It has been a banner year for new China theme parks with the likes of Walt Disney and Wanda celebrating high profile openings, but most struggle for profitability.
A 2016 Chinese theme park annual report says only about one in ten theme parks make money.
About 70% operate at a loss while the remainder break-even.
President of China Tourism Academy, Dai Bin said theme parks mostly do not meet the aspirations of today’s theme park goers.
"Theme parks in the past were no more than a landscape show. Now they have become amusement parks as the second generation, which still don’t have an attractive theme and a story or logic thread to link up all elements. Theme parks don’t mean you display a dinosaur statue or an Ultraman. They should be alive and interactive with visitors. People come to pursue inner values and feelings," Dai said.
Dai said some parks are even built simply as a sweetener to attract investors to a larger mixed use development and may close down once other areas of the development starts making money.
The report says investment of about $64 billion is being spent on 64 new parks opening between 2015 and 2020.
