Click on the linked picture above to go to a newsy.com video on the beginning of construction on the new Shanghai Disneyland - Disney's entry into "one of the most promising consumer markets in the world." You can also find the written transcript together with the video at [http://www.newsy.com/videos/shanghai-disneyland-smart-move-for-disney-and-china/].
Here is the Disneyland site marked out on OpenStreetMap.org at [http://osm.org/go/5niQTu9d-] around 20 km southeast of the center of Shanghai.
Here are some things I learned in my research about Disneyland's ventures outside of America:
- This will only be the fourth Disneyland outside of the USA, after Tokyo (1983), Paris (1992) and Hong Kong (2005).
- Tokyo Disneyland is only a licensee of Disney and is not owned by Disney.
- Disneyland Paris began Disney's overseas business model of: A) seeking out overseas locations, B) basing the project on negotiations with local authorities for favourable concessions (not least of which is the large expenditure needed for supporting public infrastructure), and C) taking only a minority interest in the ownership (between 40% to below 50% in Paris, Hong Kong and Shanghai).
- Hopefully Shanghai Disneyland does not replicate the early woes of Paris and Hong Kong. The initial financial performance of Disneyland Paris was so bad that the newly listed European public company had to renegotiate its debts in 1994, allowing Disneyland Paris to turn a profit in 1995. The financial performance of Hong Kong Disneyland has been even worse, underperforming attendance projections and losing millions for five straight years - every single year since opening its gates in 2005. However, the majority shareholder in Hong Kong is more subtantial than those that were in Paris - it's the Hong Kong Government itself, funded by all the lucky Hong Kong taxpayers. Attendance at Hong Kong Disneyland has been around 4 million per year since opening in 2005. In comparison, Disneyland Paris went over the 10 million p.a. mark in 1995 after only three years of operation, while Tokyo Disneyland attendance has been over the 10 million mark ever since opening in 1983. The video states that Disney expects 7 million per year at Shanghai.
Some notes on the language:
- merchandise - "Merchandise" used to mean just any type of physical economic goods that is bought and sold. However, in recent times the term "merchandise" has been increasingly used to refer to a wide variety of goods that use designs licensed from the entertainment industry, or from other entities with an image/name to sell - for example, a Mickey Mouse design licensed to a pencil manufacturer. Here is one example of a mechandise licensing agency.
- conglomerate - Separate companies can be grouped together by ownership of the "subsidiaries" by a "parent company" (which can be a company with normal operating business or just a "holding company"). A "conglomerate" is where this group of companies consists, not of very similar subsidiaries, but where the businesses of the group companies are of quite different types. In this case, Disney's partner, the Shanghai Shendi Group, is a conglomerate specially formed by the Chinese Government for this project, of three very different "state owned enterprises" - a property development company, an entertainment company and a hotel hospitality company: Shanghai Lujiazui (Group) Co., Shanghai Radio, Film and Television Development Co. and Jinjiang International Group Holding Company, respectively [SEE shanghaidisneyresort.com.cn].
- mainstay - "Mainstay" is a good word to use, even though it is not often encountered. It is something major that you depend/rely on most of the time. You can find a quotation from George Bernard Shaw that mentions the "atomic bomb" as possibly becoming a "mainstay of Peace", here at quotes.dictionary.com.
Practice your business English by watching and listening to the video above. For more detailed study, you can read the written transcript at the link given above.
[A rare opportunity for you to speak, practice, chat and learn English especially for business, finance, law, international economies & trade at the webpage for Mastery English.]
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