The third KidZania in India will be somewhere in the South: Xavier López Ancona
Xavier López Ancona, founder of the edutainment chain, talks about the concept's popularity
Image: Joshua Navalkar
In 2013, Mexican edutainment chain KidZania set foot in India with a 75,000 square feet indoor theme park in a suburban mall in Mumbai. Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan holds a 26 percent stake in KidZania’s Indian franchise, Imagination Edutainment, while the rest is owned by Singapore-based Kidz Inc. India is an important market, says Xavier López Ancona, who founded KidZania in Mexico in 1999.
Globally, KidZania has annual revenues of $450 million (around Rs 3,000 crore) from 24 facilities across 19 countries, and has seen 25 percent year-on-year growth since its inception.
On a recent visit to India, Ancona spoke to Forbes India about why India is an important market for KidZania. Edited excerpts:
Q. What is the global standard format for KidZania’s theme parks and how do you localise it?
Globally, the entrances to KidZania theme parks resemble an airport. Because KidZania is a nation, we want children to believe they are flying to KidZania. Children get a boarding pass and a map of the city. There is a similar process at the exit as well. To localise it, we introduce region-specific activities, like a ‘Dabbawala’ activity in Mumbai. Once inside, children have to decide what they want to be—fireman, banker, chef, artist or painter. Through the activities, they earn kidZos [the official currency of KidZania], which can be used to buy things inside the city. The idea is to give children the independence to make decisions, and I hope that stays with them for life.
Q .How does KidZania benefit children?
Kids come here for fun. So we have to make sure this is fun for them. Role play is their favourite game and we have done a good job with it. At the same time, it has to be an enriching experience in three big ways: First, it has to be educational, so children have to learn about professions, how money comes from work, how to save money, and be good citizens; second, we encourage them to develop skills, by having to meet people and converse for every activity; third, we want to promote values like truth, honesty and respect.
Q. How important is India as a market for KidZania?
It’s huge. We have only four markets that have more than one facility—Mexico, Japan, South Korea and India. And there are only three countries where you can afford to have several facilities—India, China and the US. There is a lot of growth opportunity [in India]. You have 400 million children here. The middle class is growing and we want to tap into it.
Q. What are your plans for expansion?
Both Mumbai and Delhi have performed above our expectations. But there is still potential for growth. The third KidZania in India will be somewhere in the South. By the time it goes live, we will re-evaluate the cities that have potential. There could be a smaller format as well.
