China’s Haichang Ocean Park gets support from Saudi Arabia’s Tourism Development Fund to build marine themed park in kingdom

Name: Chinese water park swamped with tourists
Uploaded: 2023-12-15T06:27:49.000Z
Duration: 1 min 28 s
Description: Chinese water park swamped with tourists

Agreement marks ‘significant progress in the group’s benchmark project for going global,’ says Haichang boss

Under an agreement signed in April, Haichang will develop water parks, zoos and safari parks in various Saudi cities

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Tourists watch seals swimming at Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park. Photo: Xinhua

Cheryl Arcibal

Published: 2:27pm, 15 Dec 2023

The owner of Asia’s biggest ocean park has signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Tourism Development Fund (TDF) that will pave the way for the funding of a new marine themed park that forms part of the kingdom’s drive to boost tourism.

Hong Kong-listed Haichang Ocean Park, which operates six parks in mainland China, inked a non-binding agreement with the TDF, according to a filing with the Hong Kong exchange on Friday.

In April, Haichang signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Riyadh that clinched a deal for it to become the first ocean park brand and service industry provider from China to enter the Saudi Arabia.

“The board is of the view that the cooperation marks significant progress in the group’s benchmark project for ‘going global’ … and is of strategic significance in the company’s internationalisation process,” said Qu Naijie, executive director and chief executive officer of Haichang.

“The cooperation will integrate the advantageous resources of both parties and help the group to establish an international brand, and to build a worldwide leisure and entertainment platform featuring marine culture.”

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Chinese water park swamped with tourists

TDF, which was established in 2020 and has capital of US$4 billion, will help to identify potential sites for the project, which is part of the kingdom’s vision to attract 100 million visitors by 2030 and to boost the tourism sector’s contribution to the economy to 10 per cent.