continuing. From the view of industry insiders, the change of the Epidemic does slow the recovery of the tourism industry, and amusement parks can also take some measures to tide over the current difficulties.
Many amusement parks have temporarily closed recently due to the spread of the Epidemic, and the amusement park industry is full of challenges again. As local prevention and control measures continue to strengthen, many amusement parks have issued a suspension of business notice.Recently, Shanghai Disney issued a notice that given the current epidemic prevention and control situation, Shanghai Disney Resort (including Shanghai Disneyland, Disneytown, and Wishing Star Park) will be temporarily closed starting March 21, 2022. Shanghai Disneyland will continue to pay attention to the progress of epidemic prevention and control, consult relevant departments for guidance., It inform you in time once the resumption time is clarified.
The Haichang Polar Ocean Park in Tianjin also posted a notice on its official account that it was temporarily closed. According to the notice, the Tianjin Haichang Polar Ocean Park will be temporarily closed from March 20, 2022, to the current needs of the city’s COVID-19 prevention and control efforts.
In addition to amusement parks, hotels in some amusement parks have also been affected.
Earlier, it was reported that several hotels in Guangzhou and Zhuhai Chimelong resort have suspended business.
In this regard, a reporter from Beijing Business Daily called Chimelong, and the customer service staff said: “At present, the Chimelong Hotel in Guangzhou Chimelong Resort is typically open for business, while the Panda Hotel is temporarily closed. At the same time, Zhuhai Chimelong Resort is currently available for business. Only the Chimelong Hengqin Bay Hotel has been opened. The Penguin Hotel, the Circus Hotel, and the Ocean Science Hotel are expected to officially resume business in May. However, the specific situation depends on the development of the subsequent Epidemic. ”
“Twins and three twists” in the past two years in facts, in the past two years, affected by the changes in the Epidemic, amusement parks have been opening and stopping, and the continuous fluctuation of the market has also caused the performance of amusement parks to “twist and twist.” A reporter from Beijing Business Daily learned that Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park and Resort Hotel will be temporarily closed from 15:00 on January 24, 2020. Subsequently, the park was closed for 56 days and did not reopen until March 20 of that year. However, the good times did not last long. On the evening of the 29th of the month, Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park re-issued an announcement saying that, in response to the notification from the higher authorities, according to the needs of the new crown pneumonia epidemic prevention and control work, Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park and Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park Resort Hotel will open in 2020. It will be closed again starting March 30, 2019. In recent years, due to the impact of the pandemic, the operation of Hong Kong Disneyland has not been optimistic.
It is understood that Hong Kong Disneyland has announced the suspension of business three times in 2020, which makes its opening time in 2020 only about four months, and the Epidemic caused Hong Kong Disneyland’s net loss to reach 2.7 billion Hong Kong dollars that year.
Beijing Business Daily reporter also learned that Hong Kong Disneyland had to carry out “self-rescue” based on the local market under the downturn in passenger flow.
In November 2020, Hong Kong Disneyland launched the “Wonderful 15th Anniversary Celebration”, and the “Wonderful Dream Castle,” a park landmark, was also inaugurated after a new interpretation. Meanwhile, a daytime stage show called “Disney’s Dream” debuted on June 30 last year. However, earlier this year, Hong Kong Disneyland temporarily closed again from January 7 to 20, 2022, to the local health bureau’s request to cooperate with preventive work across Hong Kong.
From the perspective of industry insiders, the changes in the Epidemic in the past two years have brought considerable fluctuations to the amusement park market. Many amusement parks have begun to remedy this situation. During the pandemic, reducing and saving expenses have become routine operations for various amusement parks.
There is still travel demand in the local tourism market when recovering from the effects of the Epidemic, which has also become a concern for amusement park operators. Some industry players believe everyone’s willingness to go to amusement parks is still extreme in the context of localization and surrounding tourism. Therefore, they think that the impact of the Epidemic is short-lived and expect the amusement park market to usher in a rapid recovery shortly. According to the “2021 Tourism Economic Operation Analysis and 2022 Development Forecast” released by the China Tourism Academy, taking into account macroeconomics, the impact of the Epidemic, and market factors, it is estimated that the number of domestic tourists in 2022 will be 3.980 billion, and the domestic tourism revenue will be 3.81 trillion yuan. , increased by 16% and 27% year-on-year, respectively, and recovered to nearly 70% of the level in the same period in 2019.At the same time, residents’ willingness to travel in the first quarter of 2022 was 85.32%, a year-on-year increase of 3.15%.
This means that the fundamentals of tourism demand are still there and have steadily recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
Tourist Ms. Wang told the Beijing Business Daily reporter: “I went to Beijing Universal Resort this weekend. Many tourists were there that day, and some amusement facilities had to queue up. Due to the impact of the Epidemic, I can only travel around Beijing and wait for the Epidemic. After that, I will choose to visit amusement parks in other cities.”
Wu Liyun, associate professor of the Chinese Academy of Culture and Tourism Industry of Beijing International Studies University, pointed out that for the tourism and amusement park industries, the most significant uncertainty factor is the development of the Epidemic. It will still focus on local tourists. As for whether the passenger flow can usher in a small peak during the summer vacation depends on the changes in the epidemic situation.” Although the current epidemic situation in some provinces and cities is still changing, with the popularization of vaccines and the improvement of the epidemic prevention and control situation, the development of the tourism industry is still worth looking forward to. But the direction of growth depends on Epidemic changes.” Wu Liyun also talked.
