GLOBAL ATTRACTIONS

ATTENDANCE REPORT
Cover image:
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Disneyland Park, Anaheim, CA, U.S.
Photo courtesy of Disney

CREDITS

TEA/AECOM 2019 Theme Index and Museum Index: The Global Attractions Attendance Report
Publisher: Themed Entertainment Association (TEA)
Research: Economics practice at AECOM
Editor: Judith Rubin
Producer: Kathleen LaClair
Lead Designers: Matt Timmins, Nina Patel
Publication team: Tsz Yin (Gigi) Au, Beth Chang, Michael Chee, Linda Cheu,
Celia Datels, Lucia Fischer, Marina Hoffman, Olga Kondaurova, Kathleen LaClair,
Jodie Lock, Jason Marshall, Sarah Linford, Jennie Nevin, Nina Patel, John Robinett,
Judith Rubin, Matt Timmins, Chris Yoshii

©2019 TEA/AECOM. All rights reserved.

CONTACTS

For further information about the contents of this report and about
the Economics practice at AECOM, contact the following:

John Robinett Chris Yoshii

Senior Vice President – Economics Vice President – Economics, Asia-Pacific
[email protected] [email protected]
T +1 213 593 8785 T +852 3922 9000

Kathleen LaClair Beth Chang

Associate Principal – Economics, Americas Executive Director – Economics,
[email protected] Asia-Pacific
T +1 610 444 3690 [email protected]
T +852 3922 8109

Linda Cheu Jodie Lock

Vice President – Economics, Americas Associate – Economics, Asia-Pacific and EMEA
[email protected] [email protected]
T +1 415 955 2928 T +852 3922 9000

aecom.com/economics

For information about TEA (Themed Entertainment Association):

Judith Rubin Jennie Nevin
TEA Director of Publications TEA Chief Operating Officer
[email protected] [email protected]
T +1 314 853 5210 T +1 818 843 8497

TEAconnect.org
GLOBAL ATTRACTIONS
ATTENDANCE REPORT
The definitive annual
attendance study for the
themed entertainment and
museum industries.
Published by the Themed
Entertainment Association
(TEA) and the Economics
practice at AECOM.
 8.0%
China Dinosaur Park,
Changzhou, China,
attendance growth
2018–19

CONTENTS
THE BIG PICTURE 6
THE AMERICAS 24
ASIA-PACIFIC 42
EMEA 58
MUSEUMS 70
ABOUT THE STUDY 98
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 99

China Dinosaur Park, Changzhou, China

© China Dinosaur Park

4
5
THE BIG PICTURE 4.0%
Top 10 theme park
groups worldwide
attendance
growth 2018–19

521.2m
Top 10 theme park
groups worldwide
attendance 2019

501.2m
Top 10 theme park
groups worldwide
attendance 2018

JOHN ROBINETT 9.1m

Senior Vice President –
Universal Studios
Economics Hollywood, Universal City,
— CA, U.S., attendance 2019

6
STABLE 2019 SETS STAGE
FOR COMING CHALLENGES
While 2020 has been a year of great
challenges for the global visitor attractions
industry, our report, as always, focuses on
the results of the previous year, in this case,
2019. We will share some brief comments
about 2020 at the end of this column and
in selected sections of this report, with
detailed analysis to follow, of course, in next
year’s edition.

After clearing the half billion

attendance mark in 2018, the
world’s top theme parks, water
parks and attractions continued
to climb to 521m in 2019 for a 4.0%
annual growth rate as represented
by the top 10 attraction groups.
—
The Asian operators once again dominated
— with OCT, Chimelong, and Fantawild
all reporting high single- or double-digit
increases. In the West, Cedar Fair led the
pack with visitation up 8.0%, which included
the acquisition of several water parks.

Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal City, CA, U.S.

© Universal Studios Hollywood

7
 Looking at the top 20 theme parks in the Overall, EMEA was relatively flat in 2019.
various global markets showed general North American parks advanced at a
stability in 2019 with modest growth rates. modest rate of 1.0% with Universal’s Islands
Asia’s top parks expanded at roughly 2.0%, of Adventure producing the best results at
slightly down from the previous year, with 6.0%, followed by Canada’s Wonderland at
China in general, and OCT in particular, 4.0%, and Knott’s Berry Farm at 3.0%. Latin
delivering strong performances. EMEA American parks were flat as a whole.
had mixed results this year with Merlin’s
LEGOLAND parks showing consistent, mid- Water parks fared about the same as theme
single digit growth, Germany’s parks doing parks this year with a slight increase of
well, and Parc Astérix (France) up 7.0%. 0.6%. Contributors were a number of strong
Asian parks, and Therme Erding in Germany
whose seasonal investments delivered a
notable 23.0% increase in volume.

Museums in Europe had positive results off

THE ATTRACTIONS INDUSTRY the back of some major exhibits expanding
IS RESILIENT, CREATIVE AND attendance by over 4.0%. While Asian
Museums had stable attendance, overall
RESPONSIVE TO THE NEEDS global market share in the top visited
OF ITS GUESTS. museums increased. North America
came down off a big exhibit year in 2018
and was also impacted by a re-calibration
of Smithsonian numbers which led to a
loss of 17.5%.

Chimelong International Ocean

8.4% Tourist Resort, Hengqin, China

© Chimelong
Chimelong Ocean
Kingdom, Hengqin,
China, attendance
growth 2018–19

8
 23.3%
Therme Erding,
Erding, Germany,
attendance growth
2018–19

Therme Erding, Erding, Germany

© Therme Erding

As a whole, 2019 was a rather mild-

mannered year in the industry, with stable
results in the established European and
American markets being supplemented by AS A WHOLE, 2019 WAS A
moderate growth in Asia. This could indicate RATHER MILD-MANNERED
that some pre-recessionary pressures
were building under the surface before the
YEAR IN THE INDUSTRY, WITH
tectonic COVID-19 shifted the foundation of STABLE RESULTS IN THE
the world’s health and economies. ESTABLISHED EUROPEAN AND
AMERICAN MARKETS BEING
With respect to the impact of COVID-19, as
of this writing major commercial attraction
SUPPLEMENTED BY MODERATE
operators are either considering or have GROWTH IN ASIA.
opened their attractions for the summer
season. Cultural attractions, such as
museums and aquariums, are beginning
to open — albeit with more caution — in
various parts of the world as well.

9
 The general sentiment is that with new Finally, it is worth noting that the industry
health and safety measures, many has undergone major disruptions before
attractions will be able to get back to — related to health, safety, economic and
business this year (although at a different security issues. While acknowledging the
level). Some are predicting 30.0% to 50.0% serious nature and consequences of the
of normal business volume for the coming current pandemic, history shows us that
months, and surveys show positive demand people’s behavior, with some exceptions,
from the market. However, it may take one largely returns to normal once the threat
to several years to return to pre-COVID is removed. The attractions industry is
operating levels, and the investment horizon resilient, creative, and responsive to the
of many owners may be altered due to cash needs of its guests. This — combined with
flow loss. the industry’s lasting value of producing
family fun, shared experiences, and escape
— points to a future of recovery and new
innovations as it has in the past.

14.7m
Tokyo DisneySea,
Tokyo, Japan,
attendance 2019

Tokyo DisneySea, Tokyo, Japan

© Tokyo DisneySea

10
TOP 10
THEME PARK GROUPS
WORLDWIDE
GROUP NAME

ATTENDANCE

ATTENDANCE
% CHANGE
RANK

2019

2018
1 WALT DISNEY ATTRACTIONS -0.8% 155,991,000 157,311,000
2 MERLIN ENTERTAINMENTS GROUP 0.9% 67,000,000 66,400,000*
3 OCT PARKS CHINA 9.4% 53,970,000 49,350,000
4 UNIVERSAL PARKS AND RESORTS 2.3% 51,243,000 50,068,000
5 FANTAWILD GROUP 19.8% 50,393,000 42,074,000
6 CHIMELONG GROUP 8.9% 37,018,000 34,007,000
7 SIX FLAGS INC. 2.5% 32,811,000 32,024,000
8 CEDAR FAIR ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY 7.8% 27,938,000 25,912,000
9 SEAWORLD PARKS & ENTERTAINMENT 0.2% 22,624,000 22,582,000
10 PARQUES REUNIDOS 6.2% 22,195,000 20,900,000
TOP 10 ATTENDANCE GROWTH 2018–19 4.0% 521,183,000 501,228,000
© 2020 TEA / AECOM

* Adjustment versus the figure we published in last year’s report

4.0% 521.2m 501.2m

Top 10 theme park groups Top 10 theme park groups Top 10 theme park groups
worldwide attendance growth worldwide attendance 2019 worldwide attendance 2018
2018–19

11
 TOP 25
AMUSEMENT/THEME PARKS
WORLDWIDE

ATTENDANCE

ATTENDANCE
% CHANGE
LOCATION
RANK
PARK

2019

2018
1 MAGIC KINGDOM THEME PARK AT WALT DISNEY WORLD RESORT, 0.5% 20,963,000 20,859,000
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL, U.S.
2 DISNEYLAND PARK, ANAHEIM, CA, U.S. 0.0% 18,666,000 18,666,000
3 TOKYO DISNEYLAND, TOKYO, JAPAN 0.0% 17,910,000 17,907,000
4 TOKYO DISNEYSEA, TOKYO, JAPAN 0.0% 14,650,000 14,651,000
5 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS JAPAN, OSAKA, JAPAN 1.4% 14,500,000 14,300,000
6 DISNEY'S ANIMAL KINGDOM AT WALT DISNEY WORLD, LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL, U.S. 1.0% 13,888,000 13,750,000
7 EPCOT AT WALT DISNEY WORLD, LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL, U.S. 0.0% 12,444,000 12,444,000
8 CHIMELONG OCEAN KINGDOM, HENGQIN, CHINA 8.4% 11,736,000 10,830,000
9 DISNEY'S HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD, LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL, U.S. 2.0% 11,483,000 11,258,000
10 SHANGHAI DISNEYLAND, SHANGHAI, CHINA -5.0% 11,210,000 11,800,000
11 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS FLORIDA AT UNIVERSAL ORLANDO, FL, U.S. 2.0% 10,922,000 10,708,000
12 UNIVERSAL'S ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE AT UNIVERSAL ORLANDO, FL, U.S. 6.0% 10,375,000 9,788,000
13 DISNEY CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE PARK, ANAHEIM, CA, U.S. 0.0% 9,861,000 9,861,000

12 © 2020 TEA / AECOM

 ATTENDANCE

ATTENDANCE
% CHANGE
LOCATION
RANK
PARK

2019

2018
14 DISNEYLAND PARK AT DISNEYLAND PARIS, MARNE-LA-VALLEE, FRANCE -1.0% 9,745,000 9,843,000
15 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD, UNIVERSAL CITY, CA, U.S. 0.0% 9,147,000 9,147,000
16 EVERLAND, SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA 12.9% 6,606,000 5,850,000
17 LOTTE WORLD, SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA -0.1% 5,953,000 5,960,000
18 NAGASHIMA SPA LAND, KUWANA, JAPAN 0.5% 5,950,000 5,920,000
19 EUROPA-PARK, RUST, GERMANY 0.5% 5,750,000 5,720,000
20 OCEAN PARK, HONG KONG SAR -1.7% 5,700,000 5,800,000
21 HONG KONG DISNEYLAND, HONG KONG SAR -15.0% 5,695,000 6,700,000
22 DE EFTELING, KAATSHEUVEL, NETHERLANDS -1.7% 5,260,000 5,350,000*
23 WALT DISNEY STUDIOS PARK AT DISNEYLAND PARIS, MARNE-LA-VALLEE, FRANCE -1.0% 5,245,000 5,298,000
24 OCT HAPPY VALLEY, BEIJING, CHINA 29.6% 5,160,000 3,980,000
25 CHIMELONG PARADISE, GUANGZHOU, CHINA 4.8% 4,905,000 4,680,000
TOP 25 TOTAL ATTENDANCE 2019 253,724,000 251,070,000
TOP 25 ATTENDANCE GROWTH 2018–19 0.7% 253,724,000 251,990,000
© 2020 TEA / AECOM

0.7% 253.7m 252.0m

Top 25 amusement/theme parks Top 25 amusement/theme parks Top 25 amusement/theme parks
worldwide attendance growth worldwide attendance 2019 worldwide attendance 2018
2018–19

© 2020 TEA / AECOM 13

 TOP 25
AMUSEMENT/THEME PARKS
WORLDWIDE

NETHERLANDS
5.3m 22
1 PARK

FRANCE

CALIFORNIA, U.S.
15
15.0m 23
14
2 PARKS
37.7m 2
3 PARKS
13

12 1
11
FLORIDA, U.S.
80.1m
6 PARKS
9 6
7

MAP KEY GROWTH Top 25 theme/amusement parks worldwide

Top 20 water parks worldwide
Circles represent size of 10
0%–4.9%

5%–9.9%

attendance at ranked parks at

the geography indicated. Slices 5
10%+
< 0%

within circles represent proportion

of attendance at the geography 0
from the ranked park indicated
by number. Shading indicates -5
attendance growth at the ranked 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018-19
park versus all other ranked parks. 3.8% 5.2% 4.3% 4.1% 5.4% -1.1% 4.7% 3.3% 0.7%

14 © 2020 TEA / AECOM

 SOUTH KOREA
17 16 12.6m
2 PARKS
GERMANY
19
5.8m CHINA
25 18
JAPAN
1 PARK 8 3
33.0m
24

4 PARKS
5 53.0m
10 4 PARKS
4

HONG KONG
21 20 11.4m
2 PARKS

0.7% 253.7m 252.0m

Top 25 amusement/theme parks Top 25 amusement/theme parks Top 25 amusement/theme parks
worldwide attendance growth worldwide attendance 2019 worldwide attendance 2018
2018–19

© 2020 TEA / AECOM 15

 TOP 20
WATER PARKS
WORLDWIDE

ATTENDANCE

ATTENDANCE
% CHANGE
LOCATION
RANK
PARK

2019

2018
1 CHIMELONG WATER PARK, GUANGZHOU, CHINA 10.0% 3,014,000 2,740,000
2 TYPHOON LAGOON AT DISNEY WORLD, ORLANDO, FL, U.S. -1.0% 2,248,000 2,271,000
3 BLIZZARD BEACH AT DISNEY WORLD, ORLANDO, FL, U.S. -1.0% 1,983,000 2,003,000
4 THERME ERDING, ERDING, GERMANY 23.3% 1,850,000 1,500,000
5 THERMAS DOS LARANJAIS, OLIMPIA, BRAZIL -6.4% 1,845,000 1,971,000
6 BAHAMAS AQUAVENTURE WATER PARK, PARADISE ISLAND -1.0% 1,813,000 1,831,000
(NASSAU, NEW PROVIDENCE), BAHAMAS
7 VOLCANO BAY, ORLANDO, FL, U.S. 5.0% 1,811,000 1,725,000
8 AQUATICA, ORLANDO, FL, U.S. -1.5% 1,533,000 1,556,000
9 HOT PARK RIO QUENTE, CALDAS NOVAS, BRAZIL 2.1% 1,469,000 1,439,000*
10 WUHU FANTAWILD WATER PARK, WUHU, CHINA -0.9% 1,348,000 1,360,000

16 © 2020 TEA / AECOM

 ATTENDANCE

ATTENDANCE
% CHANGE
LOCATION
RANK
PARK

2019

2018
11 CARIBBEAN BAY, SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA 11.1% 1,333,000 1,200,000
12 AQUAVENTURE WATER PARK, DUBAI, U.A.E. -5.4% 1,322,000 1,397,000
13 AQUAPALACE, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC 0.9% 1,300,000 1,288,000
14 TROPICAL ISLANDS, KRAUSNICK, GERMANY 2.8% 1,233,000 1,200,000
15 PLAYA MAYA WATER PARK, WUHAN, CHINA 12.0% 1,210,000 1,080,000
16 AQUAVENTURE ATLANTIS, SANYA, CHINA 100.0% 1,200,000 600,000
SUNWAY LAGOON, KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA -7.7% 1,200,000 1,300,000
SIAM PARK, SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, SPAIN -0.8% 1,200,000 1,210,000
19 WET 'N' WILD GOLD COAST, GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA 0.0% 1,120,000 1,120,000
20 OCEAN WORLD, GANGWON-DO, SOUTH KOREA -15.3% 1,071,000 1,264,000
TOP 20 TOTAL ATTENDANCE 2019 31,103,000 30,055,000
TOP 20 ATTENDANCE GROWTH 2018–19 0.6% 31,103,000 30,919,000
© 2020 TEA / AECOM

