SeaWorld Orlando SeaWorld C.E.O. Hints at Overseas Ambitions

kiang

kiang

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SeaWorld C.E.O. Hints at Overseas Ambitions

SeaWorld had a promising debut on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, its stock opening at $30.56 a share, 13 percent above the initial public offering price, before closing at $33.52, or 24 percent higher. The company priced its shares at $27 each in the I.P.O. Thursday evening, raising $702 million and achieving a valuation of $2.5 billion.
In an interview on Friday, Mr. Atchison gave some hints as to what those plans might be. Currently, SeaWorld Entertainment operates 11 theme parks in the United States, including SeaWorld and Busch Gardens, without a presence overseas.
“We could take our Shamu show in Orlando and probably show it in Malaysia or Abu Dhabi or Dubai,” Mr. Atchison said. “There’s a lot of interest in our brands from overseas.”
Interestingly enough, the C.E.O mentioned that that the company cares for 67'000 animals!

SeaWorld C.E.O. Hints at Overseas Ambitions - NYTimes.com
 
I doubt Europe, there are a lot of issues with developing a park like that in the EU. My bets would be Asia (China or South Korea) and Saudi Arabia. The Saudis have been dumping cash around the globe at astonishing rates, it would shock me to learn that they had not approached United Parks about licensing a park like the UAE.
 
SwampDonkey said:
I doubt Europe, there are a lot of issues with developing a park like that in the EU. My bets would be Asia (China or South Korea) and Saudi Arabia. The Saudis have been dumping cash around the globe at astonishing rates, it would shock me to learn that they had not approached United Parks about licensing a park like the UAE.
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Seaworld already have a park in Dubai. Asia's a strong possibility. If not Europe, I would also say Mexico might be a good chance. A huge population - and they love theme parks there, but there is a gap in the market for a facility like Seaworld (the same can't be said for Asia).
 
Jambo said:
Seaworld already have a park in Dubai. Asia's a strong possibility. If not Europe, I would also say Mexico might be a good chance. A huge population - and they love theme parks there, but there is a gap in the market for a facility like Seaworld (the same can't be said for Asia).
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The UAE park is actually in Abu Dhabi, which I know is right next to Dubai, but just for clarity. I am not sure that it matters if there is already a park in the Middle East, if someone has cash and a population to support it I think United Parks would be interested, and the Saudi's have cash and population, not to mention the tourist market due to the Hajj. The USA supports three parks, the Middle East could easily support two.

I don't think Mexico is a realistic possibility, I don't think that the disposable income and market would support it - but who knows, I am not an economist.
 
The most obvious front-runner, in my opinion, is Riyadh or Qiddiya City in Saudi Arabia. The country’s Vision 2030 initiative is throwing enormous resources into tourism and entertainment development, and Qiddiya already has Six Flags and Aquarabia on the way. It’s the kind of environment that perfectly fits SeaWorld’s new “capital-light, partner-funded” model (similar to how SeaWorld Abu Dhabi came together). With the Middle East proving receptive to big, climate-controlled attractions, a SeaWorld in Riyadh would be a logical next step.

For the second location, my money’s on somewhere in Southeast Asia, maybe Malaysia, Thailand, or Singapore. The region has booming tourism, a growing middle class, and governments that are usually eager to partner with global brands to boost resort development. There’s also relatively little competition in the “marine life theme park” space compared to other parts of Asia. The challenge, of course, would be climate and regulatory issues, but the market potential makes it very attractive.

A wild-card option could be India—somewhere like Mumbai or the Goa region. The country has massive domestic tourism potential and relatively few large-scale marine-life attractions. The main obstacles are infrastructure and bureaucracy, which make it less predictable for a company like United Parks that prefers turnkey partnerships.

As for China, I think that ship has sailed. The country is already flooded with large marine parks like Chimelong and Haichang Ocean Kingdom, so there’s no real gap in the market for SeaWorld to fill. On top of that, geopolitics, IP protection issues, and a growing public pushback against cetacean shows make it a risky bet.

Japan isn’t likely either. It already has Kamogawa Sea World, and its theme-park market is mature and dominated by Disney and Universal. Development costs are high, and public sensitivity around marine mammals would make a new SeaWorld park a PR headache.

Finally, I don’t see Europe being in the mix at all. The regulatory environment there is extremely tough with many countries having banned or already having phased-out their dolphin and whale collections altogether. Public sentiment is overwhelmingly against new marine-mammal facilities. Add in high operating costs and a market already full of top-tier aquariums like Oceanogràfic Valencia, and there’s just no business case for SeaWorld to enter that space.
 
zoocentral said:
The most obvious front-runner, in my opinion, is Riyadh or Qiddiya City in Saudi Arabia. The country’s Vision 2030 initiative is throwing enormous resources into tourism and entertainment development, and Qiddiya already has Six Flags and Aquarabia on the way. It’s the kind of environment that perfectly fits SeaWorld’s new “capital-light, partner-funded” model (similar to how SeaWorld Abu Dhabi came together). With the Middle East proving receptive to big, climate-controlled attractions, a SeaWorld in Riyadh would be a logical next step.

For the second location, my money’s on somewhere in Southeast Asia, maybe Malaysia, Thailand, or Singapore. The region has booming tourism, a growing middle class, and governments that are usually eager to partner with global brands to boost resort development. There’s also relatively little competition in the “marine life theme park” space compared to other parts of Asia. The challenge, of course, would be climate and regulatory issues, but the market potential makes it very attractive.

A wild-card option could be India—somewhere like Mumbai or the Goa region. The country has massive domestic tourism potential and relatively few large-scale marine-life attractions. The main obstacles are infrastructure and bureaucracy, which make it less predictable for a company like United Parks that prefers turnkey partnerships.

As for China, I think that ship has sailed. The country is already flooded with large marine parks like Chimelong and Haichang Ocean Kingdom, so there’s no real gap in the market for SeaWorld to fill. On top of that, geopolitics, IP protection issues, and a growing public pushback against cetacean shows make it a risky bet.

Japan isn’t likely either. It already has Kamogawa Sea World, and its theme-park market is mature and dominated by Disney and Universal. Development costs are high, and public sensitivity around marine mammals would make a new SeaWorld park a PR headache.

Finally, I don’t see Europe being in the mix at all. The regulatory environment there is extremely tough with many countries having banned or already having phased-out their dolphin and whale collections altogether. Public sentiment is overwhelmingly against new marine-mammal facilities. Add in high operating costs and a market already full of top-tier aquariums like Oceanogràfic Valencia, and there’s just no business case for SeaWorld to enter that space.
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Most certainly not Singapore. It's too small in size and population to support more than 1 marine life park (Singapore Oceanarium was just launched this year) or theme park (there's already a Universal Studios).
 
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