Orlando, Thursday, 4 September 2025.
IAAPA announced this past Wednesday that Su Zhigang, founder and chairman of China’s Chimelong Group, will be inducted into the 2025 Hall of Fame — a signal that attendance-driven scale now shapes global benchmarking. Chimelong ranks as the world’s fifth most visited theme park company and reportedly welcomes over 36 million guests annually, led by Chimelong Ocean Kingdom and the world’s largest indoor theme park. For retail and resort professionals, the induction underscores the strategic payoff of integrated resort models: vertical control of hospitality and retail, aggressive reinvestment in headline attractions, and capacity-first planning. Expect accelerated international partnerships, licensing talks, and talent exchanges that could shift IP deployment and multi-day yield strategies. Western operators should reassess throughput, merchandising density, and cross-site guest spend to remain competitive with high-volume Asian peers. This recognition formalises trends that have been shaping investment and operational priorities across the industry and benchmarking metrics used by investors.
Induction and attendance scale: what was announced
IAAPA announced this past Wednesday that Su Zhigang, founder and chairman of Chimelong Group, is among five inductees to the 2025 IAAPA Hall of Fame — a class that also includes Dolly Parton and industry veterans — with the formal induction scheduled for 17 November during IAAPA LEGENDS at the IAAPA Expo in Orlando [2][1]. IAAPA’s release frames Su’s contribution in attendance terms, noting Chimelong now welcomes more than 36 million guests annually and calling the operator “one of the most visited resort destinations globally” [2][1]. Theme Park Insider further contextualises Chimelong’s market position by reporting the group as the world’s fifth most visited theme park company and highlighting Chimelong Ocean Kingdom as one of the world’s top parks; the coverage also points out Chimelong’s Chimelong Spaceship as the world’s largest indoor theme park [1].
Why this recognition matters to resort operators
The IAAPA Hall of Fame induction serves as industry validation that attendance-driven scale and integrated resort design are central benchmarks for global operators and investors; IAAPA’s citation of Chimelong’s visitor volumes makes that point explicit for benchmarking conversations among operators and capital allocators [2][1]. Chimelong’s portfolio mix — large marine and wildlife attractions, headline theme-park draws, and on-site hospitality — exemplifies an integrated resort model that ties attendance to lodging, retail and F&B capture [3][2]. For retail and resort professionals, the implication is clear: vertical control of hospitality and retail, plus capital commitment to headline attractions, correlates with the scale metrics now being used to compare operators worldwide [2][3].
Operational priorities that Western operators will feel pressure to revisit
High-volume Asian competitors such as Chimelong emphasise capacity-first planning, high-throughput attractions, and reinvestment in marquee assets — practices that exert benchmarking pressure on Western operators across throughput engineering, multi-day yield management and merchandising density [1][2]. Chimelong’s reported attendance scale and its strategy of reinvesting in signature parks suggest investors will increasingly evaluate operators on integrated-resort economics rather than single-site attendance alone, which may drive a reassessment of ticketing, cross-site season passes, and per-capita retail metrics among Western peers [2][1]. [alert! ‘The extent and timing of Western operators changing capital allocation in response to Chimelong is speculative; current sources document Chimelong’s scale and IAAPA’s recognition but do not establish causal capital shifts’]
Commercial consequences: partnerships, licensing and talent flows
The formal industry recognition of Su Zhigang is likely to accelerate international partnership conversations and licensing interest in Chimelong properties because hall-of-fame status raises visibility among global IP holders, licensors and potential resort partners — a dynamic implied by IAAPA’s highlighting of Chimelong’s global reach and visitation figures [2][1]. Increased attention can fast-track talks on cross-border IP deployment, brand licensing and operator partnerships where scale and captive resort ecosystems are prized, while also creating more hiring and knowledge-exchange opportunities as operators seek operational best practices from high-volume peers [2][4]. [alert! ‘Projected increases in licensing deals, partnerships, and talent exchange are analytical inferences drawn from industry patterns; the provided sources confirm recognition and scale but do not list specific new agreements to date’]
Investor framing and metrics shift
Investors and analysts use attendance and resort-level capture to benchmark operator performance; IAAPA’s explicit citation of Chimelong’s >36 million annual guests reframes how global comparators may be ranked and valued, particularly where multi-day resort economics and on-site spend drive margin expansion [2][1]. For capital markets, an operator that controls lodging and retail alongside attractions presents more predictable per-guest yield levers — a factor that could influence acquisition appetite and valuation multiples for integrated-resort platforms versus stand-alone parks [2][3]. [alert! ‘Valuation impacts are context-dependent and would require transaction-level data to quantify; current sources document visitation and strategic scope but do not provide deal-level valuation metrics’]
IAAPA named the 2025 Hall of Fame class in an announcement dated 2 September and the induction ceremony is set for Monday, 17 November at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando during IAAPA Expo, with proceeds from related events supporting the IAAPA Foundation and scholarship programmes as part of the event structure [2][1][3]. Industry stakeholders planning partnerships, licensing negotiations or talent recruitment driven by this recognition should anticipate heightened visibility and networking activity around the IAAPA Expo timeframe and subsequent trade cycles [2][1].
Bronnen