* Adjustment versus the figure we published in last year’s report

0.6% 31.1m 30.9m

Top 20 water parks worldwide Top 20 water parks worldwide Top 20 water parks worldwide
attendance growth 2018–19 attendance 2019 attendance 2018

© 2020 TEA / AECOM 17

 TOP 20
WATER PARKS
WORLDWIDE

GERMANY

8
3.1m 14 4
2 U.S. 2 PARKS

7.6m SPAIN
7 4 PARKS
3
BAHAMAS
1.2m 16
1 PARK
6 1.8m
1 PARK

BRAZIL
9 5 3.3m
2 PARKS

MAP KEY GROWTH Top 20 water parks worldwide

Top 25 theme/amusement parks worldwide
Circles represent size of 10
0%–4.9%

5%–9.9%

attendance at ranked parks at

the geography indicated. Slices 5
10%+
< 0%

within circles represent proportion

of attendance at the geography 0
from the ranked park indicated
by number. Shading indicates -5
attendance growth at the ranked 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018-19
park versus all other ranked parks. 8.2% 5.4% 7.1% 2.8% 3.7% 3.6% 1.6% 2.5% 0.6%

18 © 2020 TEA / AECOM

 SOUTH KOREA
CZECH REPUBLIC
20 11 2.4m
2 PARKS
13 1.3m
1 PARK
16
CHINA
6.8m 15
1
4 PARKS 10
12

U.A.E.
1.3m MALAYSIA
1 PARK 1.2m 16
1 PARK

AUSTRALIA
19 1.1m
1 PARK

0.6% 31.1m 30.9m

Top 20 water parks worldwide Top 20 water parks worldwide Top 20 water parks worldwide
attendance growth 2018–19 attendance 2019 attendance 2018

© 2020 TEA / AECOM 19

 TOP 20
MUSEUMS
WORLDWIDE

ATTENDANCE

ATTENDANCE

FREE/PAID
% CHANGE
LOCATION
MUSEUM
RANK

2019

2018
1 LOUVRE, PARIS, FRANCE -5.9% 9,600,000 10,200,000
2 NATIONAL MUSEUM OF CHINA, BEIJING, CHINA -14.2% 7,390,000 8,610,000
3 VATICAN MUSEUMS, VATICAN, VATICAN CITY 1.9% 6,883,000 6,756,000
4 THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK, NY, U.S. -8.0% 6,770,000 7,360,000
5 BRITISH MUSEUM, LONDON, U.K. 5.8% 6,208,000 5,869,000
6 TATE MODERN, LONDON, U.K. 4.6% 6,098,000 5,829,000
7 NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON, U.K. 4.8% 6,011,000 5,736,000
8 NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, LONDON, U.K. 3.8% 5,424,000 5,226,000
9 AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, NEW YORK, NY, U.S. 0.0% 5,000,000 5,000,000
10 STATE HERMITAGE, ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA 15.4% 4,957,000 4,294,000

20 © 2020 TEA / AECOM

 ATTENDANCE

ATTENDANCE

FREE/PAID
% CHANGE
LOCATION
MUSEUM
RANK

2019

2018
11 SHANGHAI SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY MUSEUM, SHANGHAI, CHINA 36.3% 4,824,000 3,540,000
12 REINA SOFÍA, MADRID, SPAIN 13.5% 4,426,000 3,898,000
13 NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, WASHINGTON, DC, U.S. -12.5% 4,200,000 4,800,000
14 NANJING MUSEUM, NANJING, CHINA 13.6% 4,169,000 3,670,000
15 ZHEJIANG MUSEUM, HANGZHOU, CHINA -1.2% 4,150,000 4,200,000
16 NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON, DC, U.S. -7.5% 4,074,000 4,404,000
17 VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM, LONDON, U.K. -1.2% 3,921,000 3,968,000
18 CHINA SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY MUSEUM, BEIJING, CHINA -11.6% 3,891,000 4,400,000
19 NATIONAL PALACE MUSEUM, TAIPEI, TAIWAN -0.7% 3,832,000 3,860,000
20 MUSÉE D'ORSAY, PARIS, FRANCE 15.0% 3,652,000 3,175,000
TOP 20 TOTAL ATTENDANCE 2019 105,480,000 104,795,000
TOP 20 ATTENDANCE GROWTH 2018–19 -2.4% 105,480,000 108,080,000
© 2020 TEA / AECOM

-2.4% 105.5m 108.1m

Top 20 museums worldwide Top 20 museums worldwide Top 20 museums worldwide
attendance growth 2018–19 attendance 2019 attendance 2018

© 2020 TEA / AECOM 21

 TOP 20
MUSEUMS
WORLDWIDE

17 5
U.K.
27.7m 8
5 MUSEUMS 7 6

FRANCE 20

16
13.3m 1
U.S. 2 MUSEUMS
4
13
20.0m 12
9 4 MUSEUMS
SPAIN
4.4m
1 MUSEUM

MAP KEY GROWTH Top 20 museums worldwide

Circles represent size of 10

0%–4.9%

5%–9.9%

attendance at ranked parks at

the geography indicated. Slices 5
10%+
< 0%

within circles represent proportion

of attendance at the geography 0
from the ranked museum
indicated by number. Shading -5
indicates attendance growth at 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19
the ranked museum versus all 7.2% 1.6% -0.7% 1.2% 0.2% 0.1% -2.4%
other ranked museums.

22 © 2020 TEA / AECOM

 RUSSIA
10 5.1m
1 MUSEUM

VATICAN CITY 18
3
6.9m 15
2 CHINA
24.4m
1 MUSEUM
14 11 5 MUSEUMS
TAIWAN
19 3.8m
1 MUSEUM

-2.4% 105.5m 108.1m

Top 20 museums worldwide Top 20 museums worldwide Top 20 museums worldwide
attendance growth 2018–19 attendance 2019 attendance 2018

© 2020 TEA / AECOM 23

THE AMERICAS 1.0%
Top 20 amusement/
theme parks North
America attendance
growth 2018–19

159.1m
Top 20 amusement/
theme parks North
America attendance
2019

157.5m
Top 20 amusement/
theme parks North
America attendance
2018

KATHLEEN LACLAIR
Associate Principal –
Economics, Americas
—

24
NORTH AMERICA THEME
PARKS: STEADY GROWTH IN
2019, SUSTAINED BY BEST
PRACTICES
The top 20 theme parks in North
America saw 1.0% growth overall in
2019, representing 1.6 million new
visits for these leading operators
and popular chains.
—
Collectively, we’re seeing the operators and
parks in this group doing all the right things
— making strategic acquisitions, investing
in new lands and rides, extending the
season and customer base with new events,
and focusing on the guest experience to
drive performance. These practices will
continue to be important as the industry
moves forward.

Kings Island, Mason, OH, U.S.

© Cedar Point

25
 6.0%
Universal's Islands of
Adventure at Universal
Orlando, FL, U.S.,
attendance growth
2018–19

Universal's Islands of Adventure at Universal Orlando, FL, U.S.,

© Universal and WBEI. Publishing Rights © JKR.(s20)

Disney, Universal There has been continued investment in

At Disney's domestic parks, the opening of Pixar Pier at Disney California Adventure
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge introduced a richly with Jessie’s Critter Carousel and Inside Out
themed new land that takes participatory Emotional Whirlwind in 2019. Set to open
immersion to new levels, and showcases soon: Avengers Campus at Disneyland,
what Disney does best, immersing guests a strong IP with immense potential for
in storied lands, rides and attractions. theming within their parks.
The land and its pioneering rides, Rise of
the Resistance and Millennium Falcon: Universal Studios North American parks
Smugglers Run, have received accolades, were up 2.8% in 2019, with most of that
including TEA Thea Awards. Disney’s growth due to strong performance at
domestic park attendance numbers were Universal’s Islands of Adventure with the
flat overall for 2019 compared to the new addition of Hagrid's Magical Creatures
previous year which could be attributed Motorbike Adventure steel coaster (soon
to the operator emphasizing its yield to receive a TEA Thea Award) within the
strategy by prioritizing the quality of guest Wizarding World of Harry Potter. This
experience and per caps. This operating popular IP continues to drive attendance
model has emerged over the last decade and performance for Universal, which first
and will likely serve operators well moving debuted the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
forward, with respect to capacity limitations realm at Islands of Adventure in 2010 —
in parks and the continued need to 10 years and still going strong.
stay competitive.
Universal Studios Florida continues to benefit
from the Fast and the Furious franchise
as well as more onsite capacity with the
Aventura hotel added in 2018.

26
Of course, the big new IP on the horizon for Attendance at Canada’s Wonderland
this operator is Super Nintendo World which increased 4.0%, due in part to additional
will open first at Universal Studios Japan, operating days for its new WinterFest event
then within the massive, new Epic Universe and a new coaster Yukon Striker. Knott’s
in Orlando and eventually at Universal Berry Farm also had a great year, with 3.0%
Studios Singapore. growth, a new PEANUTS celebration and a
revamped raft ride, Calico River Rapids.
Regional Operators
Cedar Fair reported the strongest increase
among the domestic operators, with growth
of 7.8% within its full portfolio, which now
includes the Schlitterbahn New Braunfels
and Schlitterbahn Galveston water parks
(acquired mid-summer 2019). Outside CEDAR FAIR'S STRATEGY, AND
the increase in overall attendance from RESULTING PERFORMANCE,
the two new water parks, attendance at
the operator’s legacy collection of parks
FORM A STRONG EXAMPLE FOR
increased 5.0%. INVESTING AND REINVESTING,
WHETHER IN NEW PARKS, RIDES
Cedar Fair's strategy, and resulting OR EXPERIENCES, TO DRIVE
performance, form a strong example
for investing and reinvesting, whether in
ATTENDANCE AND REVENUES.
new parks, rides or experiences, to drive
attendance and revenues.

2.0%
Six Flags Great America,
Gurnee, IL, U.S.,
attendance growth
2018–19

Six Flags Great America, Gurnee, IL, U.S.

© Six Flags Great America

27
 Knott's Berry Farm, Buena Park, CA, U.S.

3.0% © Knott's Berry Farm

Knott's Berry Farm, Buena

Park, CA, U.S., attendance
growth 2018–19

In 2019, SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment

was able to maintain the additional visits
secured in 2018, continuing its rebound 4.0%
after a series of challenging years leveraging Canada's Wonderland,
new attractions, improved theming and IP. Vaughan, Ontario,
Sesame Street Land was very well received Canada, attendance
at SeaWorld Orlando and the operator growth 2018–19

continues to employ this popular IP with

the transition of Aquatica San Diego into a
Sesame Place park, slated to open in 2021.

Six Flags reported steady growth, at 2.5%,

which represents almost 800,000 new visits,
helped by the new Maxx Force coaster at
Six Flags Great America near Chicago. The
operator acquired five new parks in 2018,
which resulted in significantly increased
attendance for their portfolio last year, and
also continues to please guests with rides
and experiences themed on DC Comics
stories and characters.

Canada's Wonderland, Vaughan,

Ontario, Canada
© Canada's Wonderland

28
NORTH AMERICA Unfortunately, Hurricane Dorian and a
wetter than average summer overall led
WATER PARKS: to slight declines in attendance. Outside

RAIN OR RIDES? Florida, these mostly suburban water parks

saw a relatively flat year in attendance, with
a few exceptions. Zoombezi Bay in Ohio had
The top water parks in North America added another strong season with a 6.4% increase,
nearly 200,000 visits in 2019, an increase of which they attribute to a wide range of
1.2% over 2018. factors, including better weather, continued
success from the 2018 Otter Banks
Orlando’s four water parks comprise nearly addition, and new marketing campaigns.
half of our list’s total attendance, and with Typhoon Texas in Katy also reported record
relatively even market share, especially attendance for the second year in a row,
as Universal’s Volcano Bay continues to with a 6.0% increase. Contributing factors
stabilize within the competitive market. included a switch to dynamic pricing,
There were no significant changes at enhanced marketing and better execution
Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard overall — proof that strategies implemented
Beach; SeaWorld’s Aquatica added the by the big operators can also benefit
family-oriented KareKare Curl slide. regional markets and smaller parks.

6.0%
Typhoon Texas,
Katy, Texas, U.S.,
attendance growth
2018–19

Typhoon Texas, Katy, Texas, U.S.

© Typhoon Texas

29
 Other significant reinvestments in 2019 That said, there were some notable
include Water Country USA’s Cutback increases at individual parks in 2019: Parque
Water Coaster, Aquatica San Antonio’s Ihu's Xcaret in Cancun, Mexico saw an increase
Breakaway Falls, Schlitterbahn Galveston’s of 4.0% and continues to gain market share
Infinity Racers slides, Six Flags Hurricane after adding another hotel in 2018. Grupo
Harbor Splashtown, Houston’s Wahoo Xcaret has an established record of high
Wave six-story wave wall slide and Six quality and smart reinvestment and can now
Flags Hurricane Harbor, Jackson’s new boast a fully integrated destination resort
100,000-gallon activity pool. at this location. Parque Mundo Petapa in
Guatemala saw an attendance increase
of 8.5%, likely due to positive market

LATIN AMERICA conditions and a new coaster, Relámpago.

THEME PARKS: Parque de la Costa in Argentina increased

attendance by 10.5%, thanks to good
UPS AND DOWNS weather, and an increase of domestic
visitors. Beto Carrero World in Brazil, which
ranks #2 on the top 10 and saw attendance
With visits totaling 15.7 million at the top 10 grow by 2.9%, also cited more domestic
theme parks in Latin America and Mexico visitation and the positive economic
in 2019, attendance overall is flat, showing recovery in Brazil during much of 2019.
an increase of just 0.1 % over 2018. In this
region, we continue to see three factors play Though their visitor numbers weren’t high
a key role in the success of parks: politics, enough to make the Top 10 list this year,
economics and safety — with positive and two other parks had notable increases. Hopi
negative results. Hari in Brazil continues to make a comeback
from safety and ownership issues, while
also benefiting from market conditions,
and had an attendance increase of 32.0%
in 2019, an encouraging trend. Theme Park
Xetulul in Guatemala had an attendance
increase of 12.1%, creditable to the area’s
WE CONTINUE TO SEE THREE improved infrastructure and growing
destination status.
FACTORS PLAY A KEY ROLE
IN THE SUCCESS AT PARKS In Mexico City, La Feria De Chapultepec had
IN THIS REGION — POLITICS, previously ranked high in the top 10 before
having its license revoked due to a fatal
ECONOMICS AND SAFETY accident. At this writing, the property was
— WITH POSITIVE AND closed and ripe for acquisition, with signs of
NEGATIVE RESULTS. interest from major operators.

30
 Parque de la Costa, Buenos Aires, Argentina

10.5% © Parque de la Costa

Parque de la Costa,
Buenos Aires, Argentina,
attendance growth
2018–19

8.5%
Mundo Petapa,
Guatemala City,
Guatemala, attendance
growth 2018–19

Mundo Petapa, Guatemala City, Guatemala

© Mundo Petapa

31
 LATIN AMERICA New to our list, Magic City Water Park in
Suzano, Brazil reported strong growth due
WATER PARKS: to new attractions and marketing efforts.

MILESTONES AND Situated in the São Paulo regional market,

Magic City offers guests a variety of slides
SHIFTING IN THE RANKS and pools, including hot springs, in an
integrated resort setting.

Year 2019 saw the top 10 water parks Thermas Water Park in São Pedro, Brazil
in Latin America and Mexico pass the added 160,000 visits in 2019 and attributed
10 million mark in attendance for the first the growth to investments on multiple
time — 10.2 million visits representing a fronts including the addition of a large, new
1.9% year-over-year increase. Much of it was playground area; marketing, infrastructure,
driven by three parks, each achieving more new food and beverage options, and new
than 30.0% growth over 2018 attendance. ticket windows, resulting in a significantly
improved guest experience.

32.2%
Magic City Water
Park, Suzano, Brazil,
attendance growth
2018–19

Magic City Water Park, Suzano, Brazil

© Magic City Water Park

32
 Thermas dos Laranjais, Olimpia, Brazil

1.9m © Thermas dos Laranjais

Thermas dos Laranjais,

Olimpia, Brazil,
attendance 2019

Chongqing Happy Valley

© OCT

Hot Beach, in Olimpia, Brazil, moved up one On the down side, Piscilago, in Bogota,
place on the top 10 chart, from #10 in 2018 Colombia suffered a substantial decrease
to #9 in 2019, reflecting a 31.6% attendance of 11.5% in attendance for 2019, likely due
jump with almost 150,00 additional visits. to economic factors. The economy was
Hot Beach benefited from more domestic also cited by Thermas dos Laranjas in
visitation, aided by an increase of hotel Olimpia, Brazil, which saw a 6.4% attendance
rooms in the city, and economic conditions decrease in 2019 despite adding a new
in Brazil bringing more international tourism. slide complex — but kept its #1 position
Following the trend of increasing visitation in on the chart.
shoulder seasons and with events, the park
added Halloween, Christmas, Easter and
spring break to its 2019 operating calendar.

