18 Oct 2016
Wanda hires former Hong Kong Disneyland head to run theme park division
BY Tom Anstey
As Disney and Wanda’s public war for dominance across China continues to rage on, Wanda chair Wang Jianlin has reportedly hired former Disney executive Andrew Kam to lead its charge into the theme park sector.
Kam, who is former managing director of Hong Kong Disneyland, resigned from his position in March earlier this year, citing “personal reasons” for his departure after spending eight years in the role.
According to both Reuters and Quartz, well-placed sources have confirmed that Kam will lead Wanda’s theme park business, fueling the flames of a power struggle between the two entertainment giants.
Earlier this year, Wang Jianlin compared Wanda’s plan to build 15 multi-billion dollar amusement parks in China before 2020 as a “pack of wolves” versus “one tiger” – referring to Disney’s newly-opened US$5.5bn (€5bn, £4.5bn) Shanghai resort.
With its Wanda City plan, Wanda is attempting to topple Disney as the world’s largest tourism enterprise by 2020. By that time, Jianlin wants his parks to have welcomed more than 200 million people and be earning annual tourism income in excess of US$14.9bn (€13.5bn, £12.2bn).
Wanda’s most recent addition is its US$5.2bn (€4.7bn, £4.3bn) Hefei Wanda City development, which has been described as the “first Huizhou culture theme park in the world.”
In addition to the ambitious domestic plans, Wanda has also begun acquisitions of travel enterprises and tourism spots in an effort to build up major tourism hubs abroad, most notably in Australia, where Wang is planning a multi-billion dollar Gold Coast theme park based on the Jurassic World franchise.
Attractions Management has reached out to both Disney and Wanda for public comment. Both are yet to respond.
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