Mr. Kittikorn is confident that tourists will show up at the Carnival Magic theme park.
Carnival Magic Co, under the umbrella of Safari World, the country’s largest theme park operator, is set to open the Carnival Magic theme park in Phuket on September 20 to attract tourists during the upcoming high season.
Kittikorn Kewkacha, president and chief executive officer of Carnival Magic Co, said that with the easing of Covid-19, Phuket’s tourism business has gradually improved, doing better than some islands that compete with Phuket.
“We are confident that the opening of the 6.6 billion baht theme park, which spans 100 rai, will welcome up to 2 million local and foreign tourists next year,” Mr Kittikorn said.
“Phuket’s tourism industry is recovering and is expected to resume strong growth soon. The Phuket Provincial Tourism and Sports Office reported that thanks to the removal of the Test & Go requirement on May 1, the island is expected to welcome 5 million international arrivals this year, marking 50% of the level before the pandemic”.
He said the theme park should help revitalize the island’s tourism market.
“Carnival Magic is uniquely Thai and nothing like it has been seen anywhere in the world,” said Mr Kittikorn.
It is the third theme park under the Safari World Group, which was established 36 years ago.
Carnival Magic, located in Phuket’s Kamala Beach area adjacent to Phuket FantaSea, offers Thai-style carnivals enhanced by modern technology, he said. This includes fun and colorful parades, carnivals and temple fairs across Thailand with dazzling light decorations, Mr Kittikorn said.
The theme park is open from 5.30pm to 11.30pm and is divided into four main areas, including the carnival funfair area where visitors can make their way through a shopping street, buying products in a festive, festive atmosphere together with the whole night. – Long carnival performances and other attractions, he said.
The buffet restaurant area offers seating to accommodate 3,000 guests with more than 100 flavors from East and West.
A luxury restaurant called The River of Bliss will open in the future, Mr Kittikorn said.
The third area is the river palace, offering a 16,000 square meter indoor performance theater — one of the largest in Thailand and among the largest in the world.
The kingdom of lights area features more than 40 million lights to create a dazzling masterpiece to spark visitors’ imaginations, he said.
Carnival Magic targets international customers, mainly from India, China, Europe, Australia and the Middle East which make up 70% of its customers, with locals making up the remainder, Mr Kittikorn said.
The company expects the nighttime theme park to break ground in another 3-5 years, he said.
In addition to the new theme park, Mr Kittikorn said the company plans to upgrade Phuket FantaSea once tourism fully recovers on the island.