33
 TOP 20
AMUSEMENT/THEME PARKS
NORTH AMERICA

ONTARIO, CANADA
4.0m 13
1 PARK
MIDWEST U.S.
20
10.4m 16
14
NORTHEAST U.S.
3 PARKS 19 18 6.8m
2 PARKS

15 17
CALIFORNIA, U.S. 11 10 12 1
2 7
49.0m FLORIDA, U.S.
6 PARKS
9
8
6
88.9m
8 PARKS
3
5 4

KEY GROWTH Top 20 parks North America

Top 25 parks worldwide
Circles represent size of 10
0%–4.9%

5%–9.9%

attendance at ranked parks at

the geography indicated. Slices 5
10%+
< 0%

within circles represent proportion

of attendance at the geography 0
from the ranked park indicated
by number. Shading indicates -5
attendance growth at the ranked 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19
park versus all other ranked parks.
2.9% 3.6% 2.7% 2.2% 5.9% 1.2% 2.3% 4.0% 1.0%

34 © 2020 TEA / AECOM

 ATTENDANCE

ATTENDANCE
% CHANGE
LOCATION
RANK
PARK

2019

2018
1 MAGIC KINGDOM THEME PARK AT WALT DISNEY WORLD RESORT, LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL, U.S. 0.5% 20,963,000 20,859,000
2 DISNEYLAND PARK, ANAHEIM, CA, U.S. 0.0% 18,666,000 18,666,000
3 DISNEY'S ANIMAL KINGDOM AT WALT DISNEY WORLD, LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL, U.S. 1.0% 13,888,000 13,750,000
4 EPCOT AT WALT DISNEY WORLD, LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL, U.S. 0.0% 12,444,000 12,444,000
5 DISNEY'S HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD, LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL, U.S. 2.0% 11,483,000 11,258,000
6 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS FLORIDA AT UNIVERSAL ORLANDO, FL, U.S. 2.0% 10,922,000 10,708,000
7 UNIVERSAL'S ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE AT UNIVERSAL ORLANDO, FL, U.S. 6.0% 10,375,000 9,788,000
8 DISNEY CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE PARK, ANAHEIM, CA, U.S. 0.0% 9,861,000 9,861,000
9 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD, UNIVERSAL CITY, CA, U.S. 0.0% 9,147,000 9,147,000
10 SEAWORLD ORLANDO, ORLANDO, FL U.S. 1.0% 4,640,000 4,594,000
11 KNOTT'S BERRY FARM, BUENA PARK, CA U.S. 3.0% 4,238,000 4,115,000
12 BUSCH GARDENS TAMPA BAY, TAMPA, FL U.S. 1.0% 4,180,000 4,139,000
13 CANADA'S WONDERLAND, MAPLE, ONTARIO, CANADA 4.0% 3,950,000 3,798,000
14 CEDAR POINT, SANDUSKY, OH, U.S. 1.5% 3,731,000 3,676,000
15 SIX FLAGS MAGIC MOUNTAIN, VALENCIA, CA, U.S. 0.5% 3,610,000 3,592,000
16 KINGS ISLAND, KINGS ISLAND, OH, U.S. 1.0% 3,521,000 3,486,000
17 SEAWORLD SAN DIEGO, SAN DIEGO, CA, U.S. -8.1% 3,485,000 3,793,000*
18 SIX FLAGS GREAT ADVENTURE, JACKSON, NJ, U.S. 1.5% 3,451,000 3,400,000
19 HERSHEYPARK, HERSHEY, PA, U.S. 0.5% 3,384,000 3,367,000
20 SIX FLAGS GREAT AMERICA, GURNEE, IL, U.S. 2.0% 3,169,000 3,107,000
TOP 20 TOTAL ATTENDANCE 2019 159,108,000 157,548,000
TOP 20 ATTENDANCE GROWTH 2018–19 1.0% 159,108,000 157,478,000
© 2019 TEA / AECOM

* Adjustment versus the figure we published in last year’s report

1.0% 159.1m 157.5m

Top 20 amusement/theme Top 20 amusement/theme Top 20 amusement/theme
parks North America parks North America parks North America
attendance growth 2018–19 attendance 2019 attendance 2018

© 2020 TEA / AECOM 35

 TOP 10
AMUSEMENT/THEME PARKS
LATIN AMERICA

MEXICO 6
7.2m 5
3
1
4 PARKS

GUATEMALA
1.3m 4 COLOMBIA
1 PARK 9 7 2.2m
2 PARKS

BRAZIL

CHILE
2 2.2m
1 PARK
1.1m 8
1 PARK
ARGENTINA
10 1.0m
1 PARK

KEY GROWTH Top 10 parks Latin America

Top 25 parks worldwide
10
Circles represent size of
0%–4.9%

5%–9.9%

attendance at ranked parks at

the geography indicated. Slices 5
10%+
< 0%

within circles represent proportion

of attendance at the geography 0
from the ranked park indicated
by number. Shading indicates -5
attendance growth at the ranked 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19
park versus all other ranked parks.
0.7% 2.6% 3.8% 6.0% 1.0% 0.7% -2.2% 4.2% 0.1%

36 © 2020 TEA / AECOM

 ATTENDANCE

ATTENDANCE
% CHANGE
LOCATION
RANK
PARK

2019

2018
1 SIX FLAGS MEXICO, MEXICO CITY, MEXICO 0.5% 2,803,000 2,789,000
2 BETO CARRERO WORLD, SANTA CATARINA, BRAZIL 1.9% 2,241,000 2,200,000
3 PARQUE XCARET, CANCUN, MEXICO 4.0% 1,960,000 1,885,000
4 MUNDO PETAPA, GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA 8.5% 1,330,000 1,226,000
5 LA FERIA DE CHAPULTEPEC, MEXICO CITY, MEXICO -18.0% 1,306,000 1,593,000
6 PLAZA DE SESAMO, MONTERREY, MEXICO -1.0% 1,173,000 1,185,000
7 PARQUE MUNDO AVENTURA, BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA -0.6% 1,151,000 1,158,000
8 FANTASIALANDIA, SANTIAGO, CHILE 0.0% 1,100,000 1,100,000
9 THEME PARQUE NACIONAL DEL CAFÉ, QUINDIO, COLOMBIA 1.5% 1,043,000 1,028,000
10 PARQUE DE LA COSTA, BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA 10.5% 968,000 876,000
TOP 10 TOTAL ATTENDANCE 2019 15,075,000 15,040,000
TOP 10 ATTENDANCE GROWTH 2018–19 0.1% 15,075,000 15,064,000
© 2020 TEA / AECOM

* Adjustment versus the figure we published in last year’s report

0.1% 15.1m 15.0m

Top 10 amusement/theme Top 10 amusement/theme parks Top 10 amusement/theme parks
parks Latin America attendance Latin America attendance 2019 Latin America attendance 2018
growth 2018–19

© 2020 TEA / AECOM 37

 TOP 20
WATER PARKS
NORTH AMERICA

NORTHEAST U.S.
18
MIDWEST U.S. 13
10
1.5m
3 PARKS
0.9m 20 16
2 PARKS SOUTHERN U.S.
SOUTHWEST U.S. 19
0.4m 17
12
6 1.7m
1 PARK 3 PARKS
TEXAS, U.S. 15 5
14
3.7m 11
6 PARKS 9 8
7 1
4 FLORIDA, U.S.
8.2m
5 PARKS
3 2

KEY GROWTH Top 20 water parks North America

Top 20 water parks worldwide
Circles represent size of 10
0%–4.9%

5%–9.9%

attendance at ranked parks at

the geography indicated. Slices 5
10%+
< 0%

within circles represent proportion

of attendance at the geography 0
from the ranked park indicated
by number. Shading indicates -5
attendance growth at the ranked 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19
park versus all other ranked parks.
0.1% 2.2% -2.3% 1.6% 4.3% -0.7% -2.9% 5.8% 1.2%

38 © 2020 TEA / AECOM

 ATTENDANCE

ATTENDANCE
% CHANGE
LOCATION
RANK
PARK

2019

2018
1 TYPHOON LAGOON AT DISNEY WORLD, ORLANDO, FL, U.S. -1.0% 2,248,000 2,271,000
2 BLIZZARD BEACH AT DISNEY WORLD, ORLANDO, FL, U.S. -1.0% 1,983,000 2,003,000
3 UNIVERSAL'S VOLCANO BAY, ORLANDO, FL, U.S. 5.0% 1,811,000 1,725,000
4 AQUATICA, ORLANDO, FL, U.S. -1.5% 1,533,000 1,556,000
5 SCHLITTERBAHN, NEW BRAUNFELS, TX, U.S. -2.0% 996,000 1,016,000
6 WATER COUNTRY USA, WILLIAMSBURG, VA, U.S. 1.0% 736,000 729,000
7 ADVENTURE ISLAND, TAMPA, FL, U.S. -1.9% 656,000 669,000
8 AQUATICA SAN ANTONIO, SAN ANTONIO, TX, U.S. 0.9% 651,000 645,000
9 SCHLITTERBAHN, GALVESTON, TX, U.S. 1.4% 567,000 559,000
10 SPLISH SPLASH, CALVERTON NY, U.S. 0.6% 542,000 539,000
11 SIX FLAGS-HURRICANE HARBOR, ARLINGTON, TX, U.S. 0.9% 538,000 533,000
12 SIX FLAGS WHITE WATER ATLANTA, MARIETTA, GA, U.S. -0.9% 526,000 531,000
13 SIX FLAGS HURRICANE HARBOR, JACKSON, NJ, U.S. 1.5% 482,000 475,000
14 TYPHOON TEXAS, KATY, TX, U.S. 6.0% 478,000 451,000
15 SIX FLAGS HURRICANE HARBOR SPLASHTOWN, SPRING, TX, U.S. 0.0% 475,000 475,000*
16 ZOOMBEZI BAY, POWELL, OH, U.S. 6.4% 466,000 438,000
17 SIX FLAGS HURRICANE HARBOR PHOENIX, GLENDALE, AZ, U.S. -2.0% 441,000 450,000*
18 CAMELBEACH, TANNERSVILLE, PA, U.S. 0.5% 439,000 437,000
19 DOLLYWOOD'S SPLASH COUNTRY, PIGEON FORGE, TN, U.S. -0.9% 433,000 437,000
20 CEDAR POINT SHORES, SANDUSKY, OH, U.S. 1.0% 424,000 420,000
TOP 20 TOTAL ATTENDANCE 2019 16,425,000 16,359,000
TOP 20 ATTENDANCE GROWTH 2018–19 1.2% 16,425,000 16,237,000
© 2020 TEA / AECOM
* Adjustment versus the figure we published in last year’s report

1.2% 16.4m 16.2m

Top 20 water parks North Top 20 water parks North Top 20 water parks North
America attendance growth America attendance 2019 America attendance 2018
2018–19

© 2020 TEA / AECOM 39

 TOP 10
WATER PARKS
LATIN AMERICA
BAHAMAS
2 1.8m
1 PARK
MEXICO
0.5m 10
1 PARK

GUATEMALA
0.9m 4 COLOMBIA
1 PARK
0.9m 6
1 PARK

8 9
1 BRAZIL
7 6.1m
5 3 6 PARKS

KEY GROWTH Top 10 water parks Latin America

Top 20 water parks worldwide
10
Circles represent size of
0%–4.9%

5%–9.9%

attendance at ranked parks at

the geography indicated. Slices 5
10%+
< 0%

within circles represent proportion

of attendance at the geography 0
from the ranked park indicated
by number. Shading indicates -5
attendance growth at the ranked 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19
park versus all other ranked parks.
5.7% 0.3% 3.4% 1.5% 0.6% 2.5%

40 © 2020 TEA / AECOM

 ATTENDANCE

ATTENDANCE
% CHANGE
LOCATION
RANK
PARK

2019

2018
1 THERMAS DOS LARANJAIS, OLIMPIA, BRAZIL -6.4% 1,845,000 1,971,000
2 BAHAMAS AQUAVENTURE WATER PARK, PARADISE ISLAND -1.0% 1,813,000 1,831,000
(NASSAU, NEW PROVIDENCE), BAHAMAS
3 HOT PARK RIO QUENTE, CALDAS NOVAS, BRAZIL 2.1% 1,469,000 1,439,000*
4 PARQUE ACUATICO XOCOMIL, SAN MARTÍN ZAPOTITLÁN, RETALHULEU, GUATEMALA 6.4% 894,000 840,000
5 BEACH PARK, AQUIRAZ, BRAZIL -6.3% 890,000 950,000
6 PISCILAGO, GIRARDOT (BOGOTA), COLOMBIA -11.5% 876,000 990,000
7 MAGIC CITY WATER PARK, SUZANO, BRAZIL 32.2% 681,000 515,000
8 THERMAS WATER PARK, SÃO PEDRO, BRAZIL 33.3% 641,000 481,000
9 HOT BEACH, OLYMPIA, BRAZIL 31.6% 608,000 462,000
10 PARQUE ACUATICO EL ROLLO, MORELOS, MEXICO -0.9% 525,000 530,000
TOP 10 TOTAL ATTENDANCE 2019 10,242,000 10,009,000
TOP 10 ATTENDANCE GROWTH 2018–19 2.5% 10,242,000 9,988,000
© 2020 TEA / AECOM

2.5% 10.2m 10.0m

Top 10 water parks Latin Top 10 water parks Latin Top 10 water parks Latin
America attendance growth America attendance 2019 America attendance 2018
2018–19

© 2020 TEA / AECOM 41

ASIA-PACIFIC 1.6%
Top 20
8.4%
Chimelong Safari Park,
amusement/theme Guangzhou, China,
parks Asia-Pacific attendance growth
attendance growth 2018–19
2018–19

141.3m
Top 20
amusement/theme
parks Asia-Pacific
attendance 2019

139.1m
Top 20
amusement/theme
parks Asia-Pacific
attendance 2018

CHRIS YOSHII
Vice President – Economics,
Asia-Pacific
—

BETH CHANG
Executive Director –
Economics, Asia-Pacific
—

42
CHINA’S REGIONAL AND
GLOBAL TRAJECTORY
The visitor attractions sector in
the Asia Pacific region overall
showed attendance growth of 1.6%
for calendar year 2019. The most
dramatic increases were in China.
Theme parks, water parks and park
operators in China showed strong
attendance growth across the
board, with some dramatic shifts in
rank, globally and regionally.
—

Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, Hengqin, China

© Chimelong Ocean Kingdom

43
 1.1%
Changsha Fantawild
Oriental Heritage,
Changsha, China,
attendance growth
2018–19

Zhengzhou Fantawild Adventure, Zhengzhou, China

© Fantawild

ASIA-PACIFIC THEME Chimelong turned the normally slow month

of December into an attendance booster
PARKS: BIG NUMBERS with a special promotion at Ocean Kingdom,
allowing free admission to any child under
China’s growth in the leisure sector is a story 1.5 meters (five feet) in height (similar to
of supply and demand: a large population free admission for kids under age 12 in
with increasing income and desire for travel the West). The park continues to expand,
and leisure, across a large land mass with and in 2019 opened its new, 6,700-seat
ever-better transportation infrastructure. Chimelong Theater, a circus show venue.
These are ideal conditions for regional Its new Marine Science Park and hotel are
parks and attractions to develop and for nearing completion.
regional chains to expand. Helping drive
significant jumps in market share in 2019 Looking at our chart of the Top 10 Theme
were promotional programs that included Park Groups Worldwide, OCT Parks China
special offers, school group admissions, and Fantawild Group both grew significantly
and special celebrations marking the 70th in 2019. Fantawild, which opened four new
anniversary of the founding of Communist parks in 2019, achieved an attendance
China, an important national holiday. increase of nearly 20% representing
about 8 million additional visits. With 9.4%
In Zhuhai, Chimelong Ocean Kingdom attendance growth, OCT, already the largest
ascended to the rank of top-attended theme park operator in China, rose in the
theme park in China. Its 11.7 million visits ranks above Universal Parks and Resorts to
in 2019 reflect an 8.4% increase from the be the third-largest in the world.
prior year, coming in about 500,000 higher
than Shanghai Disneyland, which saw a
slight attendance drop as it focuses on
implementing a yield strategy.

