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Merlin Entertainments may bring other midway attractions to Delhi

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LEGOLAND Discovery Centre

A LEGOLAND Discovery Centre could potentially join Madame Tussauds as part of Merlin Entertainments’ ten-year investment plan in India.

Merlin Entertainments has announced plans to invest ÂŁ50 million in India over a ten year period, reports the Business Standard.

“Madame Tussauds wax museum is the first step towards that investment,” says Anshul Jain, General Manager and Director of Merlin Entertainments India.  “At the moment, the entire focus on the wax museum is making it a huge success.  Once we see what sort of response we are getting for it, we will surely be opening many more attractions.”  A SEA LIFE aquarium and LEGOLAND Discovery Centre are the likeliest candidates.

Jain says the company is planning a LEGOLAND Discovery Centre for Delhi and in cities in the western part of India.

However Marcel Kloos, Director of New Openings Europe and Emerging Markets for Merlin Entertainments, said the development had yet to be finalised. “When we go into a new market, we first open one attraction and then we see how it goes,” he says. “We take our learnings and then we spread out. What we would really like to see first is how Madame Tussauds does in India and how consumers take it.

“Hopefully, they will love it like people have loved it all across the world.  Then we can bring some of our other brands to the country.”

He squashed hopes of an imminent opening for LEGOLAND Discovery Centres.  “To be 100 per cent honest, we haven’t confirmed anything yet,” he says.  “We have got a pocketful of brands, with the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre being very exciting.  SEA LIFE is a well-known aquarium brand and one of the biggest in the world. It could be one of those, but we haven’t confirmed anything.”

The company’s first priority for all attractions is the location.

“Once we found the site in Connaught Place, we were sure it would be a perfect fit for Madame Tussauds,” says Kloos. “We are actively looking for opportunities in India, but we haven’t found them yet.”

The opening of Madame Tussauds Delhi was delayed due to concerns over structural stability and licencing.  The attraction has now opened online pre-booking.  “The response has been phenomenal,” says Jain.  “We are expecting good footfalls.”

https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/merlin-entertainments-plans-to-bring-legoland-discovery-centre-in-delhi-117100300853_1.html

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