The Experience Economist APAC 2026 - Focus on China

Comparing the metrics Key

Macroeconomic update: Compared with last year, the shift is toward stronger value generation alongside mixed volume trends. Theme park and water park visits per 1,000 residents show a relatively uneven picture: growth is concentrated in markets such as India (+7.1%), Singapore (+7.1%), Vietnam (+5.2%) and Hong Kong SAR (+4.7%), while several more mature markets – including Taiwan, Malaysia, Australia and Korea – decline slightly, indicating softer demand in some parts of the market. In contrast, average spend per head has increased across all markets, led by India (+13.0%), the Philippines (+6.1%) and China (+6.0%), pointing to a broad uplift in yield. As a result, economic impact has strengthened overall, supported by India’s rapid expansion (+22.1%), continued scale growth in China (+6.8%), and strong performance in Singapore and Hong Kong SAR – while declines in Taiwan (-5.3%), Malaysia (-3.7%), Australia (-0.9%) and Korea (-0.6%) highlight where weaker visitor intensity is limiting gains. Overall, the shift from last year is clear: growth is being driven less by increases in visits and more by higher spend per visit.

Resident population, 2025

Gross domestic product per Capita, 2025 Total theme park and water park attendance per 1,000 residents

Average total spend per Capita at theme parks and water parks

Estimated theme park and water park economic impact (monetary)

Korea

Estimated theme park and water park employment impact (jobs)

51.7m $34.6k 682 $34.2 $2.4bn 34.6k Japan

123.3m $34.0k 633 $56.8 $8.1bn 68.3k Taiwan

Pakistan

23.4m $34.4k 662 $26.2 $745m 14.2k

Hong Kong SAR

241m

7.6m $56.0k 1,506 $119.5 $2.7bn 10.4k

India

Macao SAR

1.5bn $2.9k

21

$11.7 $648m 79.4k

0.7m $76.3k

Bangladesh

Vietnam

173.7m $2.7k

102.2m $4.8k 143 $21.2 $637m 15.6k

Cambodia

China

17.4m $2.9k

1.4bn $13.7k 187 $41.4 $18.4bn 321.1k

Philippines

Singapore

Thailand

114.4m $4.4k 45 $15.8 $142m 5.5k

6.1m $92.9k 963 $49.7 $551m 5.1k

70.3m $7.8k 117 $35.1 $534m 10.3k

Australia

Malaysia

Indonesia

27.4m $64.5k 419 $51.3 $1.2bn 9.5k New Zealand

33.9m $13.1k 288 $28.6 $581m 8.0k

284.4m $5.0k

51

$10.7 $266m 17.0k

5.4m $46.1k 209 $29.4 $63m 1.0k

Sources: 1. IMF WEO April 2025 Edition 2. IMF WEO April 2025 Edition 3. LDP database for park attendance estimates, IMF WEO April 2025 Edition for resident population. Sample relates to parks with attendances greater than 100,000 4. LDP database

5. LDP database for park spend estimates and OECD for respective multipliers 6. LDP database for park employee estimates and OECD for respective multipliers

4 THE EXPERIENCE ECONOMIST: ASIA PACIFIC (APAC) EDITION 2026 FOCUS ON CHINA | © LDP

THE EXPERIENCE ECONOMIST: ASIA PACIFIC (APAC) EDITION 2026 FOCUS ON CHINA | © LDP 5

Made with FlippingBook. PDF to flipbook with ease