44
Fantawild adds new parks every year and in The show “Dancing Islands” at Fantawild
2019 its total grew to 29. The four new parks, Asian Legend Park received an IAAPA
all with Chinese cultural or historical themes, Brass Ring Award in 2019 for “Most Creative
are Jingzhou Fantawild Oriental Heritage; Multimedia Spectacular.” This operator
Fantawild Oriental Legend in Handan; focuses on serving regional Chinese
Jiayugan Fantawild Silk Road Dreamland, in markets and smaller cities that draw on a
Gansu province; and Changsha Fantawild base of 4-5 million population. The Fantawild
Oriental heritage in Hunan province. New development model brings the entire
Fantawild projects in development include industry chain to the region it serves with
Ningbo Traditional Chinese Culture Park support by the local government.
in Hangzhoue Bay; Boonie Bears Town in
Linhai, Shenzhen; and Xuzhou Fantawild
Park in Jiangsu province.

CHINA’S GROWTH IN THE LEISURE

SECTOR IS A STORY OF SUPPLY AND
DEMAND: A LARGE POPULATION WITH
INCREASING INCOME AND DESIRE
FOR TRAVEL AND LEISURE.

11.2m
Shanghai Disneyland,
Shanghai, China,
attendance 2019

Shanghai Disneyland, Shanghai, China

© Disney

45
 The state-owned OCT chain was one of Japan and Korea
many tourism and attraction operators in In Japan, theme park attendance numbers
the country that built promotions around were relatively flat in 2019, with visitation
the 70th anniversary of Communist China, tapering off as the year progressed,
resulting in attendance jumps. OCT’s group although its two top-attended parks,
attendance totals also expanded with the Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea,
addition of numerous small attractions, part of Tokyo Disney Resort, still head the
including unique farm attractions with lower attendance list. Universal Studios Japan
admission fees that drew families with small experienced a slight increase for the year.
children. It should be noted that group
operator totals include visits to any gated New at Tokyo Disney Resort: In July
commercial attraction, excluding temporary 2019 Tokyo DisneySea opened the flying
events and scenic spots. attraction Soaring: Fantastic Flight and
the Song of Mirage show. DisneySea
is undergoing expansion and in May
2019 broke ground on its eighth themed
port, Fantasy Springs, a realm based on
Disney films that will include a new hotel.
Expansion has also been underway at
Tokyo Disneyland with a new Beauty and
the Beast attraction within a large-scale,
entertainment and retail development.

14.5m
Universal Studios
Japan, Osaka, Japan,
attendance 2019

Universal Studios Japan, Osaka, Japan

© Monkey Punch/TMS/NTV

46
12.9%
Everland, Seoul, South
Korea, attendance
growth 2018–19

Everland, Seoul, South Korea

© Everland

Universal Studios Japan rolled out Lotte World amusement park is part of
Universal Cool Japan 2019, a series of rides, an extensive urban complex in Seoul that
attractions and events immersing guests added the 1,821-foot-high Lotte World
in anime and pop culture brands such as Tower in 2017, featuring the observation
Detective Conan, Lupin the Third, Sailor attraction Seoul Sky. Meanwhile, in Busan,
Moon, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Godzilla Lotte World is developing a new family
and Attack on Titan! resort, Lotte’s Magic Forest.

In Korea, overall park attendance was

up and numbers were stable for 2019,
showing recovery after a two-year slump
caused primarily by a drop in tourism from
Mainland China. In Seoul, Everland park
posted some good results though still lower
than its previous peak, and Lotte World
remained flat.

Everland helped keep guests engaged in

all weathers with New Year’s celebrations,
followed by its Winter Festival and Snow
Safari. Everland Resort also includes the
water park Caribbean Bay, two museums
and hospitality.

47
 6.0m
Lotte World, Seoul,
South Korea,
attendance 2019

Lotte World, Seoul, South Korea

Hong Kong Accolades in 2019 included Ocean Park

Hong Kong experienced disruptions to being named “Most Popular Theme Park”
tourism and discretionary spending due to at the 5th Ferris Awards of the China
six months of social movement protests Association of Amusement Parks and
in 2019. Hong Kong Disneyland, although Attractions (CAAPA), which also named
it started the year with robust attendance Timothy Ng, executive director, operations
growth, ended the calendar year with total and entertainment as “China Amusement
visits down 15.0%. Industry Pioneer.”

Ocean Park Hong Kong reported fiscal year Hong Kong Disneyland is undergoing a
attendance (ending June 2019) was flat; its multi-year transformation and expansion
reporting period did not reflect much impact that will include a new, immersive area
from the social movement protests. themed on “Frozen” and a re-imagining of
the castle.
In 2019, Ocean Park offered a Summer
Adventure Camp for children, opened the
new Wild Twister thrill ride and introduced an
innovative, VR free fall ride, The Abyss — VR
Space Voyage.

48
Shift in travel patterns and looking Nonetheless 2020 is expected to show
down the COVID road a record reduction in park attendance in
Chinese tourists have been staying closer Asia. Looking beyond 2020, there is room
to home, which is good for domestic for optimism and expectation that 2021
markets but has meant lost revenue to other and subsequent years will bring significant
countries. The effects of COVID-19 were recovery in terms of attendance numbers,
felt in China before the rest of the world, and as parks experiment with business and
subsequently the first stages of recovery operations models.
have been appearing there as well. At this
writing in midyear 2020, numerous parks The development pipeline remains strong. In
had already re-opened with restrictions and 2019, a dozen or more new parks opened in
attendance caps, and domestic travel by air China. There are big attraction projects now
and train were showing promising signs of in development or construction, including
recovery. Operators are working to salvage a major aquarium project by Chimelong.
what they can of the summer season, with Some projects will likely experience delays
an emphasis on local markets. of a few months and up to a year. However,
we see long-term, sustained growth in the
attractions industry. There is continued
interest on the part of government to
support tourism and cultural projects that
support and spur domestic consumption.

5.7m
Hong Kong Disneyland,
Hong Kong SAR,
attendance 2019

Hong Kong Disneyland, Hong Kong SAR

© Disney

49
 ASIA-PACIFIC There is a great deal of innovation in water
parks in Asia with more indoor parks
WATER PARKS: in cooler climates, larger water parks

UPS AND DOWNS integrating “dry” amusement elements,

water parks as anchors to new township
projects and resort style, tropical
Overall, water park attendance in Asia water parks.
was relatively flat for 2019, with half a
percent growth. Among the individual China
parks, attendance performance was all Chimelong Water Park in Guangzhou, China
along the spectrum from flat to double- readily maintained its #1 position on our
digit increases. table of the Top 20 Water Parks in Asia-
Pacific, with a healthy 10.0% attendance
The water park industry remains very vibrant increase in 2019. The park is part of the
in Asia with many new properties of all sizes extensive Guangzhou Chimelong resort
and locations opening in many different that also includes a theme park, safari park
countries. Water parks are attractive to and circus stadium. In 2018 Chimelong
developers as they generally represent a Water Park was the first to install the unique
lower investment and are quicker to design SlideWheel, which doubles as water ride and
and build compared to larger theme parks. centerpiece spectacle, and received a TEA
Thea Award.

1.2m
Aquaventure Atlantis,
Sanya, China,
attendance 2019

Aquaventure Atlantis, Sanya, China

© Atlantis Sanya

50
 10.0%
Chimelong Water Park,
Guangzhou, China,
attendance growth
2018–19

Chimelong Water Park, Guangzhou, China

© Chimelong

Aquaventure Atlantis in Sanya, China In Wuhan, Playa Maya Water Park enjoyed
dramatically emerged onto the scene in a 12.0% attendance increase. The park is
2019. It is part of Atlantis Sanya, a high- located near Wuhan Happy Valley, a tourist
end resort honored with multiple awards destination with a cluster of theme parks.
from travel groups. Located in a popular, Playa Maya Water Park in Tianjin likewise
coastal area, the resort includes a 55-story showed a 4.2% attendance increase. Both
hotel, water park and aquarium. In 2019, water parks benefited from the overall OCT
the resort started selling water park tickets Group summertime festival promotions.
independent of hotel stays, making it eligible
for inclusion in our study.

The water park features extensive themed

environments and landscaping, marquee
water slides through aquarium tanks and
action rivers. Its temperate location enables THE WATER PARK INDUSTRY
it to do well year-round and achieve the REMAINS VERY VIBRANT
1.2 million attendance that landed it in the
#5 position on our Top 20 chart.
IN ASIA WITH MANY NEW
PROPERTIES OF ALL SIZES
AND LOCATIONS OPENING IN
MANY DIFFERENT COUNTRIES.

51
 Caribbean Bay, Seoul, South Korea

11.1% © Caribbean Bay

Caribbean Bay,
Seoul, South Korea,
attendance growth
2018–19

Korea and Southeast Asia Looking at Southeast Asia: Two Sunway

In South Korea, the water park markets parks in Malaysia are among the Top 20
showed mixed results for 2019, with some Water Parks in Asia-Pacific. Sunway Lagoon,
parks showing strong increases while in Kuala Lumpur, experienced a 7.7%
others declined. Caribbean Bay in Seoul, attendance decrease which dropped it one
part of the Samsung Everland resort place to the #5 spot. In addition to water
complex, experienced an 11.1% increase in attractions, Sunway Lagoon incorporates
attendance. Caribbean Bay boasts what are dry amusement rides, wildlife exhibits, live
said to be the world’s longest current pool shows and scary walk-through zones. In
and largest combined water slide. Everland Perak, Sunway’s Lost World of Tambun
in general saw increased attendance to moved up from the #10 spot to #9 on our
the resort based on strong marketing and Top 20 chart, with 1 million attendance for
promotions. Woongjin Playdoci Waterdoci, 2019. Lost World of Tambun represents a
in Bucheon, showed solid attendance sizable resort and entertainment complex
growth of 4.2%. that has grown significantly over the years.

Ocean World, in Hongcheon, had an

attendance decline of 15.3% in 2019. It is the
largest water park (in terms of area) in the
country and part of the Vivaldi Park resort
which also includes a ski resort and other
leisure options.

52
1.2%
Sunway Lagoon,
Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia,
attendance 2019

Sunway Lagoon, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

© Sunway Lagoon

Hopes for a sustainable season

At this writing, the water parks in Asia are
beginning to open up for guests in 2020,
albeit with capacity and other restrictions WATER PARK VISITATION FOR
imposed due to the pandemic. Water park 2020 IS NOT EXPECTED TO BE AS
visitation for 2020 is not expected to be as
strong as 2019 but operators are hopeful
STRONG AS 2019 BUT OPERATORS
about capturing sustainable levels of visits ARE HOPEFUL ABOUT CAPTURING
and revenue for the season. SUSTAINABLE LEVELS OF VISITS
AND REVENUE FOR THE SEASON.

53
 TOP 20
AMUSEMENT/THEME PARKS
ASIA-PACIFIC

SOUTH KOREA

NORTHERN CHINA
7 6 12.6m
2 PARKS
5.2m JAPAN
1 PARK
53.0m
WESTERN CHINA 11 4 PARKS
3.6m 18
1 PARK
8
1
3
16
SOUTHERN CHINA
24.6m 15 4 2
4 PARKS 12

20
HONG KONG 19 EASTERN CHINA

11.4m 10 9
5
26.4m
5 PARKS
2 PARKS 17 14

SINGAPORE
13
4.5m
1 PARK

KEY GROWTH Top 20 parks Asia-Pacific

Top 25 parks worldwide
Circles represent size of 10
0%–4.9%

5%–9.9%

attendance at ranked parks at

the geography indicated. Slices 5
10%+
< 0%

within circles represent proportion

of attendance at the geography 0
from the ranked park indicated
by number. Shading indicates -5
attendance growth at the ranked 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19
park versus all other ranked parks.
7.5% 5.8% 7.5% 4.9% 6.8% -2.8% 5.5% 3.6% 1.6%

54 © 2020 TEA / AECOM

 ATTENDANCE

ATTENDANCE
% CHANGE
LOCATION
RANK
PARK

2019

2018
1 TOKYO DISNEYLAND, TOKYO, JAPAN 0.0% 17,910,000 17,907,000
2 TOKYO DISNEYSEA, TOKYO, JAPAN 0.0% 14,650,000 14,651,000
3 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS JAPAN, OSAKA, JAPAN 1.4% 14,500,000 14,300,000
4 CHIMELONG OCEAN KINGDOM, HENGQIN, CHINA 8.4% 11,736,000 10,830,000
5 SHANGHAI DISNEYLAND, SHANGHAI, CHINA -5.0% 11,210,000 11,800,000
6 EVERLAND, SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA 12.9% 6,606,000 5,850,000
7 LOTTE WORLD, SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA -0.1% 5,953,000 5,960,000
8 NAGASHIMA SPA LAND, KUWANA, JAPAN 0.5% 5,950,000 5,920,000
9 OCEAN PARK, HONG KONG SAR -1.7% 5,700,000 5,800,000
10 HONG KONG DISNEYLAND, HONG KONG SAR -15.0% 5,695,000 6,700,000
11 OCT HAPPY VALLEY, BEIJING, CHINA 29.6% 5,160,000 3,980,000
12 CHIMELONG PARADISE, GUANGZHOU, CHINA 4.8% 4,905,000 4,680,000
13 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE 2.3% 4,500,000 4,400,000
14 CHINA DINOSAUR PARK, CHANGZHOU, CHINA 8.0% 4,434,000 4,106,000
15 OCT WINDOW OF THE WORLD, SHENZHEN, CHINA 0.0% 3,990,000 3,990,000
16 OCT HAPPY VALLEY, SHENZHEN, CHINA 1.8% 3,980,000 3,910,000
17 ZHENGZHOU FANTAWILD ADVENTURE, ZHENGZHOU, CHINA 1.1% 3,840,000 3,800,000
18 OCT HAPPY VALLEY, CHENGDU, CHINA 15.5% 3,580,000 3,100,000
19 NINGBO FANTAWILD ORIENTAL HERITAGE, NINGBO, CHINA -4.4% 3,575,000 3,740,000
20 OCT HAPPY VALLEY, SHANGHAI, CHINA 21.1% 3,390,000 2,800,000
TOP 20 TOTAL ATTENDANCE 2019 141,264,000 138,224,000
TOP 20 ATTENDANCE GROWTH 2018–19 1.6% 141,264,000 139,104,000
© 2020 TEA / AECOM
* Adjustment versus the figure we published in last year’s report

1.6% 141.3m 139.1m

Top 20 amusement/theme parks Top 20 amusement/theme parks Top 20 amusement/theme parks
attendance growth Asia-Pacific Asia-Pacific attendance 2019 Asia-Pacific attendance 2018
2018–19

© 2020 TEA / AECOM 55

 TOP 20
WATER PARKS
ASIA-PACIFIC

19 SOUTH KOREA
3
17
8
3.9m
4 PARKS

15 17 1
CHINA 13 JAPAN
11.2m 11
14
0.9m
9 PARKS 2 1 PARK
9
5 4
SINGAPORE
20 0.7m
1 PARK
MALAYSIA
2.2m 9 5 INDONESIA
2 PARKS 16 12 1.7m
2 PARKS

AUSTRALIA
7 1.1m
1 PARK

KEY GROWTH Top 20 water parks Asia-Pacific

Top 20 water parks worldwide
Circles represent size of 10
0%–4.9%

5%–9.9%

attendance at ranked parks at

the geography indicated. Slices 5
10%+
< 0%

within circles represent proportion

of attendance at the geography 0
from the ranked park indicated
by number. Shading indicates -5
attendance growth at the ranked 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19
park versus all other ranked parks.
10.3% 7.4% 6.0% 1.2% 1.0% 5.4% 2.7% 0.7% 0.5%

