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WOTW in Changsha, Hunan Province, and even took
China is a
Splendid China to the States, opening an outlet in
huge market.
Orlando – a true Overseas Chinese Town.
Yet the foray into America proved ultimately
There are over 30 unsuccessful, and the park closed at the end of 2003.
provinces and
“At that time we were not so familiar with America’s
tourism market,” concedes Gao Jun, OCT Tourism
that presents
vice-president. “After many years we had become a
great
pioneer for the industry in China and it was time to
opportunities for
concentrate on building a national tourism brand at
home.”
the tourism
industry. The
Happy Times
growth of parks
But even in China a new direction was needed. Happy
Valley had opened five years earlier in Shenzhen and
is linked to the was already beginning to eclipse both Splendid China
growth of the
and WOTW in popularity. Yao offers this explanation:
cities. We hope
“There weren’t so many other parks when Splendid
China opened. After the opening up and reforming of
to attract to 30
China, we had more chance to go and visit other parks
million guests a
around the world and we saw that more rides and
interactive attractions were needed, that’s why we did
year by 2018, and
Happy Valley.”
I believe we can
Happy Valley, or Happy Kingdom, began as a
achieve that

waterpark across the road from Splendid
China/WOTW in 1998. What was its original front
gate is now an OCT-owned Crown Plaza hotel, but
nevertheless the park has expanded to fill a 32-hectare
Happy Valley Shenzhen
site with over 100 attractions spread across nine
themed areas. Around 3.2 million guests visited last southern and northern parts of China,” to establish the
year and forecasts suggest over 3.5 million will by the park but that it provides an important step towards
end of 2008. fulfilling the vision of a national theme park brand.
The park employs a rolling programme of events to Clearly, establishing a park in the Chinese capital
sustain interest throughout the year and encourage was an important strategic move for OCT, and it
additional visits after dark. The six special events should be noted that the venue opened before the
include the Chinese New Year Festival, Youth Culture Olympic Games. In Shanghai, where OCT is preparing
Festival, Maya Carnival, International Magic Festival, its largest Happy Valley to date, the group is keen to
Halloween and a Pop Music Festival. debut the park ahead of the 2010 World Expo and is
Happy Valley Beijing, which opened in 2006, is even currently on course to open the gates to the public next
more highly themed. Yet this 56-hectare park, which is summer.
located in the Chaoyang District, has yet to reach the In the meantime, Happy Valley Chengdu is expected
same sort of visitor numbers as in Shenzhen, pulling in to open soon in a city that was severely affected by the
around 2 million guests a year. In its corporate giant earthquake last May in the Sichuan Province. The
The park that started it all: brochure, OCT notes that it had to “overcome park itself escaped relatively unscathed, but local moral
Splendid China in Shenzhen territorial, climatic and cultural differences between the was obviously badly damaged. “We are trying very
50
NOVEMBER 2008
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