Hello. This is <Realworld EXP.>. Do you enjoy theme parks? You can escape from daily life and have a fun day riding exciting attractions in a land of dreams and fantasy. Today, we'd like to talk about the transformation of theme parks. While previous episodes of <Realworld EXP.> focused mainly on overseas major theme park cases, this time we'll look at domestic theme park examples.
Theme parks that had been struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic in recent years are said to be returning to their pre-pandemic state. The performance of Korea's representative theme parks, Everland and Lotte World, is reportedly at an all-time high, with visitor numbers recovering to 90% of 2019 levels, just before the pandemic. Now that the pandemic has been overcome, have the crises facing theme parks disappeared?
However, looking at Hotel Lotte's 2023 business report, which owns Lotte World, there's a notable section. It states that 'the domestic theme park and water park industry has entered a mature phase and is currently facing a period of low growth.' The reasons cited include a decrease in the main customer demographic due to low birth rates, dispersion to small regional festivals, and the evolution of large complex malls. We can say that it's time for theme parks to change in line with these major trends.
Theme Park = Theme + Park
By definition, a theme park means 'a space created around a specific theme for people's enjoyment.' Therefore, spaces must be designed around themes that people love, and these themes must be continuously updated so people don't become too familiar or bored. In other words, content is essential.
As we've covered in previous <Realworld EXP.> episodes, major theme parks like Disneyland and Universal Studios are investing enormous amounts to reconfigure their spaces. Universal Orlando Resort's 'The Wizarding World of Harry Potter,' which opened in 2010, reportedly cost $265 million (approximately 360 billion won), Disneyland Park's 'Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge,' which opened in 2019, cost $1 billion (approximately 1.36 trillion won), and Universal Studios Japan's 'Super Nintendo World,' which opened in 2021, required a massive investment of 60 billion yen (approximately 550 billion won).
IP Utilization Cases in Domestic Theme Parks
The decrease in customer demographics due to low birth rates and unclear themes pose crises for domestic theme parks. Therefore, raising the customer age range and designing spaces around themes they want will be the survival strategy for theme parks. However, creating new spaces like 'The Wizarding World of Harry Potter' or 'Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge' for so-called 'kidults' requires astronomical budgets. This would be realistically burdensome and challenging.
An article titled 'How Theme Parks Utilize IP' in the Korea Copyright Commission's Monthly Copyright Issue Trends Issue No. 12 states that focusing on potential customers and clear targets can achieve great results even with small-scale IP. The idea that IP utilization requires massive investment is a misconception. Perhaps this is why theme parks are continuously changing their themes through collaborations with various IPs rather than large-scale facility investments.
In Lotte World's case, they're showing efforts to secure content through collaborations with external IPs. They introduced an attraction called 'BATTLEGROUNDS World Agent' incorporating the popular game 'BATTLEGROUNDS,' and recently they're operating an experience zone and mission tour utilizing the animation 'Detective Conan.'
Everland is prominently featuring the popular panda characters 'Bao Family.' On July 7th this year, they live-streamed Rui Bao and Hui Bao's first birthday party online, and considering that the panda family's birthdays are concentrated in July, they held the 'Bao Family Birthday Festa' until August 4th.
According to online bookstore Yes24, 87.6% of purchasers of the photo essay 'Baby Panda Fu Bao,' released last July, were women. It was particularly popular among women in their 20s (27.5%) and 30s (39.7%), making us curious about how Everland will utilize the panda IP going forward.
While the panda IP appeals to women in their 20s and 30s, the pandas must be returned to China after a certain period. Therefore, Everland is making efforts to secure other IPs besides pandas. For example, for Halloween 2024, they collaborated with two Netflix content pieces for the 'BLOOD CITY' event, and the Blood City promotional video reportedly became a sensation with over 5 million views.
Securing Original IP is a Long-term Challenge
The lack of clear themes is cited as a disadvantage for domestic theme parks. Looking at their websites, Everland represents 'the world dreamed by Everlanders living in the eternal land of an enchanted mountain,' while Lotte World represents 'a land of adventure and mystery,' but these seem rather abstract and vague.
Of course, domestic theme parks are aware of this and are eagerly working to secure IPs. However, collaborating with too many IPs could make the theme park's identity ambiguous. In the long term, they'll need to secure their own original IPs.
<Realworld EXP.> has introduced various playable content based on diverse experiences. Some of you might think of 'Sleep No More' or the theme park without rides 'Immersive Fort Tokyo,' while others might recall popup stores utilizing KPOP fandoms. We'll continue to watch with interest to see what forms the transformation of theme parks will take.