56 © 2020 TEA / AECOM

 ATTENDANCE

ATTENDANCE
% CHANGE
LOCATION
RANK
PARK

2019

2018
1 CHIMELONG WATER PARK, GUANGZHOU, CHINA 10.0% 3,014,000 2,740,000
2 WUHU FANTAWILD WATER PARK, WUHU, CHINA -0.9% 1,348,000 1,360,000
3 CARIBBEAN BAY, SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA 11.1% 1,333,000 1,200,000
4 PLAYA MAYA WATER PARK, WUHAN, CHINA 12.0% 1,210,000 1,080,000
5 AQUAVENTURE ATLANTIS, SANYA, CHINA 100.0% 1,200,000 600,000
SUNWAY LAGOON, KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA -7.7% 1,200,000 1,300,000
7 WET 'N' WILD GOLD COAST, GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA 0.0% 1,120,000 1,120,000
8 OCEAN WORLD, HONGCHEON, SOUTH KOREA -15.3% 1,071,000 1,264,000
9 KAIFENG YINJI WATER PARK, KAIFENG, CHINA 0.0% 1,000,000 1,000,000*
SUNWAY LOST WORLD OF TAMBUN, PERAK, MALAYSIA 0.0% 1,000,000 1,000,000
11 PLAYA MAYA WATER PARK, SHANGHAI, CHINA -2.0% 970,000 990,000
12 ATLANTIS WATER ADVENTURE, JAKARTA, INDONESIA 0.3% 910,000 907,000
13 ZHENGZHOU FANTAWILD WATER PARK, ZHENGZHOU, CHINA -0.5% 905,000 910,000
14 SUMMERLAND, TOKYO, JAPAN 5.9% 868,000 820,000
15 XIAMEN FANTAWILD WATERPARK, XIAMEN, CHINA 0.6% 832,000 827,000
16 THE JUNGLE WATER ADVENTURE, BOGOR, WEST JAVA, INDONESIA 0.3% 785,000 783,000
17 PLAYA MAYA WATER PARK, TIANJIN, CHINA 4.2% 750,000 720,000
WOONGJIN PLAYDOCI WATERDOCI, BUCHEON, SOUTH KOREA 4.2% 750,000 720,000
19 LOTTE WATER PARK, GIMHAE, SOUTH KOREA -0.5% 740,000 744,000
20 ADVENTURE COVE WATER PARK, SINGAPORE 1.4% 710,000 700,000
TOP 20 TOTAL ATTENDANCE 2019 21,716,000 20,785,000
TOP 20 ATTENDANCE GROWTH 2018–19 0.5% 21,716,000 21,606,000
© 2020 TEA / AECOM
* Adjustment versus the figure we published in last year’s report

0.5% 21.7m 21.6m

Top 20 water parks Asia-Pacific Top 20 water parks Top 20 water parks
attendance growth 2018–19 Asia-Pacific attendance 2019 Asia-Pacific attendance 2018

© 2020 TEA / AECOM 57

EMEA -1.3%
Top 20 amusement/
2.7%
Futuroscope,
theme parks EMEA Jaunay-Clan, France,
attendance growth attendance growth
2018–19 2018–19

64.5m
Top 20 amusement/
theme parks EMEA
attendance 2019

65.4m
Top 20 amusement/
theme parks EMEA
attendance 2018

JODIE LOCK
Associate – Economics,
Asia-Pacific and EMEA
—

58
EMEA THEME PARKS:
STABILITY IN REVENUE AND
ATTENDANCE FOR 2019
The region’s 20 top-attended
theme parks in 2019 demonstrated
a stable picture across the EMEA
region. Of these 20, the vast
majority experienced increased
attendance, and there were
few shifts in position from the
prior year.
—
For those parks exhibiting growth in
visitation, this was primarily driven by
operators reinvesting to give guests a
reason to visit and return in the form of
new rides and attractions, new hotels, and
special events and celebrations, backed by
strong marketing.

Futuroscope, Jaunay-Clan, France

© Futuroscope

59
 Attendance to Disneyland Paris remained
relatively stable in 2019 with the attraction
holding its position as the top-attended
theme park in the region. Europa-Park OPERATORS DROVE GROWTH
(Germany) and Efteling (Belgium) likewise BY REINVESTING IN AND
held fairly steady; the former added its
new Rulantica water park late in the season
MARKETING NEW RIDES AND
and will likely show the benefits of added ATTRACTIONS, HOSPITALITY
attendance in future numbers. AND SPECIAL EVENTS.
It was a special year for Parc Astérix
(France), which celebrated its 30th
anniversary in 2019 and rose four places
to the #10 spot on our Top 20 chart. The
park’s attendance increase of 7.0% was
accompanied by a revenue increase of
13.0%. The park extended its operating
season with its first Christmas festival and
launched its new Gallic Parade, with special
promotions through the year.

9.7m
Disneyland Park at
Disneyland Paris,
Marne-La-Vallee,
France, attendance
2019

Disneyland Paris, Disneyland park, France

© Disneyland

60
 5.8m
Europa-Park,
Rust, Germany,
attendance 2019

Europa-Park, Rust, Germany

© Europa-Park

Other, new enhancements to the park Attendance grew 3.7% at PortAventura

included the 4D attraction “Attention (Spain) which drew 3,750,000 visits and was
Menhir!” and a magic show. In 2020, the named Europe’s Best Amusement Park
park also added the new hotel Les Quais by worldofparks.eu. In 2019, the park also
de Lutece. added the Sesame Street: Street Mission
interactive dark ride. PortAventura is one of
Tivoli Gardens (Copenhagen) showed a cluster of three successful, gated parks
an attendance decrease of 5.5% for within PortAventura World resort, which also
2019; visitation to this outdoor-oriented includes Ferrari Land and Caribe Aquatic
property was likely impacted by Denmark’s Park. Multi-park and hotel bundling have
record rainfall that year, which shortened helped ensure that visitation to all three
the operating season. Tivoli has been parks has increased year over year.
developing a strategy to continue adding
more indoor elements in the future.

Liseberg (Sweden) saw a slight drop in

attendance (3.4%) but reported increases
in revenue and profitability. The park began
charging admission for certain events in
2019 that had previously been free.

61
 2.7%
PortAventura, Salou,
Spain, attendance
growth 2018–19

PortAventura, Salou, Spain

© PortAventura

1.4%
Alton Towers,
Staffordshire, U.K.,
attendance growth
2018–19

Stargazing Pods, Alton Towers, Staffordshire, U.K.

© Merlin Entertainment Group

62
 2.2m 5.4%
Parque Warner, Legoland Billund,
Madrid, Spain, Denmark,
attendance 2019 attendance
growth 2018–19

Parque Warner, Madrid, Spain Legoland Billund, Billund, Denmark

© Parque Warner © Merlin Entertainment Group

A sixth hotel, Colorado Creek, a four-star The summer heatwave and transportation
accommodation, was added in June 2019, strikes in France did not impair visitation
bringing the total number of rooms to 2,200. numbers at Futuroscope, with the park
PortAventura World also caters to business ending its season on a high with 1.9 million
travelers and recently expanded its attendance. This is an increase of 50,000
convention center. Its new hotel is carbon- visits. Factors included a huge uptick in
neutral and one of several ways in which the family attendance, rising from 65.0% of
resort has set an example of sustainability visitation to 80.0% and attributed to the
and environmental awareness. redesigned Futuropolis children’s area. The
summer holidays were a particularly popular
European operator Merlin Entertainments time for the park, with attendance rising
kept its ranking as the second largest theme 10.0% during August alone.
park group in the world. Merlin continues to
build up its theme park resort destinations,
many of which rank in the top 20 in Europe.
Merlin properties Legoland Billund,
Gardaland and Alton Towers each added a
new hotel in 2019. Alton Towers also added
stargazing pods.

63
 EMEA WATER PARKS: Middle East and Africa
This section of the Theme Index covers
STRONG GROWTH AT Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA);

ESTABLISHED PARKS however, most of the properties that appear

on these charts are in Europe. This is due to
the study’s focus on top-attended theme
Northern Europe and the UAE dominate the parks and water parks and the nature of
list of 10 top-attended water parks in EMEA tourism from one region to another.
for 2019 with few changes in rank from the
previous year. Remaining on top, Therme On the continent of Africa, the larger cities
Erding (Germany) had a strong summer such as Cape Town and Johannesburg are
and a dramatic attendance increase the likeliest locations for attractions that
of 23.3%. Success is due to numerous might one day appear on our charts.
new attractions, summer events and
entertainment and a broad mix of attractions As has happened in the Middle East, water
from thrill rides to saunas. Therme Erding’s parks might show up there first as they are
success has influenced other facilities in popular in hot-weather regions and relatively
Northern Europe. less expensive to develop. But in this region,
theme parks are not the leading drivers of
Aqualand Moravia (Czech Republic) also tourism. Africa’s unique tourism landscape
recorded double-digit attendance growth is more oriented to nature and cultural
in 2019, attributed to a strong reinvestment experiences than the parks and attractions
and expansion program that includes that are the focus of this study.
hospitality, conference facilities, dining/retail
and water attractions. This facility began The Middle East has seen much attractions
as an indoor park and has added many development and even mega-development,
new outdoor features making the most of especially in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. (Saudi
panoramic views. Arabia is an emerging player.) Some of the
projects have been recognized with TEA
Wild Wadi (Dubai) saw an attendance Thea Awards, most recently Warner Bros.
increase of 2.8% but moved down one rank World Abu Dhabi.
on the top 10 chart. Although tourism grew
5% in the UAE in 2019, the supply of parks
still outpaces visitor demand.

ON THE CONTINENT OF AFRICA,

THE LARGER CITIES SUCH AS CAPE
TOWN AND JOHANNESBURG ARE
THE LIKELIEST LOCATIONS FOR
ATTRACTIONS THAT MIGHT ONE DAY
APPEAR ON OUR CHARTS.
64
However, these theme parks haven’t COVID-related shifts ahead
attained the attendance figures that would In light of decreased tourism, capacity caps
earn them a place in our EMEA lists of top and other restrictions related to COVID-19,
performers — at least, not yet — though parks will likely put new emphasis on
some water parks have. revenue as a measure of success, but this
will be complicated by economic recession.
Looking ahead, Dubai Expo 2020 We can foresee changes in customer
construction is well underway; the opening behavior, some of which may be long-term,
date for this six-month world’s fair has and at least a year or two of reduction before
been rescheduled to October 2021 due to the industry returns to 2019 numbers.
COVID-19. SeaWorld Abu Dhabi is still on
schedule for a 2022 opening on Yas Island.
Parks already open on Yas Island include
Warner Bros. World, Yas Waterworld and
Ferrari World.

Warner Bros. WorldTM Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE

© Warner Bros. WorldTM

65
 TOP 20
AMUSEMENT/THEME PARKS
EMEA
SWEDEN
7
3.0m
U.K. 20 1 PARK
9
8.2m 16 13 15
DENMARK
4 PARKS
5 6.5m
2 PARKS
NETHERLANDS

FRANCE 11 16
3
5.3m
1 PARK
21.5m 10 1
5 PARKS 4 18 GERMANY
18
14
2
11.2m
4 PARKS
8
12 6
ITALY
SPAIN
2.9m
2.8m 1 PARK
2 PARKS

KEY GROWTH Top 20 parks EMEA

Top 25 parks worldwide
10
Circles represent size of
0%–4.9%

5%–9.9%

attendance at ranked parks at

the geography indicated. Slices 5
10%+
< 0%

within circles represent proportion

of attendance at the geography 0
from the ranked park indicated
by number. Shading indicates -5
attendance growth at the ranked 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19
park versus all other ranked parks. 2.8% -0.3% -0.1% 3.0% 2.8% -1.1% 3.4% 4.4% -1.3%

66 © 2020 TEA / AECOM

 ATTENDANCE

ATTENDANCE
% CHANGE
LOCATION
RANK
PARK

2019

2018
1 DISNEYLAND PARK AT DISNEYLAND PARIS, MARNE-LA-VALLEE, FRANCE -1.0% 9,745,000 9,843,000
2 EUROPA-PARK, RUST, GERMANY 0.5% 5,750,000 5,720,000
3 DE EFTELING, KAATSHEUVEL, NETHERLANDS -1.7% 5,260,000 5,350,000*
4 WALT DISNEY STUDIOS PARK AT DISNEYLAND PARIS, MARNE-LA-VALLEE, FRANCE -1.0% 5,245,000 5,298,000
5 TIVOLI GARDENS, COPENHAGEN, DENMARK -5.5% 4,581,000 4,850,000
6 PORTAVENTURA, SALOU, SPAIN 2.7% 3,750,000 3,650,000
7 LISEBERG, GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN -3.4% 2,950,000 3,055,000
8 GARDALAND, CASTELNUOVO DEL GARDA, ITALY 0.7% 2,920,000 2,900,000
9 LEGOLAND WINDSOR, WINDSOR, U.K. 5.0% 2,430,000 2,315,000
10 PARC ASTERIX, PLAILLY, FRANCE 7.0% 2,326,000 2,174,000
11 PUY DU FOU, LES EPESSES, FRANCE 0.1% 2,308,000 2,305,000*
12 PARQUE WARNER, MADRID, SPAIN 2.2% 2,232,000 2,185,000
13 ALTON TOWERS, STAFFORDSHIRE, U.K. 1.4% 2,130,000 2,100,000
14 PHANTASIALAND, BRÜHL, GERMANY 2.5% 2,050,000 2,000,000
15 LEGOLAND BILLUND, BILLUND, DENMARK 5.4% 1,950,000 1,850,000*
16 THORPE PARK, CHERTSEY, U.K. 1.1% 1,900,000 1,880,000
FUTUROSCOPE, JAUNAY-CLAN, FRANCE 2.7% 1,900,000 1,850,000
18 LEGOLAND DEUTSCHLAND, GÜNZBURG, GERMANY 3.0% 1,700,000 1,650,000*
HEIDE PARK, SOLTAU, GERMANY 2.4% 1,700,000 1,660,000
20 CHESSINGTON WORLD OF ADVENTURES, CHESSINGTON, U.K. 1.2% 1,690,000 1,670,000
TOP 20 TOTAL ATTENDANCE 2019 64,517,000 64,305,000
TOP 20 ATTENDANCE GROWTH 2018–19 -1.3% 64,517,000 65,371,000
© 2020 TEA / AECOM
* Adjustment versus the figure we published in last year’s report

-1.3% 64.5m 65.4m

Top 20 amusement/theme Top 20 amusement/theme Top 20 amusement/theme
parks EMEA attendance growth parks EMEA attendance 2019 parks EMEA attendance 2018
2018–19

© 2020 TEA / AECOM 67

 TOP 10
WATER PARKS
EMEA

DENMARK
NETHERLANDS
10 0.7m 8 GERMANY
1 PARK
0.8m 7
1
3.8m
1 PARK 4
3 PARK

CZECH REPUBLIC

CANARY ISLANDS, SPAIN

6 3 2.1m
2 PARK
5 1.2m
1 PARK U.A.E.
9 2 2.1m
2 PARKS

KEY Top 10 water parks EMEA

GROWTH Top 20 water parks worldwide
Circles represent size of 10
0%–4.9%

5%–9.9%

attendance at ranked parks at

the geography indicated. Slices 5
10%+
< 0%

within circles represent proportion

of attendance at the geography 0
from the ranked park indicated
by number. Shading indicates -5
attendance growth at the ranked 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19
park versus all other ranked parks.
5.5% 3.7% 3.2% 6.7% 4.0%

68 © 2020 TEA / AECOM

 ATTENDANCE

ATTENDANCE
% CHANGE
LOCATION
RANK
PARK

2019

2018
1 THERME ERDING, ERDING, GERMANY 23.3% 1,850,000 1,500,000
2 AQUAVENTURE WATER PARK, DUBAI, U.A.E. -5.4% 1,322,000 1,397,000
3 AQUAPALACE, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC 0.9% 1,300,000 1,288,000
4 TROPICAL ISLANDS, KRAUSNICK, GERMANY 2.8% 1,233,000 1,200,000
5 SIAM PARK, SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, SPAIN -0.8% 1,200,000 1,210,000
6 AQUALAND MORAVIA, PASOHLÁVKY, CZECH REPUBLIC 11.9% 806,000 720,000
7 TIKI POOL, DUINRELL, THE NETHERLANDS 0.0% 800,000 800,000
8 NETTEBAD, OSNABRÜCK, GERMANY -0.3% 756,000 758,000
9 WILD WADI, DUBAI, U.A.E. 2.8% 740,000 720,000
10 LALANDIA, BILLUND, DENMARK 0.0% 682,000 682,000
TOP 10 TOTAL ATTENDANCE 2019 10,689,000 10,275,000
TOP 10 ATTENDANCE GROWTH 2018–19 4.0% 10,689,000 10,275,000
© 2020 TEA / AECOM

* Adjustment versus the figure we published in last year’s report

4.0% 10.7m 10.3m

Top 10 water parks EMEA Top 10 water parks Top 10 water parks
attendance growth 2018–19 EMEA attendance 2019 EMEA attendance 2018

© 2020 TEA / AECOM 69

MUSEUMS -2.4%
Top 20 museums
15.0%
Musée d'Orsay, Paris,
attendance growth France, attendance
worldwide 2018–19 growth 2018–19

105.5m
Top 20 museums
worldwide
attendance 2019

108.1m
Top 20 museums
worldwide
attendance 2018

LINDA CHEU
Vice President – Economics,
Americas
—
With contributions from Sarah
Linford, Senior Associate –
Economics, Americas, Beth Chang,
Executive Director – Economics,
Asia-Pacific and Jodie Lock,
Associate – Economics, Asia-Pacific Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France
and EMEA. © Musée d'Orsay

70
WORLDWIDE
The 20 most-visited museums in the
world performed well and remained
relatively stable in 2019, globally
attracting some 105 million visits
overall compared to 108 million in
2018. Asia’s top museums gained
global market share and Europe’s
manifested significant attendance
growth, while in North America,
visits to the top museums declined
due to a variety of factors.
—
There were two newcomers to the global
top 20 in 2019 — Shanghai Science and
Technology Museum in China and Musée
d’Orsay in France. Special exhibitions
continue to be primary drivers of
attendance change in our lists and are an
important way that the largest museums
invest in the visitor experience to maintain
market share and keep pace with population
and tourism growth.

