Of Paramount Importance: Theme parks

Paramount Pictures needs little introduction. From the early Marx Brothers output to the more modern-day likes of "Star Trek", Paramount has been one of Hollywood's most famous studios. It is, in marketing parlance, a highly recognisable brand and, as with other brands, its value can be exploited in ways other than the cinema and media.

The Walt Disney Company was probably the first studio to truly appreciate branding potential. And boy did it appreciate it. Arguably, Disney is now better known for its theme parks than for Mickey Mouse, and theme parks have become an important additional line of business for other studios. Universal is one. It used to own most of the shares in the PortAventura theme park in Salou but sold out in 2004. Now, there is another studio coming to Spain with a theme park - Paramount.

The move into resorts and theme parks is a recent venture by Paramount. Its first resort is being built in Dubai but it may be a close-run thing as to where the first one becomes operable. Paramount Murcia is scheduled to be completed some time in 2015, the same year as the Dubai project.

Alhama in the region of Murcia has a population of a little over 20,000 people. It is a town noted for nature parks and protected natural areas. Its economy is based primarily on agriculture and industry. There is a tourism economy, but this is confined to those natural areas. It is some way inland in a region that is not that well known for its sun and beach tourism. Murcia obviously has a coast but it doesn't have resorts of the type which are to be found in the Alicante province to its north and along the Costa Almeria and therefore Costa del Sol to its south.

When the Paramount project was first announced in 2010, concerns were raised that it was just some sort of publicity stunt that wouldn't see the light of day. Interestingly, despite the location and all that nature, there was surprisingly little opposition. Naturally it has caused some controversy, but the benefits seem to outweigh this. Leading unions have, for example, accepted that it would be a great opportunity for Murcia.

It was fair though for some scepticism to have been expressed. At the time of the initial announcement, the Gran Scala project in Aragon was still seen as a goer, but it was to soon collapse through a mixture of co-ordinated opposition and, more importantly, a lack of investors.

Investment for Paramount Murcia - Paramount Park and Lifestyle Center to give it its official name - hasn't yet been put in place totally. The promoters behind the park is a company called Premursa (Proyectos Emblemáticos Murcianos), which is made up by the institute of development in Murcia, the Murcia Tourist Region body and Santa Monica Financial Services. The whole project is expected to need investment of 450 million euros. Premursa expects to get this investment mainly from foreign sources. In the meantime, the first phase is to start now that Ferrovial, a company which is known of course for its airports, has been awarded a contract worth 52 million euros.

The schedule for completion in 2015 does therefore seem a little tight for what will be a project occupying 133 hectares that will combine Paramount theming with the lifestyle of casino, hotels, restaurants, shopping mall and culture and which will be notable for utilising advanced technologies, including 3D and 4D. And the schedule might be even more optimistic if all the investment doesn't pour in. The hope is that now that Spain is seemingly being seen as a good investment opportunity it will.

But there are concerns about theme park viability in general. The Murcia minister for tourism has sought to dispel these concerns, pointing to, for example, a 1.8% growth for Spanish theme parks in 2012 as well as to the unique features of Paramount Park. If it all comes off, the theme park is expected to create 23,000 jobs and attract some three million tourists per annum. And if it does indeed all come off, then it will be a theme park on the Spanish mainland of the type which Mallorca does not have.

Murcia makes a great deal of sense as a location because it is a region that is crying out for tourism investment. But just as regions which are deficient in tourism terms need investment so also do those which have been heavily invested in, such as Mallorca. Constant new investment is required in order to create new attractions and so keep up in the tourism competition race.

Theme parks, so we have been led to believe by the Balearics tourism ministry, are on the cards. If so, then where is the evidence? And even if there were evidence, 133 hectares in an area of nature parks as in Murcia? Forget it. It would never happen.

* Photo from the Premursa website.