Visitors at Shanghai Disneyland Photo: Huang Ge/GT

The Shanghai Disney Resort has been pursuing growth in the Chinese mainland market for more than three years. The upcoming Chinese Lunar Year of the Rat may provide a valuable opportunity for the resort.

For the Year of the Rat, Disney plans to use its iconic character Mickey Mouse to sell more new products including cosmetics, clothes, food, toys and home furnishings in the Chinese market. Global brands that have confirmed cooperation with Disney include Gucci, Li Ning, SK-II, Maybelline and Pandora.

Shanghai Disney Resort also announced on Thursday it would hold a series of special events from January 13 to February 9 to celebrate the Year of the Rat, including offering an exclusive Spring Festival banquet accompanied by Mickey and Minnie with plenty of activities such as paper-cutting, sugar painting and dumpling making.

Shanghai Disney Resort, one of Disney's most ambitious projects, opened on June 16, 2016 to become the sixth of its kind worldwide. During the past years, the resort has made considerable headway in the mainland market by pursuing localized growth through integrating Chinese culture with its services, according to experts.

Disney's current development in the mainland market corresponds to expectations in recent years, Liu Dingding, a Beijing-based industry analyst, told the Global Times.

The core asset of Disney is its intellectual property (IP) as the US entertainment conglomerate owns more than half of the world famous IP thanks to its film products from Marvel and Pixar, which helps add more competitive competence for Disney in the domestic market, Liu said.

"Factors such as hardware and technology are not decisive to gauge a theme park, what matters more is the IP and derivatives," Liu noted. 

In late December, Shanghai Disney Resort announced site preparation work was completed and main construction has commenced on Shanghai Disneyland's newest and eighth themed land, Zootopia. It is the first Zootopia-themed attraction at any Disney park in the world, and the second major expansion in the Shanghai Disneyland after the opening of the Disney?Pixar Toy Story Land in April 2018.

The expansion demonstrates the Shanghai Disney Resort's "commitment to bringing new and unique experiences to our guests, offering more reasons for them to come visit us again and again," said Joe Schott, President and General Manager, Shanghai Disney Resort.

Compared with other foreign theme parks such as Universal, which will be opened in Beijing in 2021, Shanghai Disneyland will still maintain its attraction and play a vital role in driving the tourism industry in the Yangtze River Delta region, experts said.

Seeking growth

But Disney projects have not all been smooth sailing in China. In March 2019, a student sued the resort for being refused entry with snacks. The incident sparked a dispute on social media.

In August, Chinese consumers questioned Shanghai Disney's bag check policy, citing encroachment of privacy. 

In September, the resort implemented a new policy allowing visitors to bring some food and beverages into its theme park and began using X-ray machines for security screenings at the entrance of the theme park in early December on a trial basis.

According to an earnings report released by Walt Disney in late November, higher operating income at Shanghai Disney Resort was due to an increase in average ticket prices, partially offset by lower attendance. Lower results at the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort were due to decreases in attendance and occupied room nights reflecting the impact of the city's recent social unrest.

Pursuing localized growth is an appreciated effort, and continuous innovation, particularly on the basis of Chinese culture, is an expected key driver for Shanghai Disneyland to maintain its attraction for Chinese visitors in the future, Jiang Yiyi, professor of the Leisure Sports and Tourism School of the Beijing Sport University, told the Global Times on Friday.

Jiang said that the theme park should focus on improving the revisiting rate and further optimizing the consumption structure to face intensified competition in the Chinese theme park industry.

IP attraction

China will become the global largest theme park market by 2020, as the number of tourists is expected to exceed 230 million, according to US engineering firm AECOM.

At least 70 new theme parks are under construction or in a detailed planning stage, AECOM said.

The direct benefit scale of Chinese theme parks in 2019, including tickets, catering, and accommodation, is expected to reach 323.76 billion yuan ($46.79 billion), according to data from Guangdong-based research firm iiMedia Research.

Experts attributed the fast growth to Chinese consumers' rising income that triggers demand for leisure activities and more convenient public transportation systems.

Despite the domestic theme park sector embracing an increased number of home-grown players such as Happy Valley and Chimelong Safari Park, their themes differ from that of Shanghai Disneyland, Jiang said, adding that "domestic industry competition would not fundamentally shake the development of Shanghai Disneyland." 

"I visited several Disney parks in the world such as in Florida, Paris and Shanghai as well as many local theme parks in China like Chimelong in South China's Guangdong Province," said a college student surnamed Luo who studies in the US.

Luo told the Global Times that "Disney's attraction is that it makes all of our childhood dreams come true via its IP resources and that's what would make me willing to visit Mickey Mouse several times. For some Chinese theme parks, they did bring joy and leisure for one-time visits, but the 'lack of story' will make them easily replaced by mushrooming rivals."

Although the Chinese market has stepped up to build its own characteristic theme parks, uneven services levels and immature management experience will not help them overtake their foreign rivals, experts said, noting that just copying, instead of independent innovation, is unlikely to achieve sustainable development in the future.

Landmark cooperation

Shanghai Disneyland has set a model to its Chinese rivals in services and management, experts noted.

The Shanghai Disney Resort is the largest modern services industry cooperation project between China and the US as well as one of Disney's biggest overseas investments. It is also a landmark project in China's opening-up process.

As a renowned international metropolis, Shanghai is a bridgehead in China's opening-up process, Liu said, as it demonstrated the city's hosting of the China International Import Expo in the last two years and US electric-car giant Tesla on Tuesday delivering made-in-China Model 3s to customers.

It can be seen that Chinese cities, represented by Shanghai, are both welcoming and willing to open the door for cooperation in services industry with all parties across the world, Liu said.