Newly-opened theme parks in Mainland need to observe brand building and an innovative operation formula to stay competitive, the China Securities Journal reported. The opening of the theme park, Happy Valley, in Beijing has triggered a new wave of theme park construction. Happy Valley has been open for one month. Up until August 9, it had more than 200,000 visitors per month.   Zhu Yi, an analyst with tourism department at Changjiang Securities Research Institute, said that with new openings, theme parks might enjoy a golden period of popularity in the first 6 months to one year. Then the number of visitors would gradually go down. Zhu added that currently, China’s theme parks are very geographically restricted and whether the attractions can remain popular after the opening phase is a challenge. No theme park so far has overcome its geographical location and become a national success. International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) estimated total revenue of 82 million US dollars from amusement parks in Asia, with an average annual growth rate of 5.9 percent. China’s amusement parks' revenues would total 13 million US dollars, with the fastest growing at an average annual rate of 7.1 percent. Malfunction in old strategies Themed culture packages, high-tech amusement machines, performances and themed activities have become the repetitive formulas that Chinese theme parks adopt. The group weddings that Beijing Carnival organized last year were repeated by Beijing Shijingshan Amusement Park on Chinese Valentine’s Day this year.   Zheng Wei, vice-president of Beijing Happy Valley, commented that the success of a theme park depends as much on atmosphere, as revenue structure and innovative products. Mere copies of other theme parks’ successful templates don't work, but only those activities which inlcude cultural content can stimulate consumer’s interest.   Zheng added that theme park’s revenue structure should rely less on entrance fees, but gradually more on other consumer products: “The proportion of Shenzhen Happy Valley’s entrance revenue versus other consumption is 3 to 7. We want to exceed that ratio.”   A theme park should also have its own characters and images that can generate a series of commercial products. “Chinese theme parks have not worked much on brand building. Many resources are thus wasted because there is no innovative animation or characters that can support a supply chain,” said Zheng.   The new wave of park building According to the statistics of IAAPA, the growth rate of amusement parks may reach 8 percent in the next ten years.   There are now 2500 amusements parks across the country and many are backward products with singular capital flow, low maintenance and poor planning. They suffer from lack of quality attractions and poor technical level and eventually are forced to be closed or transformed.   The first theme park concept was first established by Shenzhen Happy Valley in 1998. Its record-high revenues encouraged the reproduction of this formula in other parts of China. While Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu copied the formula, many foreign amusement park giants are also eyeing the potential of the market. Carnival started to organize annual performance in Beijing, and Disney is planning to land in Shanghai. These luxurious theme parks not only attract large amounts of capital inflow but also allow people to experience the exotic foreign theme park culture.   Competition Hong Liang, an analyst with China Securities research institute, noted having distinct differences is the key to surviving the fierce competition. Currently, China’s amusement parks have copycat products that lack strong brands and distinct flavours. This reduces the sustainability of Chinese theme parks.   Wang Jing, business manager of the Chinese Journalist Magazine, emphasized that cultural content is the essence of a theme park. However, the existing theme parks lack attractive cultural and humanitarian elements to enrich the packages to stimulate personal and interactive experiences.   “Disney is successful because its fairy tales can stimulate childhood memories of all time. Our theme parks adopt foreign characters, fairy tales and heroes but not Chinese ones. This contributes to the lack of cultural flavours among the theme parks which in turn reduces the spending of the visitors,” said Wang.