71
 9.6m
Louvre, Paris,
France, attendance
2019

Louvre, Paris, France

The size and character of the industry will

likely shift post-pandemic. Attendance MUSEUMS IN EMEA
declines for 2020 are inevitable, and
recovery will take time. The museum The 20 top-attended museums in Europe
industry is decentralized, with diversity in enjoyed a very strong year overall in
markets, business models, and financial 2019, with 83.8 million visits reflecting an
fitness, which will translate to varied increase of 4.5%, or 3.5 million additional
resiliency in regard to COVID challenges. visits compared to the previous year. The
However, the performance of museums vast majority of change in attendance was
in 2019 demonstrates continued public driven by special exhibitions, with several
enthusiasm for what museums have to offer museums posting double-digit increases
and will serve as a baseline for evaluating in 2019.
the impact of COVID-19 in next year’s report.
Attendance to museums in Paris has
stabilized once again after the civil unrest a
few years ago, which had led to significant
declines in 2017. In 2019, international
tourism kept numbers high at most Paris
museums despite some disruptions caused
by “Yellow Vest” protests and transit strikes.
Museums in Paris accounted for 16.5 million,
close to 20.0%, of all EMEA museum visits.

72
Foreign tourists comprise 75.0% of visitors
to the Musée du Louvre, which maintained
its first-place ranking in Europe and the
world, with 9.6 million visits in 2019. While THE PERFORMANCE OF MUSEUMS IN
the number was down slightly from its 2019 DEMONSTRATES CONTINUED
all-time high of 10.2 million in 2018, this
was largely due to a new visitor flow
PUBLIC ENTHUSIASM FOR WHAT
management program and online booking MUSEUMS HAVE TO OFFER AND
system that were strategically implemented WILL SERVE AS A BASELINE FOR
to reduce overcrowding and improve the EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF
guest experience. The system reduced
attendance by 20.0% during peak summer
COVID-19 IN NEXT YEAR’S REPORT.
months, which had previously averaged
1 million visits per month.

The Louvre celebrated the 30th anniversary

of its I.M. Pei-designed glass Pyramid
entryway with special events and Saturday
night openings. The major exhibition,
“Leonardo da Vinci” was a huge domestic
and international hit with record attendance.
The Louvre also grew its online presence
significantly in 2019, upping its Instagram
following by 47.0% to 3.5 million.

3.3m
Centre Pompidou,
Paris, France,
attendance 2019

Centre Pompidou, Paris, France

73
 Growth on Weibo was up by 75.0% to Markets
30 million followers, demonstrating the Museums in Moscow and Amsterdam
online popularity of the Louvre among demonstrated the ability of blockbuster
the Chinese. exhibitions to attract local residents.
Moscow’s State Tretyakov Gallery enjoyed
Also in Paris, Musée d’Orsay drew record a major attendance rebound of 32.0% —
attendance with nearly 3.7 million visits in much of it from local markets — thanks to
2019, up 15.0% with two popular, special the Ilya Repin exhibition which drew more
exhibits, “Black Models: From Géricault than 600,000 visits. Also popular were
to Matisse,” (500,000+ visits) and “Berthe retrospectives of Arkhip Kuindzhi and
Morisot (413,000 visits). Cité des Sciences Vasily Polenov, and the museum’s update
et de l’Industrie also saw record numbers of its permanent exhibition galleries of 20th
with 2.4 million visits in 2019, up 6.2% Century art.
attributed to a broad range of events and
festivals, and despite La Géode, its giant
screen theater dome, being closed for
renovation. Centre Pompidou experienced
a 7.9% drop in attendance due to
construction that limited hours and access
for part of the year.

17.4%
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam,
The Netherlands,
attendance growth
2018–19

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

© Rijksmuseum

74
 10.7% 13.5%
Museo Nacional del Reina Sofía,
Prado, Madrid, Spain, Madrid, Spain,
growth 2018–19 growth 2018–19

Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain

Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, Spain © Reina Sofía

Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum was another At Reina Sofía, where 2019 attendance

double-digit performer with 17.4% increased nearly 14.0%, the free areas of
attendance growth in 2019 drawn by the museum delivered the biggest boosts
exhibitions and events marking the 350th although special exhibitions (“The Poetics
anniversary of Rembrandt’s death. 40.0% of of Democracy: Images and Counter-Images
the visitors to the Rijksmuseum are local and from the Spanish Transition” and “Charles
60.0% are international. Ray: Four Patterns”) also proved popular,
and admissions revenues rose 3.0%.
Double-digit attendance increases
were also seen at top art museums in
Madrid in 2019. Museo Nacional del
Prado experienced nearly 11.0% growth,
attributable to free admission over a three-
day period celebrating the 200th anniversary
of its founding. The peak day during this
period was Easter Saturday with 14,300
visits, versus a daily average of 8,800.
Engagement on Instagram also increased,
with a 65.0% bump in followers.

75
 Museums in London generally recorded Africa and Middle East
steady growth in 2019. The strongest Museums in Africa and the Middle East
performer was the British Museum, with a have not yet reached attendance levels that
nearly 7.0% increase in attendance driven bring them onto our charts, but we do watch
by two major, special exhibitions. The development in these areas. Since opening
Japanese Manga blockbuster generated in November 2017, the Louvre Abu Dhabi
1,900 visits per day on average for a total of has drawn an average of approximately
184,000 over three months. “Rembrandt: 1 million per year. A noteworthy new
Thinking of Paper” was also a key driver, development in Africa is the 150,000 square
accounting for nearly 327,000 visits over a foot Museum of Black Civilizations which
six-month period. opened in November 2018 in Dakar, with
major investment from China.
Finally, highlighting the continued popularity
of exhibits revolving around major
international fashion houses, “Christian Dior:
Designer of Dreams” was a record breaker
for special exhibition attendance at the
Victoria & Albert Museum in London, with
595,000 visits to Dior alone, beating out
the V&A’s previous attendance record of
some 480,000 visits for the 2015 exhibition
Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty.”

5.8%
British Museum,
London, U.K.,
attendance growth
2018–2019

British Museum, London, U.K.

76
36.3%
Shanghai Science &
Technology Museum,
Shanghai, China,
attendance growth
2018–19

Shanghai Science & Technology

Museum, Shanghai, China

MUSEUMS IN ASIA Asia’s top museums saw increased global

market share in 2019. Of the nearly 105.5
China continues to dominate the list of the million visits to the world’s top 20 museums
most attended museums in Asia, as well in 2019, Asia museums accounted for more
as the Asia museums represented on our than 25%, or 28.3 million visits. In 2018 that
top 20 chart of the world’s most attended figure was 24.7 million out of 104.8 million.
museums. Of the six museums in Asia that Visits to the top museums in Europe for the
are on the top 20 chart, five are in China and same period were roughly twice Asia’s, at
one is in Taiwan. The Shanghai Science and 57.2 million.
Technology Museum joined the top 20 most
attended global museums list, propelled Chinese Museums:
by a 36% increase to 4.8 million visits. The Attendance ebbs and flows
National Museum of China in Beijing kept its Among individual museums there was
global position, second only to the Louvre considerable fluctuation in Asia’s top 20, but
Paris, although attendance decreased the aggregate performance reflects overall
by 14.2%. stability, with attendance totaling nearly
67.5 million in 2019 compared to 67.7 million
the previous year.

77
 Anji Branch of Zhejiang Museum of Natural History, Anji, China

13.1% © Zhejiang Museum of Natural History

Zhejiang Museum
of Natural History,
Hangzhou, China,
attendance growth
2018–19

Looking at our 2019 list of Asia’s top 20 Attendance increases in 2019 were
museums, 12 of those 20 are museums in driven by a number of special exhibitions
China, with several list newcomers including: and activities commemorating the 70th
Xian Museum, Tianjin Natural History anniversary of the founding of Communist
Museum, Shanghai Natural History Museum, China. The National Museum of China in
Zhejiang Natural History Museum, and Hubei Beijing presented nine thematic exhibitions
Provincial Museum. The National Taiwan spanning art, culture, history and politics
Science Education Center was also new including “The Power of Truth: Marking
to Asia’s top 20 museums in 2019. These the Bicentenary of the Birth of Karl Marx,”
newcomers were propelled onto the chart “The Journey Back Home: An Exhibition of
with growth between 13.0% and 47.0%. Chinese Artifacts Repatriated from Italy,”
Several museums, both in China and in other and “The Splendor of Asia: An Exhibition of
Asian countries, fell off the list as well, with Asian Civilizations.”
the Asian top 20 having significantly more
volatility compared to EMEA and North
America. Given the large size of markets
and sheer volume of museums in China,
the impact of special exhibitions from year
to year creates a high degree of fluctuation
that will likely lead to more such rotation and
volatility in the future.

78
Museums in China also became
contributors to the nighttime economy in
2019 per encouragement from the central
government. Many extended operating MUSEUMS IN CHINA ALSO
hours to 9:00 pm with special events and BECAME CONTRIBUTORS TO
activities. In future such events may develop
into significant attendance and revenue
THE “NIGHT-TIME ECONOMY” IN
generators for China's museums, as they 2019 AS THE CHINESE CENTRAL
have done in other geographies. GOVERNMENT INSTRUCTED
MUSEUMS TO PARTICIPATE
The use of timed ticketing systems led
to some reductions in attendance. The
IN ENCOURAGING NIGHTTIME
systems, introduced by many museums LEISURE ACTIVITIES.
with free attendance to regulate crowd
flow, are an example of how operational
measures affected numbers in 2019. Going
forward, reservation systems will likely
remain the rule as a safety measure due to
the pandemic.

Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong

© Hong Kong Museum of Art

79
 MUSEUMS IN There have been multiple examples in 2019
of attendance estimates being affected by
NORTH AMERICA operational issues as well as changes in
visitor counting methods and systems.
The 20 top-attended museums in North
America saw an aggregate attendance Washington, DC
decline of about 18.0% in 2019 compared With the exception of the National Museum
to the previous year, with double-digit of African American History and Culture,
decreases at several facilities. History where attendance grew 5.0%, in the United
shows that these attendance swings at the States capital all Smithsonian museums
top are primarily driven by the presence or experienced decreases in reported
absence of blockbuster exhibitions, and attendance between 2018 and 2019.
construction-related closures. In 2019 the
factors also included changes to visitor Three of them — the National Museum
counting methods. of Natural History, National Air and Space
Museum and National Museum of American
The process of estimating attendance History — transitioned from hand counters
for museums, especially those with free to an automated system to estimate annual
admission, is an issue that has been attendance. In addition, the National Air and
identified in the Museum Index since we Space Museum commenced a major, multi-
began to create this annual study in 2012. year renovation in late 2018.

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC, U.S.

2.0m © Smithsonian American Art Museum

Smithsonian American
Art Museum,
Washington DC, U.S.,
attendance 2019

80
 6.8m
The Metropolitan
Museum of Art,
New York, NY, U.S.,
attendance 2019

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, U.S.

© The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Further complicating the figures, the New York

Smithsonian American Art Museum and With nearly 6.8 million visits in 2019, the
the National Portrait Gallery, which had Metropolitan Museum of Art is down 8.0%,
previously been reported together as the but still retains its position as the most-
Donald W. Reynold Center for American Art visited museum in North America and third
and Portraiture, transitioned to reporting as most-visited in the world. The attendance
two separate museums, and the Renwick decrease at the Met is another “low-after-
Gallery, which was previously reported high” temporary exhibition story. The
separately, is now included as part of “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic
the Smithsonian American Art Museum Imagination” exhibition in 2018 had earned
attendance number. the highest attendance of any special
exhibition in the museum’s history with
Aside from these reporting and operational close to 1.7 million visits. At the Museum
changes, the Renwick’s “No Spectators: The of Modern Art, the 28.0% attendance
Art of Burning Man” exhibition and Obama drop in 2019 is attributable to having been
portrait exhibition at the National Portrait closed part of the year for expansion.
Gallery drew record crowds and peak We’re keeping an eye on the new Statue
attendance numbers in 2018, followed by a of Liberty Museum, which opened May
decrease in 2019. 2019 and may find its way into the Top 20
before long.

81
 Midwest and West
In Chicago, the Museum of Science and
Industry experienced a nearly 11.0%
attendance decrease in 2019, after WHILE SOME MUSEUMS ARE
the special exhibition, “The Science BEGINNING TO RE-OPEN WITH
Behind Pixar” in 2018. Similarly, the
California Science Center in Los Angeles
NEW PROTOCOLS IN PLACE,
experienced an attendance decrease OTHERS CONTINUE TO WORK
of 13.0% in 2019, the year after great THROUGH THE BUSINESS,
success with “King Tut: Treasures of the STAFFING, AND OPERATING
Golden Pharaoh.”
MEASURES THAT WILL ALLOW
THEM TO SUCCESSFULLY DO SO.
TRENDS AND A VIEW
TO 2020
The events of 2020 have brought multiple,
pressing issues to the museum world, The tourism factor
beginning with simple survival. At this writing The top museums that appear on our charts
in July 2020, many museum buildings are are primarily located in major destination
still closed, facing enormous economic cities, where tourism numbers were
and operational challenges. The UN cultural strong in 2019, and many rely on tourists
agency stated on International Museum for at least 50.0% of attendance. But due
Day (May 18, 2020) that nearly 90.0% of the to the global pandemic and recession,
world’s museums had closed their doors, and tourism has declined significantly. During
that close to 13.0% were in danger of never the Great Recession of 2008, museums
re-opening. with a resident base benefited from the
staycation trend, serving as substitute
Economic viability and reopening products for more expensive vacations and
Major factors across geographies driving entertainment options.
attendance, such as the blockbuster
exhibition and social events, may not make Social experiences
economic sense nor be viable in the context In 2020 however, the current pandemic
of reopening guidelines. raises special health concerns regarding
indoor spaces. Some trends that have
While some museums will continue to helped museums bring in new audiences
re-open with new protocols in place, and revenue — such as lively evening social
others will still need to work through the events featuring music, food, and curated
business, staffing, and operating measures drinks; yoga meetups; food halls; immersive,
to allow them to successfully do so. The in-person experiences; and Instagram
extent to which individual museums are moments, have been put on hold given the
able to remain viable during and after the need for social distancing.
pandemic will depend on a number of
factors, including revenue sources, size
of endowment and/or operating reserves,
building facility characteristics, outdoor
programming opportunities, level of COVID
in the community, government support, and
building ownership, among others.

82
Yet — using Asia as a model — based Adapting to serve the community
on how the sector recovered after the With online tools, museums can respond
SARS epidemic of 2003, and observing more quickly to current issues and be an
entertainment venues of all types now important and relevant part of community
where COVID levels have declined and civic discourse. Recent discussions
sufficiently to allow for cautious re- at the American Alliance of Museums
openings, visitor behavior indicates virtual conference highlighted the call
that there will be significant demand for for museums to serve their community
in-person, social experiences once the with respect to equity and racial issues
pandemic declines. that have come to the forefront recently.
While museums were already viewed
Like many industries, the growth of virtual as important sources of information on
and online programming has accelerated scientific, historical, and cultural topics,
rapidly among museums, with a diverse this role has intensified significantly in
array of content drawing record numbers recent months. The provision of reliable
of people to museum websites and social and credible perspectives and information
media. While COVID has shuttered museum by museums against the backdrop of an
buildings, it has expanded their markets and overwhelming amount of media is another
audiences through online platforms. This trend accelerated by COVID.
increased online presence has accelerated
the trend that was already present of Museums have proven themselves as
engaging visitors in content creation, resilient and able to adapt to meet the needs
conversation and storytelling. of current and new audiences, as shown by
new visitor experiences and programming
developed in recent years. Museums have
become places where communities come
together, which will be needed more than
ever post-pandemic. This year’s Museum
MUSEUMS HAVE PROVEN Index, in addition to the data from the past
THEMSELVES AS RESILIENT seven years during which we have tracked
attendance and studied trends at the top
AND ABLE TO ADAPT TO MEET museums in the world, will serve as an
THE NEEDS OF CURRENT AND important benchmark against which to
NEW AUDIENCES. measure the impact of COVID and track the
pace of the industry's recovery.

