Universal Studios, owned by General Electric Co., and partners will build a $3.1 billion theme park in South Korea, its third resort in Asia, the nation’s Gyeonggi provincial government said, Bloomberg News reports.
The resort, to be built in partnership with Posco Engineering & Construction Co., will be located near Hwaseong, south of Seoul, and open in 2012, the provincial government said in a statement today.
The development will join Universal parks in the Japanese city of Osaka and a planned resort in Singapore. Entertainment and gambling companies, including Walt Disney Co. and Las Vegas Sands Corp., have expanded in Asia to take advantage of rising disposable incomes.
“Building theme parks is a trend that Korea needs to follow, like Hong Kong and Singapore, to attract more foreign tourists,” said Park Se Jin, an analyst who covers the leisure and hotel industry at Mirae Asset Securities Co. in Seoul. “This may help tourism contribute more to Korea’s economic growth.”
Korea Development Bank, Shinhan Bank and Korea Investment & Securities Co. are partners in the project, the provincial government said, without providing details of the financial contribution of each party.
