THE FAILURE OF HAW PAR VILLA : A CASE REVIEW

Abstract

Haw Par Villa is the earliest theme park in Singapore which was built in 1937 by a millionaire and philanthropist Aw Boon Haw. It was reinvented in 1990 and billed itself "Disneyland of the East" to mark its transformation into a Chinese mythology theme park. However, the park had failed to take off and by 1998, it had chalked up an operating loss of $31.5-million. Factors that may have led to the failure of Haw Par Villa have been explored and analyzed. It is found that the core reason for its failure is due to bad product design. Haw Par Villa is considered as an outdated product for the consumers who are constantly exposed to the advanced technology. It is also a product that is 'killed' by its own niche. By positioning itself as a Chinese Mythology theme park, Haw Par Villa has too narrow a theme for it to tap on the crowds during the festive seasons especially in a multi-racial city-state like Singapore. Inaccurate market segmentation, unrealistic financial forecast and the lack of a critical mass in Singapore makes it arduous for the Chinese Mythology theme park in sustaining its business. Hence, theme park magic can never be guaranteed. The strategic planning of the theme park has to be carefully thought through and scrutinised based on local context. The success story and formulae of the world-class theme parks should not be taken wholesale and must be adjusted accordingly in order for theme park developers to succeed in Singapore.