After establishing a strong foothold in Kerala and Karnataka, Kochi-based amusement park Wonderla Holidays (formerly Veegaland), plans to expand presence in the southern region with the opening up of new parks in Chennai and Hyderabad at a cost of Rs 400 crore.
Currently, Wonderla has two parks in Kerala and Karnataka spread across 50-55 acres each. The two parks were set up at a cost of Rs 75 crore and Rs 110, crore respectively, Wonderla Holidays Executive Director, Mr Arun K. Chittilappilly, said.
“We are expanding our presence with two amusement parks in Chennai and Hyderabad. The Chennai park will be spread across 50-55 acres and Hyderabad at 50 acres. We will be investing around Rs 200 crore in each of these parks” he told PTI.
Noting that the amusement park industry valued at Rs 7,000 crore was growing rapidly year-on-year, he said there are about 150 parks, including small water theme parks, in the country.
He said along with the parks, they would set up resorts equipped with about 100 rooms in Chennai and Hyderabad targeting the business visitors. “We expect both the projects to be completed by 2015”, he said.
Admitting that the entry ticket per person would be comparatively higher in Chennai and Hyderabad amusement parks, Mr Arun said the reason was due to high land value in the two cities.
According to him, the company charges Rs 550 per person on a week-day and Rs 650 on week-ends.