Shanghai Andersen Paradise and the Royal Danish Consulate aim to bring the fairy-tale attraction to other Chinese cities.
Although Shanghai Andersen Paradise has only been open for four months of operation, it has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Royal Danish Consulate for wide expansion across China, reports China Daily.
The memorandum of understanding states there will be collaboration on 30 new projects featuring the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen in the context of Northern Europe and Denmark in particular.
According to the management team of Shanghai Andersen Paradise the aim is to address competition from Disney. Nicolai Prytz, consul-general of Denmark in Shanghai, commented that the collaboration is bound to strengthen its ties with the theme park. He hoped that park visitors would be inspired to come to Denmark in the future.
The Shanghai Andersen Paradise is the first of its kind. It officially opened on June 28 in northeast Shanghai. So far 350,000 visitors have walked through its gates. The theme park’s daily limit is 7,000.
The theme park, with a footprint of 81,300 square metres, has attracted nearly 2 billion yuan ($302 million) in investment. It features a number of works from the Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen, renowned for his fairy stories such as The Little Mermaid.
Aside from its recreational facilities, the park has two restaurants and a shopping centre.
Gui Haozhan, chairman of Shanghai Andersen Paradise said the theme park mainly targets children from three to 14. “The purpose is to bring parents and children together,” he said.
“The theme park will work as a platform to demonstrate cooperation between China and Denmark in culture, education, commerce and travel,” he added.
The Chinese theme park market is exceedingly vibrant. Shanghai Disneyland, the sixth of its kind worldwide, received 27 million visitors by the end of October (it opened last April).
China is set to become the world’s largest theme park market by 2020. Sales revenues are set to reach $12 billion, overtaking Japan and the United States.
Image: Danish Chamber of Commerce in China
https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2017-11/16/content_34593288.htm
