A renowned Hong Kong developer has unveiled plans to build a major new theme park in China, based on one of the nation’s iconic IPs.
Keystone Group has revealed proposals to construct a Hello Kitty theme park in the Hainan province.
The magical complex will be spread across 52 acres and along with an abundance of Hello Kitty themed rides and attractions, will include a high-end 250 room hotel.
The developers project the theme park could create more than 3000 jobs to the region, while drawing in 1.5 to two million tourists per year.
The ambitious project is set to cost £450 million to design and develop and is expected to open in 2024.
China’s second Hello Kitty park
The resort won’t be the first Hello Kitty theme park to open in China. In 2015, a 22 acre amusement park dedicated to the legendary cartoon cat opened in the Zhejiang province to coincide with its 40 year anniversary.
Video explores the first Hello Kitty theme park to open in China in 2015
Though the second theme park is set to be more than double the size and cost more than £230 million than the first site to build – the original amusement park doesn’t have to worry about competition, being some 2000 kilometres away from the second proposed site.
Proposals for the new amusement park come as China’s theme park sector flourishes and the nation sees a boost in domestic tourism in the wake of COVID 19. The highly-anticipated Universal Beijing Resort is set to open in 2021, while Shanghai Disneyland is currently expanding with its eighth land, Zootopia.
Officials at the Keystone Group project 90 per cent of the second Hello Kitty theme park’s visitors to come from China. Jeffery Pun, the brains behind the development, and Chief Executive of the Keyestone Group said: “We see a growing demand for family entertainment in China.”
Adding: “We aim to build a theme park that will be one of the most Instagrammable places in China.”
Elsewhere, a new restaurant and entertainment centre is set to open at the Mall of America.
