CBN丨China’s first Legoland opens in Shanghai as foreign investors ride touri...

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Legoland Shanghai Resort officially opened to the public on Saturday, which saw visitors lining up early in the morning, many of them coming from Shanghai and nearby cities.

Demand for accommodation in the area surrounding the resort soared in the days before the world's biggest theme park dedicated to the famous plastic toy bricks produced by Denmark's The Lego Group opened.

Hotel bookings for the summer holiday starting from July 1in Jinshan district, where Legoland Shanghai opened on July 5, jumped four and a half times from a year earlier, according to data from travel agency Qunar. Local tourists accounted for about 30 percent of reservations, while the rest mainly came from Beijing, Qingdao, Chengdu, and Nanjing.

Besides hotels, many tourists picked homestay services, with relevant reservations in Jinshan district surging seven times for the two-month summer holidayfrom a year ago, according to data from homestay booking platform Tujia. Bookings for family rooms soared eight times.

Legoland Shanghai underwent nearly two months of internal testing and trial operations before opening to the public. Covering an area of about 318,000 square meters, it is the first Legoland in China and the 11th in the world.

Fiona Eastwood, chief executive of UK entertainment giant Merlin Entertainments, the park's operator, said China is the world’s second-largest theme park market and holds strategic importance for the company. She noted that building Legoland Shanghai, the largest Legoland park globally, took nearly a decade of careful planning and development.

She added that the opening of the first Legoland resort in China marks an important step toward the company’s goal of becoming a leading global branded entertainment destination.

Families with children were a common sight, as both adults and kids were visibly excited. Despite the scorching summer heat and long queues, enthusiasm ran high, with eager crowds undeterred by the wait, according to a Xinhua live interview.

Cultural and tourism consumption, especially family-oriented activities, is one of the fastest-growing markets in China. Popular IPs like Disney and Universal Studios create emotional bonds across generations, boosting family travel and spending.

Liu Dingding, a veteran internet industry observer, said the opening of Legoland Shanghai Resort, together with Amazon China’s major summer sales event, reflects growing confidence among foreign businesses in China’s recovering consumer market. “These developments send a clear signal that foreign enterprises remain optimistic about China’s consumption potential,” Liu said.

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