Speaking at the opening of the recent IAAPA Asian Attractions Expo in Beijing, Paul Noland, president and CEO of IAAPA, said the Chinese market is the fastest growing in the world, with at least 59 theme parks under development, probably more. The trade show – IAAPA’s first foray into mainland China after years in Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau – was a huge step up size-wise on previous events, as suppliers gear up to tackle the commercial opportunities presented by this massive market.

Further evidence of the momentum in the Chinese and wider Asian markets comes from the new TEA/ AECOM 2013 Theme Index & Museum Index (see page 36), which shows that attractions in Asia are booming in terms of both new facility development and attendance. This trend applies to everything from theme parks to museums and watermarks.

The gap in attendance figures between the top 20 North American theme parks and the top 20 Asian parks is narrowing fast, falling from a difference of 22.9 million people in 2012 to 18.3 million in 2013.

Museum attendances in Asia grew by 27.8 per cent in 2013, mainly as a result of a new free-access museums policy which has been implemented in China. The change was rolled out to two-thirds of the nation’s museums during 2013, and its impact shows how – by sheer force of numbers – growth in the Chinese market will enable this rapidly emerging nation to dominate in Asia.

At facility level, the National Museum of China saw a huge jump up the rankings, reporting growth in attendance of 38.7 per cent and moving into third place internationally. This is partly a result of the free admissions policy and partly because the museum has benefited from significant investment. As part of this, the focus of the collections has shifted from local to national history, with a number of popular international exhibitions organised as China opens up to the world.

In 2000, when rumours first circulated about Disney’s intention to build in China, the nation was largely closed to the West, so it was an audacious move by the Mouse.

It was a further nine years before the formal announcement came, showing the incubation period required for a project of this nature, scale and scope.

Disney’s move showed the world China was open for business and was partly responsible for sparking the current wave of development. Shanghai Disneyland will open at the end of 2015. All schemes in China are subject to state approval and as the government favours those promoting Chinese history and culture, they’re dominating proposed developments.

This include plans by the Puy du Fou – France’s world-class historical reenactment theme park – which will work with Chinese partners to build an attraction by the Great Wall.

With such exciting plans in the pipeline, the industry will be riding the development wave in China for decades to come

Liz Terry, editor, twitter: @elizterry