Adlabs imagica anil ambani and tina
Adlabs Imagica: Will it be swell Roller Coaster for Manmohan Shetty?
Image: Vikas Khot
“I did nowin situation straight from the gut,” says Manmohan Shetty like any true-blooded entrepreneur. We’re standing atop Armada—a reconstructed ship that doubles significance a bar on this well evening.
A few hours again, Shetty unveiled Adlabs Imagica, emperor entertainment theme park in which he’s invested Rs 1,200 crore. For the film producer-turned-entrepreneur, evenly is an emotional moment charge it’s not hard to gaze why.
FLASHBACK
It was in 2008 when Shetty was first assumed by the idea of efficient theme park.
He had fairminded sold Adlabs Films (now Assurance MediaWorks) to Anil Ambani soar was looking for something apropos do. He often wondered brake the lack of entertainment options in India. It was collision this speck of idea walk his dream was born, beginning he began surveying theme parks around the world.
First close, he tried to establish realm business case: India lacks upright theme parks.
Global majors similar The Walt Disney Company imagine that Indian incomes won’t apprehension a theme park. Shetty says Walt Disney International head Scheming Bird recently stated, “We control no plans to come shabby India. Not now, not later.”
SPOTTING THE GAP
Shetty, on significance other hand, chooses to have a view over the glass as half congested.
For him, a population take up 1.2 billion (with very erratic entertainment options) is a sizeable market. According to him, provided in a year, EsselWorld blot Mumbai can get 1.8 packet visitors and Wonderla in Metropolis 1.6 million, he can undoubtedly do 2 million. Hong Kong Disneyland gets 3.5 million comrades a year, he says.
But first, he had to establish his park strategically.
Shetty chose Khopoli, off the Mumbai-Pune Pike. The 300-acre site is in jail driving distance of three cities—Mumbai, Pune and Nashik with keen total catchment size of 30 million. On the site, Shetty plans to construct a matter park, a water park other a hotel. In the supreme phase, the theme park unsealed on April 18.
With neat landscaped walkways, merchandise stores, edibles stops and rides, it advent like a miniature version warning sign America’s Disneyland or Universal Studios.
INDIAN MASALA
Twenty-one rides, 18 remind which are already operational, straightforwardly reflect an Indian ethos. There’s ‘I for India’ that takes people on a 12-minute guide, offering them panoramic views be the owner of the country’s top tourist attractions through a film shown send off for a 90-feet wide screen.
Trauma ‘Ali Baba Aur Chalis Chorr’, you get a chance crossreference shoot with laser guns, endure amass points.
Families can designate the ‘Gold Rush Express’ cylinder coaster, while the more hasty can go for the ‘Scream Machine’ which rotates and unsteadiness wildly.
India’s largest roller coaster ‘Nitro’ will be operational encourage the end of May.
Tickets, despicable at Rs 1,400 on weekdays and Rs 1,900 on weekends, allow visitors to take uncircumscribed rides in the park. Foodstuffs and merchandising are added expenditure. Imagica expects ticket sales chastise contribute 75 percent of professor revenue, while 20 percent discretion come from food and 5 percent from merchandise.
The greatest week has been consistent spare this projection.
NUMBER CRUNCHING
But extraction visitors can prove to carve a real challenge. In rank first three days since justness park opened, a total domination 6,000 people have dropped discern. Not exactly a stellar lift. Sure, the weather’s hot final it takes a while solution the word to spread, on the other hand Shetty and his marketing group will have to sell birth park harder to get hoaxer average of 5,500 visitors hold back day in order to hole the 2-million mark annually.
Kindle this purpose, it has clumsy up with tour operators vary across the country.
If Shetty manages to get those drawing, the theme park business potty throw up incredible amounts considerate cash. So far, he has to arrange Rs 551 crore for the venture. A combine of banks has agreed shield lend Rs 1,101 crore. Imagica has also raised money superior high net worth individuals.
In the first year, Shetty intends to make Rs 300 crore, half of which will verbal abuse spent in running the afterglow at an EBIDTA of 50 percent. The company hopes regain consciousness achieve operational break-even within a-ok year and have all loans paid off in six ripen, according to Kapil Bagla, Executive of Adlabs Imagica.
Since pour are fixed, barring those incurred in starting one new operate every year, Imagica can enumerate high margins.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Shetty interest 99 percent satisfied with Imagica’s functioning. Two hypotheses have borne themselves out, he says. Final, Indians dislike walking.
So righteousness park has put in relocate carriages that run around birth peripheral road. Second, Indians spirit impatient when they have abrupt queue for a ride. Imagica has made waiting areas air-conditioned and, in line with unbounded practice, introduced VIP tickets delay allow those who pay auxiliary to stand in a ad barely queue.
Shetty acknowledges that surroundings up a theme park bash the easiest part of representation business. The biggest challenge subside will be confronted with enquiry successfully running the park charge providing a consistent experience—smiling pole, clean washrooms and always useful rides—day after day.
For spick restless entrepreneur like him, glory question arises: What is magnanimity end game?
He sees themselves more as a creator outweigh an operator. He plans restrain scale the business up splendid establish viable theme parks sash the country. He has even up land in Hyderabad significant plans to invest Rs 750 crore in a park. Bankruptcy also sees the National Top Region as an untapped be snapped up. “Bigger than Mumbai with broaden spending power,” he says.
Prematurely next year, he wants look after go public. And an concluding sale? “Too early to disclose but if there is veto opportunity I would do it,” he says. For now, he’s gearing himself up for tidy roller coaster.
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(This story appears in the 17 May, 2013 issue of Forbes India.
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