83
 NEW AND NOTABLE
MUSEUMS
2019
1
8 2
3

10 15
14
5 18
7 4 9 13 19 20
6 11 17
12 21
16

1 STATUE OF LIBERTY MUSEUM, 8 POSTER HOUSE, NEW YORK CITY, 15 MUZEUM SUSCH, SUSCH,
NEW YORK CITY, U.S. NEW YORK SWITZERLAND
2 THE SHED, NEW YORK CITY, U.S. 9 INTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM, 16 MUSEUM OF BLACK
AMERICAN KENNEL CLUB WASHINGTON D.C., U.S. CIVILISATIONS, DAKAR,
3 SENEGAL
MUSEUM OF THE DOG, NEW 10 BURKE MUSEUM, SEATTLE,
YORK CITY, U.S. WASHINGTON, U.S. 17 TEAMLAB BORDERLESS
NATIONAL CHILDREN’S MUSEUM, SHANGHAI, SHANGHAI, CHINA
4 11 PETRA MUSEUM, WADI MUSA,
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S. JORDAN 18 NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM
MASCOT HALL OF FAME, OF CHINA, TIANJIN, CHINA
5 12 NATIONAL MUSEUM OF QATAR,
WHITING, INDIANA, U.S. DOHA, QATAR 19 WEST BUND MUSEUM,
NORTON MUSEUM OF ART, WEST SHANGHAI, CHINA
6 13 MUŻA, THE MALTA NATIONAL
PALM BEACH, FLORIDA, U.S. COMMUNITY ART MUSEUM, 20 SNOOPY MUSEUM TOKYO, JAPAN
7 MUSEUM OF DREAM SPACE VALLETTA, MALTA 21 K11 MUSEA, TSIN SHA TSUI,
(MODS), LOS ANGELES, 14 LUMEN MUSEUM OF MOUNTAIN HONG KONG
CALIFORNIA, U.S. PHOTOGRAPHY, MAREO, SOUTH
TYROL, ITALY
84
NEW AND NOTABLE NORTH AMERICA
MUSEUMS AND Statue of Liberty Museum, New
EMERGING TRENDS York City
The $70 million Statue of Liberty Museum
opened in May 2019. The museum features
Around the world there were many museum three galleries with cultural artifacts and
openings in 2019, some of which provide multimedia displays telling the story of the
a window into current trends and changes Statue of Liberty, its creation, and ideals.
that move beyond traditional industry The museum includes the original torch
models. Museums are leveraging their which was replaced in 1984. It is estimated
brand power by expanding to multiple that 50% of Liberty Island visitors will visit
locations, experiences, and venue types. the museum.
Cultural experiences are being integrated
into retail in partnership with museums. The Shed, New York City
Collaborations between some of the Opened in April 2019, this new, 200,000
largest museums in the world and new square foot multi-use arts center includes
museums have developed in satellite site two galleries with rotating exhibits, a 500-
locations. Digital technology plays an ever- seat theater, and a concert hall. It opened
increasing role. with Soundtrack of America, a five-night
concert series celebrating the cultural
impact of African American music.

The Shed. New York City, NY, U.S.

© Timothy Schenck, courtesy The Shed

85
 Mascot Hall of Fame, Whiting, IN, U.S.
© Charlie Simotaikis Photography

American Kennel Club Museum of Other new museums or

the Dog, New York City major museum expansion in
The AKC Museum of the Dog moved back to North America:
New York and opened in February 2019 after
being in St. Louis for 32 years. The museum Mascot Hall of Fame,
features one of the largest collections of Whiting, Indiana
canine-related artwork and allows visitors Museum dedicated to the history of
to find their perfect dog at a photo kiosk that mascots, how mascots are made, and
matches them to a dog breed. mascot memorabilia, where visitors can
design their own mascots and launch virtual
National Children’s Museum, t-shirt cannons. Grand-opened in April 2019.
Washington, D.C.
This new, 30,000 square foot museum Norton Museum of Art, West Palm
opened in November 2019 and includes Beach, Florida
large science exhibits, interactive stations, a $100 million renovation and expansion,
50-foot Dream Machine play structure, and opened in February 2019.
Bikini Bottom, which houses an augmented
reality SpongeBob SquarePants experience Museum of Dream Space (MODS),
created by Nickelodeon. Los Angeles, California
New digital art museum, opened in Beverly
Hills in 2019 and anticipated to open two
new locations in Hollywood and Las Vegas
in 2020.

86
Poster House, New York City,
New York
ASIA
Billed as the first museum in the US Snoopy Museum Tokyo, Japan
dedicated exclusively to posters, opened The Snoopy Museum Tokyo reopened in
in June 2019. December 2019 as an expanded facility in a
new location in Machida, Tokyo. It replaced
International Spy Museum, the previous museum located in Roppongi.
Washington D.C. The new museum is an official satellite of
New 140,000 square foot building with more the Charles M. Schultz Museum and has
than double the amount of education and expanded to include a PEANUTS Café, a
programming space, including 30.0% more workshop for making plush toys, children’s
permanent exhibit area, opened May 2019. workshop, private library, special exhibitions,
and museum store.
Burke Museum, Seattle, Washington
The expansion afforded by the museum's
new 130,000 square foot building, opened
in October 2019, has allowed it to showcase
its large collection of fossils, artifacts, and
American Indian art.

Snoopy Museum Tokyo, Japan

© Snoopy Museum Tokyo

87
 teamLab Borderless Shanghai, National Maritime Museum of China,
Shanghai, China Tianjin, China
In November 2019, the teamLab art This nearly 900,000 square foot museum
collective launched teamLab Borderless opened in May 2019 in Northern
Shanghai, its second museum of digital art China. Designed by Australian firm Cox
supporting immersive visitor interactivity Architecture, it has approximately 250,000
and featuring a series of themed galleries square feet of exhibit area, with each hall
within a 70,000 square foot building. The dedicated to a different aspect of China’s
new digital museum follows the success of marine heritage such as nature and ocean,
MORI Building Digital Art Museum: teamLab world maritime civilization, Chinese marine
Borderless, which opened in Tokyo in culture and historic vessels.
2018 and was honored in 2019 with a TEA
Thea Award.

teamLab has a strong presence throughout

Asia, in Japan, Singapore, China, and Taiwan,
but also has current and future planned
experiences in Europe, North America, and
Australia. It is part of a burgeoning trend
of immersive experiences that integrate
digital technology and art, and its most well-
known locations attract more than a million
visitors annually.

Exhibition view of MORI Building Digital Art Museum:

teamLab Borderless, 2018, Odaiba, Tokyo
© teamLab

teamLab is represented by Pace Gallery

88
 Petra Museum, Wadi Musa, Jordan
© Charlie Simotaikis Photography

West Bund Museum, It includes the “K11 Artist Klub,” a

Shanghai, China membership-based organization where
The new West Bund Museum in Shanghai “artists and art lovers converge to interact
and the Centre Pompidou in Paris have and build dialogues that boost the
undertaken a five-year cultural exchange development and appreciation of art.”
from 2019-2024 with a series of joint
exhibitions highlighting selected art of
Europe and China. The West Bund Museum, EMEA
which officially opened November 8, 2019,
joins a stretch of museums along the Petra Museum, Wadi Musa, Jordan
Huangpu River in Xuhui district. The 270,000 Opened on World Heritage Day in April
square-foot structure was designed by 2019 located next to the main entrance of
British architect David Chipperfield. Petra Archeological Park, this new, 20,000
square foot museum has eight galleries
K11 Musea, Tsin Sha Tsui, Hong Kong highlighting the lives of former inhabitants
Opened in December 2019, K11 Musea is an and educating visitors about the importance
anchor for a 10-year major redevelopment of conservation and cultural heritage.
of Victoria Dockside in Kowloon, Hong Kong.
It includes 250 retailers, 70 destination
restaurants, 40 artist installations, and
numerous educational programs. The K11
brand has developed a hybrid cultural retail
experience targeting millennials.

89
 National Museum of Qatar, Doha, Qatar

MUŻA, The Malta National National Museum of Qatar,

Community Art Museum, Doha, Qatar
Valletta, Malta This new, 430,000 square-foot museum
This museum opened at the end of 2018 opened in March 2019, replacing the Qatar
and features a collection of over 20,000 National Museum. The architecture by Jean
works of European art. It combines the art Nouvel was inspired by the desert rose
with audiovisual presentations that allow crystal, designed around Sheikh Abdullah
visitors to learn more about the artists’ lives bin Jassim Al Thani's Palace and integrates
and inspirations. immersive video screens and dioramas. The
history and culture of Qatar are interpreted
Muzeum Susch, Susch, Switzerland through exhibits including thousands of
This new contemporary art museum located artifacts along with immersive experiences.
in the Swiss Alps was built in a 12th century
monastery and brewery, with gallery spaces
carved into the surrounding mountains. It
was funded by Polish billionaire Grażyna
Kulczyk and is intended to feature work of
women and underrepresented artists.

90
Museum of Black Civilisations, Lumen Museum of Mountain
Dakar, Senegal Photography, Mareo,
Opened at the end of 2018, this 150,000 South Tyrol, Italy
square foot museum showcases scientific This new museum opened at the end of
and cultural contributions of Africa. It 2018 with 20,000 square feet of galleries
features exhibits that cover these topics featuring mountain photography through
across geographies and history. There is the years by some of the most well-known
currently gallery space that is not yet being mountain photographers internationally. It
used, anticipated to house repatriated was opened by Reinhold Messner. A unique
African artwork in the future. aspect of this museum is its location at the
top of Mount Klonplatz, 7,000 feet above
sea level.

Lumen Museum of Mountain Photography, Mareo, South Tyrol, Italy

© Skirama Kronplatz

91
 TOP 20
MUSEUMS
NORTH AMERICA

CHICAGO, IL
DENVER, CO BOSTON, MA
1.5m 4.6m 1.5m
3 MUSEUMS
1 MUSEUM 1 MUSEUM
19 13
16 17
15

10 NEW YORK, NY
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 1 13.8m
1.3m 20
2
3 MUSEUMS
1 MUSEUM
11

LOS ANGELES, CA HOUSTON, TX 12 14 3 WASHINGTON, D.C.

3.6m 17 7
2.0m 8
4 21.6m
2 MUSEUMS 1 MUSEUM 8
6 5 8 MUSEUMS

KEY GROWTH Top 20 museums North America

Top 20 museums worldwide
10
Circles represent size of
0%–4.9%

5%–9.9%

attendance at ranked parks at 5

the geography indicated. Slices
10%+

0
< 0%

within circles represent proportion

-5
of attendance at the geography
from the ranked museum indicated -10
by number. Shading indicates -15
attendance growth at the 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19
ranked museum versus all other
ranked museums.
1.6% -2.6% 2.6% 1.8% 1.0% -3.0% -13.2%

92 © 2020 TEA / AECOM

 ATTENDANCE

ATTENDANCE

FREE/PAID
% CHANGE
LOCATION
MUSEUM
RANK

2019

2018
1 THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK, NY, U.S. -8.0% 6,770,000 7,360,000
2 AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, NEW YORK, NY, U.S. 0.0% 5,000,000 5,000,000
3 NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, WASHINGTON, DC, U.S. -12.5% 4,200,000 4,800,000
4 NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON, DC, U.S. -7.5% 4,074,000 4,404,000
5 NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM, WASHINGTON, DC, U.S. -48.4% 3,200,000 6,200,000
6 NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HISTORY, WASHINGTON, DC, U.S. -31.7% 2,800,000 4,100,000*
7 CALIFORNIA SCIENCE CENTER, LOS ANGELES, CA, U.S. -12.7% 2,200,000 2,520,000
8 NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE, 5.3% 2,000,000 1,900,000*
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.
SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM (WITH THE RENWICK GALLERY), -36.5% 2,000,000 3,150,000*
WASHINGTON DC, U.S.
10 THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, NEW YORK, NY, U.S. -28.2% 1,992,000 2,774,000
11 HOUSTON MUSEUM OF NATURAL SCIENCE, HOUSTON, TX, U.S. -14.7% 1,974,000 2,313,000
12 NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, WASHINGTON, DC, U.S. -26.1% 1,700,000 2,300,000*
13 THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO, CHICAGO, IL, U.S. 2.7% 1,666,000 1,622,000
14 U.S. HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM, WASHINGTON, DC, U.S. -3.0% 1,600,000 1,650,000
15 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, CHICAGO, IL, U.S. -2.0% 1,494,000 1,525,000
16 DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE, DENVER, CO, U.S. 5.1% 1,487,000 1,415,000
17 MUSEUM OF SCIENCE, BOSTON, MA, U.S. 0.0% 1,458,000 1,458,000
THE J. PAUL GETTY CENTER, LOS ANGELES, CA, U.S. -4.6% 1,439,000 1,509,000
19 MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY, CHICAGO, IL, U.S. -10.7% 1,388,000 1,555,000*
20 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, SAN FRANCISCO, CA, U.S. 2.0% 1,321,000 1,295,000
TOP 20 TOTAL ATTENDANCE 2019 49,763,000 58,850,000
TOP 20 TOTAL ATTENDANCE GROWTH 2018–19 -13.2% 49,763,000 60,337,000
© 2020 TEA / AECOM

* Adjustment versus the figure we published in last year’s report

-13.2% 49.8m 60.3m

Top 20 museums North America Top 20 museums North Top 20 museums North
attendance growth 2018–19 America attendance 2019 America attendance 2018

© 2020 TEA / AECOM 93

 TOP 20
MUSEUMS
ASIA-PACIFIC

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA TOKYO, JAPAN

19
NORTHERN CHINA 9
3.6m 12
7.8m
14.4m 5
1 1 MUSEUM 16 3 MUSEUMS
3 MUSEUMS
8

15 17 2 EASTERN CHINA
20
7 10 3
21.3m
4 6 MUSEUMS
12

CENTRAL CHINA
TAIWAN
8.7m 14
6
6.5m
3 MUSEUMS 11
3 MUSEUMS

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
18 2.4m
1 MUSEUM

KEY GROWTH Top 20 museums Asia-Pacific

Top 20 museums worldwide
Circles represent size of 30
0%–4.9%

5%–9.9%

attendance at ranked parks at

the geography indicated. Slices 15
10%+
< 0%

within circles represent proportion

of attendance at the geography 0
from the ranked museum indicated
by number. Shading indicates -15
attendance growth at the
2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19
ranked museum versus all other
ranked museums. 27.6% 9.1% -0.4% 3.1% 13.3% 0.6% -0.4%

94 © 2020 TEA / AECOM

 ATTENDANCE

ATTENDANCE

FREE/PAID
% CHANGE
LOCATION
MUSEUM
RANK

2019

2018
1 NATIONAL MUSEUM OF CHINA, BEIJING, CHINA -14.2% 7,390,000 8,610,000
2 SHANGHAI SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY MUSEUM, SHANGHAI, CHINA 36.3% 4,824,000 3,540,000
3 NANJING MUSEUM, NANJING, CHINA 13.6% 4,169,000 3,670,000
4 ZHEJIANG MUSEUM, HANGZHOU, CHINA -1.2% 4,150,000 4,200,000
5 CHINA SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY MUSEUM, BEIJING, CHINA -11.6% 3,891,000 4,400,000
6 NATIONAL PALACE MUSEUM, TAIPEI, TAIWAN -0.7% 3,832,000 3,860,000
7 XIAN MUSEUM, XIAN, CHINA 40.7% 3,420,000 2,430,000
8 NATIONAL MUSEUM OF KOREA, SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA 1.6% 3,354,000 3,300,000
9 TIANJIN NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, TIANJIN, CHINA 12.3% 3,150,000 2,805,000
10 HUNAN MUSEUM, CHANGSHA, CHINA -12.8% 3,140,000 3,600,000
11 NATIONAL TAIWAN SCIENCE EDUCATION CENTER, TAIPEI, TAIWAN 46.0% 3,000,000 2,055,000
12 SHANXI HISTORY MUSEUM, XIAN, CHINA 3.6% 2,900,000 2,800,000
13 TOKYO METROPOLITAN ART MUSEUM, TOKYO, JAPAN 3.0% 2,874,000 2,790,000
14 NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL SCIENCE, TAICHUNG, TAIWAN -10.5% 2,650,000 2,960,000
15 SHANGHAI NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, SHANGHAI, CHINA 16.9% 2,549,000 2,180,000
16 NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURE AND SCIENCE, TOKYO, JAPAN 0.0% 2,460,000 2,460,000
17 ZHEJIANG MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, HANGZHOU, CHINA 13.1% 2,443,000 2,160,000
18 NATIONAL GALLERY OF VICTORIA, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA -24.0% 2,433,000 3,200,000
19 TOKYO NATIONAL MUSEUM, TOKYO, JAPAN 0.0% 2,431,000 2,430,000
20 HUBEI PROVINCIAL MUSEUM, WUHAN, CHINA 16.2% 2,400,000 2,065,000
TOP 20 TOTAL ATTENDANCE 2019 67,460,000 65,515,000
TOP 20 TOTAL ATTENDANCE GROWTH 2018–19 -0.4% 67,460,000 67,700,000
© 2020 TEA / AECOM

