The Gold Coast theme park industry may be currently in the doldrums but that hasn’t deterred a Chinese company which plans to invest US$400 million in a new park.
Songcheng Performance Development has approved funds to build the Australian Legendary Kingdom theme park in Nerang, near Surfers Paradise.
The park will feature an Aboriginal Cultural Village, a ‘Mysterious Orient’ themed area and a Wild Australia stage show.
"The project will also offer a mixture of Australian culture and oriental culture, which will meet diversified tourist demand from different age groups," the company said.
"This investment is the first step for Songcheng to go international, and also a key move for us to create the world’s No 1 stage performance operator."
Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate welcomed the announcement and said it is not too soon to talk of a new theme park just weeks after the Dreamworld tragedy.
"It’s never a bad time to talk about enhancing our tourism infrastructure. The way we look at it on the Gold Coast, we like to broaden our economy and we want to broaden our tourism economy," Tate said.
"Back in the day, we were the No.1 choice for theme parks, and we’ve got to keep doing that to stay up the top."
Four people were killed after a river ride car flipped over at the Dreamworld theme park last month.
Dreamworld still remains closed with no confirmed re-opening date announced yet.
Songcheng operates attractions including the Sanya Romance Park, Sanya Songcheng Color Zoo, Sanya Songcheng Ice and Snow World and Sanya Songcheng Langlanglang Water Park.
