Pico Play focuses on Vietnamese market

Versions of this article appear in Blooloop.

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Pico Play has many attraction projects underway in the country.

Pico Play, a global leader in the planning, design, development and construction of world-class themed attractions and entertainment, has recognised the growth of the leisure market in Vietnam and the opportunities it presents.

As the themed entertainment industry emerges from two years of pandemic disruptions, the company says that Vietnam has emerged as a new epicentre of entertainment.

Noel Dempsey, the company’s director of business delivery says: “It is a really interesting market that has just exploded over the past 10 to 20 years and one that is determined to make its mark, developing more of its own concepts, content theming and narratives and doing so with a sense of pride.”

“Another unique factor is how themed attractions are developed in Vietnam – they are often on the back of a large-scale property development, where developers and construction groups acquire big parcels of land in beautiful locations for mixed-use precincts such as residential, accommodation, retail and leisure.

“These developers realise to stand out in an increasingly crowded market, they need an anchor attraction to support their investment, whether it’s a theme park, water park or adventure park.”

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Project updates

Company director Darren McLean provides an update on activity, saying Pico Play currently has twenty-four projects in progress throughout six countries, with its latest facility in Hai Phong acting as a gateway to North Asia. Once the new building is ready, Pico Play will recruit local artisans and tradespeople including welders, plasterers, artists and sculptors.

McLean says “In addition to meeting Vietnam’s development boom, we are able to export into China by land and service the broader north Asian market.

“We also completed the interior design and construction of two ride attractions – an indoor dark ride and a flying theatre – for VinGroup’s huge Phu Quoc resort entertainment complex project and finished those just as COVID hit in April 2020.

“We leant heavily on our fabrication facility in Johor, Malaysia to complete this work and soon realised the value in expanding into Vietnam where a huge number of our projects are based.”

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The realistic approach

The firm will deliver on the development boom with a contract to design and construct a new attraction at Sam Son, Sun Group’s largest park at 25 hectares. The destination is currently under construction and is planned to open in 2023.

Pico Play is also working on a number of adventure and nature parks owned by Novaland across Vietnam, alongside other attraction projects with World Investment and Development Corp., Bao Son Group and Phat Dat Corporation.

Dempsey adds: “Pico Play is internationally connected so we are across trends and current best practices and we take a realistic approach to business development because ultimately, we want to help developers realise their vision, it speaks to our credibility.”

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Top image: VinWonders Phu Quoc – Vietnam Theme Park

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