-0.4% 67.5m 67.7m

Top 20 museums Asia-Pacific Top 20 museums Top 20 museums
attendance growth 2018–19 Asia-Pacific attendance 2019 Asia-Pacific attendance 2018

© 2020 TEA / AECOM 95

 TOP 20
MUSEUMS
EMEA EDINBURGH, U.K.
AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS
4.8m ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA
LONDON, U.K. 2.2m 2 MUSEUMS
5.0m
30.9m 1 MUSEUM
20 15
1 MUSEUM
MOSCOW, RUSSIA
6 MUSEUMS 19
7 14 2.8m
12 3 1 MUSEUM
9

4 OŚWIĘCIM, POLAND
6
5 18 2.3m
1 MUSEUM

16 FLORENCE, ITALY
11 1
2
17
2.4m
10 1 MUSEUM

13 8 VATICAN, VATICAN CITY

PARIS, FRANCE
18.9m 6.9m
MADRID, SPAIN 1 MUSEUM
4 MUSEUMS
7.6m
2 MUSEUMS

KEY GROWTH Top 20 museums EMEA

Top 20 museums worldwide
10
Circles represent size of
0%–4.9%

5%–9.9%

attendance at ranked parks at

the geography indicated. Slices 5
10%+
< 0%

within circles represent proportion

of attendance at the geography 0
from the ranked museum indicated
by number. Shading indicates -5
attendance growth at the 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19
ranked museum versus all other
ranked museums. 4.6% 0.8% -1.7% 0.9% 1.1% 6.1% 4.4%

96 © 2020 TEA / AECOM

 ATTENDANCE

ATTENDANCE

FREE/PAID
% CHANGE
LOCATION
MUSEUM
RANK

2019

2018
1 LOUVRE, PARIS, FRANCE -5.9% 9,600,000 10,200,000
2 VATICAN MUSEUMS, VATICAN, VATICAN CITY 1.9% 6,883,000 6,756,000
3 BRITISH MUSEUM, LONDON, U.K. 5.8% 6,208,000 5,869,000
4 TATE MODERN, LONDON, U.K. 4.6% 6,098,000 5,829,000
5 NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON, U.K. 4.8% 6,011,000 5,736,000
6 NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, LONDON, U.K. 3.8% 5,424,000 5,226,000
7 STATE HERMITAGE, ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA 15.4% 4,957,000 4,294,000
8 REINA SOFÍA, MADRID, SPAIN 13.5% 4,426,000 3,898,000
9 VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM, LONDON, U.K. -1.2% 3,921,000 3,968,000
10 MUSÉE D'ORSAY, PARIS, FRANCE 15.0% 3,652,000 3,175,000
11 CENTRE POMPIDOU, PARIS, FRANCE -7.9% 3,270,000 3,552,000
12 SCIENCE MUSEUM (SOUTH KENSINGTON), LONDON, U.K. -1.0% 3,254,000 3,286,000
13 MUSEO NACIONAL DEL PRADO, MADRID, SPAIN 10.7% 3,203,000 2,893,000
14 STATE TRETYAKOV GALLERY, MOSCOW, RUSSIA 32.0% 2,836,000 2,149,000
15 RIJKSMUSEUM, AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS 17.4% 2,700,000 2,300,000
16 CITE DES SCIENCES ET DE L'INDUSTRIE, PARIS, FRANCE 6.2% 2,370,000 2,231,000
17 GALLERIA DEGLI UFFIZI, FLORENCE, ITALY 5.9% 2,362,000 2,230,000*
18 AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU MUSEUM, OŚWIĘCIM, POLAND 6.9% 2,300,000 2,152,000
19 NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SCOTLAND, EDINBURGH, U.K. -0.8% 2,210,000 2,228,000
20 VAN GOGH MUSEUM, AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS -4.8% 2,100,000 2,206,000
TOP 20 TOTAL ATTENDANCE 2019 83,785,000 80,178,000
TOP 20 TOTAL ATTENDANCE GROWTH 2018–19 4.4% 83,785,000 80,278,000
© 2020 TEA / AECOM

* Adjustment versus the figure we published in last year’s report

4.4% 83.8m 80.3m

Top 20 museums EMEA Top 20 museums Top 20 museums
attendance growth 2018–19 EMEA attendance 2019 EMEA attendance 2018

© 2020 TEA / AECOM 97

 ABOUT THE STUDY
Methodology and evolution of the TEA/ The global market is studied as a whole,
AECOM Theme Index and Museum Index and each of its main regions is also studied
This is the fourteenth annual Theme Index separately: the Americas, EMEA, and
and Museum Index collaboration between Asia-Pacific.
the Themed Entertainment Association
For a theme park or water park to be included
(TEA) and AECOM, although the study itself
in the report, at a minimum the property must
has been in existence for much longer. The
be gated (entry ticket required) and the park
report has evolved over the years, starting as
generally must be focused on the visitor
just a report on major U.S. theme parks, with
experience. To be included in the top theme
additional regions (EMEA, Asia, Latin America)
park groups list, an operator must have theme
and attraction types (water parks, museums)
parks in its portfolio in which it has controlling
added over time. The report represents a
ownership or that are branded by the operator
significant body of international research
(i.e., licensed).
and annual tracking.
Due to differences in reporting across
Inclusion in the annual Theme Index and
operators and regions, there is some variation
Museum Index is now seen as a benchmark
in the time periods for which figures are
of success among operators, parks, and
reported. Unless otherwise noted, figures for
museums. Every year AECOM and TEA
North America and Europe are calendar year
hear from parks and museums desiring to
figures, while most figures for Asia-Pacific are
share their attendance increases and earn
fiscal year figures. In Asia-Pacific, for those
a place on the list. Those who believe their
parks/museums with a fiscal year ending from
properties should be included in the report
June 30 to December 31, AECOM researchers
are encouraged to contact the AECOM office
use the current fiscal year number in our
in their region, after studying the criteria
tables, while for those parks/museums with a
for consideration given below. The more
fiscal year ending early in the year, for example
feedback and information we receive, the
on March 31, the following fiscal year numbers
more accurate this report will become.
are used in the tables. By way of example,
AECOM obtains the figures used to create Ocean Park Hong Kong fiscal year ends
the TEA/AECOM Theme Index and Museum June 30, 2019, so fiscal year 2019 is used in
Index through a variety of sources, including the 2019 table.
statistics furnished directly by the operators,
historical numbers, financial reports, the
investment banking community, local tourism
organizations, and professional estimates
where necessary.

John Robinett and Judith Rubin have

worked together on every edition of
the TEA/AECOM Theme Index since
2006 — for as long as the Themed
Entertainment Association and the
Economics practice at AECOM have
been collaborating to produce the annual
attendance study. They have both been
JOHN ROBINETT JUDITH RUBIN honored with the TEA Peter Chernack
Senior Vice President – Director of Publications, Distinguished Service Award, recognizing
Economics, AECOM TEA exceptional service to the attractions
— — industry community.

98
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Why should parks share their numbers? yet reports that numbers are stable or growing,
When operators share their information, it the numbers are suspect. Moreover, it’s not the
is good for the industry. It ties directly into kind of secret that can be kept for long. People
re-investing wisely in ways that bring in more move from one operator to another and they
attendance and more repeat visitation, driving take that knowledge with them. Consultants are
revenue and profits. Tracking differences and called upon to help interested parties evaluate
fluctuations in attendance helps the industry ongoing operations as well as potential new
recognize what drives changes in attendance. investments and activities. In other words,
Knowing what works, what doesn’t work — and over-reporting will eventually come to a point of
where and why — allows operators to make correction. Our advice is to trust the process.
wise investment decisions and to know what
results can be expected. That’s the heart How do you estimate figures for individual
of market and feasibility analysis. parks and museums that don’t report them?
Fortunately, with more than 60-years
Do some operators exaggerate in order experience working in the attractions industry,
to look more successful? What can you AECOM’s Economics practice has a strong
do about that? understanding of what drives performance at
Our role is to share what the industry operators the park level and a robust process to estimate
say officially or, if that information is not attendance where necessary. The following
provided, to share our best professional outlines our general process:
estimate. It’s possible that some are over-
reporting their numbers. We can’t control that. – We start by reviewing publicly available
However, all of the major operators are publicly information about the performance of the
owned and therefore obliged to report financial multi-park/attraction operators and also
performance information at the corporate level, the individual parks/museums. We also
even if they don’t break it down to the park level. review information that we have collected
as part of the previous year’s report and
Over-reporting may get an operator throughout the year.
temporarily higher on the list than its
competitors, but it will cause problems, some – Where park/museum-level information is
in the near term and others down the road. In missing, the multi-park operators and the
the near term, if attendance is up but revenues individual parks/museums are asked to
or profitability are not, it raises questions. provide their attendance figures, and many
In the longer term, eventually, they’ll hit a of them do so directly.
point where the numbers are too far off to be
credible. Misrepresenting also complicates the – Where specific park/museum-level figures
picture if the company eventually goes public, are not received from the operator, AECOM
or is acquired or wants to sell off an individual researchers use a detailed methodology
property. Operators know this. that considers the following: historic
attendance trends at the park/museum;
Misreporting also raises false expectations. generally available information on the park/
If you’re trying to make an investment museum and/or operator; park/museum
decision and forecast future performance, changes, such as new rides, areas, shows,
you need accurate information. If a property exhibits, ticket prices, intellectual property
is not investing in regular improvements, connections, etc.; general economy of

99
 the nation and the specific metropolitan designers to help correctly position and
area; tourism trends nationally and in the right-size parks and museums to match
metropolitan area; for parks, weather trends their market potential and optimize their
in the area, particularly during peak periods; financial performance. In addition, they
the performance of nearby parks/museums regularly speak at industry events, such as
and other attractions; media coverage those organized by TEA, IAAPA, WWA, AAM,
about the operator/park/museum; and AZA, ULI, and many others, about industry
select factors as relevant. trends, and also contribute to articles to
industry publications and in more general
– Park/museum operators are also given media publications.
the opportunity to review and comment
on AECOM’s estimate before the Theme What causes wide swings in
Index and Museum Index are finalized and performance at parks and museums?
published. Of those that don’t provide As can be seen from the process outlined
official figures at the park/museum level, above, there are many factors affecting the
the research team generally receives performance of a park or museum, including
some form of feedback regarding the past performance, new offerings, the
individual parks/museums. Leadership economy, tourism, weather, media coverage,
at TEA (the Themed Entertainment management, and more. Typically, large
Association, which publishes and helps edit changes in attendance, up or down, are driven
the report) plays an important role here, by major changes in one or more of these
encouraging responses. factors, with the relationship between the two
frequently clear when examined in detail.
– As the leading provider of business
planning studies worldwide for attractions, How is a water park defined for the
AECOM's group also works frequently purposes of the Theme Index?
with all of the major operators, parks and A water park must have a minimum of three
museums, providing the AECOM team water slides / flumes, a wave pool, retail and
the opportunity to periodically compare food areas, and at least two of the following
estimates with actual exact figures. They other elements: tube rides; free-form pool;
are used to refine the methodology where lazy river; and kids' water play area. In Asia
necessary. and America, the water parks are defined as
outdoor facilities. If a water park also has a
– As part of its active work in these markets separate spa facility, only the entertainment-
and to maintain awareness of what drives related attendance is factored into our study.
performance and the macroeconomics
of different countries, members of Why aren’t other attraction types
the research group visit the parks and included, such as zoos and aquariums,
museums, watching for new development observation experiences, and sports
and trends. This helps to bring professional and performance venues?
processes to the industry so that a higher The report has evolved over the years,
level of quality can be transmitted from starting as just a report on major U.S. theme
more developed markets into emerging parks, with additional regions (EMEA, Asia, Latin
markets. AECOM consultants frequently America) and attraction types (water parks,
work for operators who are looking to enter museums) added over time. That said, we are
the attractions business, or to grow or indeed considering additional attraction types
improve their existing operations. They also and will include these as interest is shown and
team with attraction master planners and resources allow.

100
Why do you focus on the top- How do you account for the performance of
attended parks and museums? operators of numerous smaller attractions
The top-attended parks and museums are that don’t make the lists, but that are still
a clear indicator of the overall state of the large operators?
industry and associated trends. In addition, The two operators that most readily come to
trends and activities at the top-attended parks mind here are Merlin Entertainments Group
and museums signal both what is currently and Parques Reunidos, both of which do make
occurring in the industry more broadly, as the Top 10 Theme Park Groups Worldwide list.
well as what is likely to occur in the future, In the case of Merlin Entertainments Group,
particularly in such areas as investment, they are the second most attended operator
technology, IP, marketing, facility spending, globally with attendance of 67.0 million in 2019,
visitor spending and behavior. This is also why around one-third of which occurred at larger
the top-attended parks and museums tend to parks, with most of these located in the EMEA
be the most-watched by the media as well as region (e.g., LEGOLAND Windsor, LEGOLAND
the industry. The report currently lists more Billund, Alton Towers, etc.). However, about
than 200 parks and museums, the result of a two-thirds of Merlin’s attendance occurs in
significant research, tracking and evaluation mid- and small-size attractions, particularly
effort on the part of our team. at “midway” attractions, most of which are
situated in highly trafficked locations in
Can we assume that the same dynamic well-known locations, particularly top tourist
of the top parks is playing out in the destinations, with highly recognized individual
smaller parks and museums? brands (e.g., Madame Tussauds, SeaLife, the
Generally, the answer is yes, with attractions Dungeons, etc.). Similarly, with 20.9 million
of all types and scales facing many of the visitors in 2019, Parques Reunidos was the
same ongoing challenges, which include tenth most attended operator globally, with a
meeting visitor expectations, hiring and strategy of focusing largely on a wide variety
retaining good management and staff, of attraction types, including amusement
efficient operations, understanding and parks, zoos, aquariums, and IECs, primarily
applying new technology, addressing the located in the EMEA region, but with a growing
need for continuous reinvestment, and the portfolio in North America (via its subsidiary
like. That said, smaller and more regional Palace Entertainment). Clearly both Merlin
venues have their own unique place in the Entertainments and Parques Reunidos have
market. They have distinct challenges when developed effective strategies to attract large
it comes to marketing, investment and numbers of visitors overall to their respective
guest retention, making the most of smaller attraction portfolios, but a combination of
budgets, and differentiating themselves factors such as their location, focus, and scale,
from other leisure options competing for inhibits most of their properties from reaching
visitors’ time and money. How they respond levels for inclusion in the Theme Index.
to those challenges often sets an example
of creativity, innovation, leadership and/
or economic stimulus that influences the
rest of the sector — many such examples
have appeared in the annual slate of TEA
Thea Awards recipients over the years.

101
TEA and AECOM express thanks
to the numerous park and museum
operators who graciously and
generously furnished attendance
information, enabling this report
to be as complete and accurate
as possible.

About AECOM
AECOM is the world's premier infrastructure firm, delivering
professional services throughout the project lifecycle — from
planning, design and engineering to consulting and construction
management. We partner with our clients in the public and private
sectors to solve their most complex challenges and build legacies
for generations to come. On projects spanning transportation,
buildings, water, governments, energy and the environment, our
teams are driven by a common purpose to deliver a better world.
AECOM is a Fortune 500 firm with revenue of approximately
$20.2 billion during fiscal year 2019.

See how we deliver what others can only imagine at aecom.com

and @AECOM.

About the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA)

Through its activities in the global themed entertainment
community, TEA leads the conversation about how great guest
experiences are conceived and realized, and helps focus attention
on themed entertainment as a vital niche of popular culture, and
its essential role in global economic development. As a nonprofit
membership association representing the creators of compelling
places and experiences worldwide, TEA encompasses some 1,800
member companies and produces a full calendar of conferences
and events including the prestigious, annual TEA Thea Awards. TEA
was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in the Los Angeles area.

Visit www.teaconnect.org. On Twitter: @TEA_Connect.

This version of the Theme and Museum Index

and previous versions back to 2006 can be
downloaded at the following links:

aecom.com/theme-index
teaconnect.org/resources/theme-index v1.3