The Chinese-owned attraction competed for 10 years against Orlando's theme park giants.
By Associated Press
Published December 31, 2003
ORLANDO - Florida Splendid China, a controversial Chinese-owned theme park that displayed miniature replicas of that country's historic landmarks, will close today, a victim of the erratically recovering tourism industry and possibly its own management.
The 10-year-old theme park had struggled for years against flashier offerings from Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld Florida. But the tourism slowdown that followed the 2001 terrorist attacks made it even harder for the 76-acre park to get on a sound financial footing.
"This determination was reached primarily due to the continued downturn in the tourism economy, as evidenced by the closing of other tourism-dependent businesses in the area," said a statement on Splendid China's Web site. "Despite several years of attempting to achieve successful theme park operations, the company has concluded that it could no longer continue to incur significant losses."
Bochun Lin, the park's chief executive, didn't return a telephone call to his home. But Al Riley, a spokesman for the park, located in Kissimmee near Walt Disney World, said the owners were hoping the park could be sold to new owners and reopened.
About half of the park's workforce of 40 were performers who planned to return to China. A skeleton workforce will maintain the park, Riley said.
During the past decade, the theme park had been picketed by Tibetan-rights activists who claimed the park's owners had ties to China's Communist government, an allegation the park's owners denied.
The theme park is owned by China Travel Services Holdings Limited H.K., an enterprise of the Chinese government. A holding company of China Travel Services invested money in Florida Splendid China, Riley said.
"It's not directly hands on," Riley said.
The protesters objected to the inclusion of exhibits on ethnic minorities oppressed by the Chinese government, such as those from Tibet, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang, which the Muslim minority there calls Eastern Turkestan.
The most recent protest by the activists, who are part of a group called Citizens Against Communist Chinese Propaganda, was a year ago.
"It's a victory for truth," said Jack Churchward, a protester from Clearwater. "Maybe we didn't deliver the killing blow ourselves, but maybe through our efforts we were able to raise enough questions in people's minds."
The killing blow was a lack of visits by Orlando tourists. The park received dozens of visitors on some days. By comparison, each of the major theme parks in Orlando attracts tens of thousands of visitors each day.
"We could thrive with 200 a day," Riley said.
Another problem with Florida Splendid China was that the owners didn't invest money to maintain the property, neglecting the landscaping and allowing the miniatures to deteriorate, said Steve Baker, president of Baker Leisure Group, a theme park consulting business in Orlando.
"This absolutely is no reflection of the Orlando tourism market," Baker said.
Other theme parks have struggled recently. Venerable Cypress Gardens, about 20 miles away in Winter Haven, closed its doors earlier this year, although a Georgia theme park owner is negotiating to operate the park and reopen it next year.
