HOLLYWOOD giant Universal Studios is threatening to give its main rival Disney a run for its money with future expansion plans for its theme park in Costa Dorada.
Universal acquired a 37% stake in Port Aventura in July last year and has made a huge investment in creating new attractions for 1999.
The park, now renamed Universal’s Port Aventura, opened to the public in March with a series of new shows. Top on the list are the El Sol de Oriente, featuring Chinese acrobats from the Beijing Troupe, and an evening sound-and-light show called Fiestaventura.
Universal is looking to build on its 220,000 annual UK visitors with the appointment of a theme park representative in London, who will work alongside UKtour operators.
The representative, who has yet to be named, will join Universal in May and will be based at the company’s UK offices in Hammersmith.
A spokesman for Universal said:”The new representative will work with operators to raise the awareness of the park and develop trade sales through packages and special deals.
“Outside of Spain, the UK is our biggest market and is a very important one for us. We will give the representative the resources he or she needs to develop this market more.”
In addition, Universal’s Port Aventura is working on future plans to expand its 2,000-acre site. It has plenty of land laying idle, some of which is adjacent to the sea and could be developed into a beach resort. Plans include new rides and shows, building sports facilities, construction of a business convention area and development of on-site hotels.
Currently, most UK visitors to the park stay in Salou, 15mins from the park by road, with a frequent shuttle bus service. The spokesman added: “Port Aventura is a good product, but Universal wants to develop it into the premier theme park of Europe. However, although Universal is a US company, it will maintain a European feel.”