Tom Williams: It's at an ideal intersection of the Beijing-Harbin Expressway and the Sixth Ring Road. It's about 45 minutes out of downtown Beijing. It's got all the best IP's. We are going to have 1,200 hotel rooms, including a Universal Grand Hotel will be part of the opening. We will have a CityWalk there. We have so much land that we will be able to, in due course, if business warrants the investment, we would be able to, we have enough room to build more hotels and other park, a water Park. I mean there is a lot of upside there. So we are well on our way. It's on schedule, on budget. The ops teams are progressing nicely against the timelines. And so that's coming to us in less than two years. In about a year-and-a-half, we will be open.
Q:
So let's move on to Beijing. So you have a 30% ownership stake there. So I mean, there has been so much tension recently between U.S. and China. Has that had any impact at all on the development?
Tom Williams, CEO Universal Parks: It just hasn't. You would logically think it has but it's almost like if you ask anybody in this room, what have you seen as a result of China imposing these tariffs on us that you are really are all that shook up about. I mean your everyday work, you are not talking about it. I mean because of what you do, maybe you are talking about it, but you are not actually making the big consumer decisions on it. The people we work with, they are all in on building this park and getting it ready to open. That's all they are focused on.
And believe me, when you go to China, you don't start talking about politics. You don't start talking about the leadership in China. You would be crazy to bring up Hong Kong, Taiwan. You would never start talking that way. You just focus on what you are trying to do. These are is a happy people. I remember when I went there 16 years ago, shock out of staying at the hotel right across from Tiananmen Square, look out the window and there is a Porsche dealership across the street. I thought, wow, the last thing I would expect.
I go to the Forbidden City and right inside the front doors is a Starbucks. This is 16 years ago. So you know Beijing is a cosmopolitan city. You go down to their heavy shopping districts and all the major brands are there. The fashion houses are all there. I mean, you know not everybody, but they have got money to spend and they are happy, content people and they are thrilled to have the theme park, Universal Studios come. I am very proud of the fact that we are in the People's Republic of China. We are going to open up. You can't get a more American kind of brand than Universal Studios. And it's all with welcome arms, open arms.
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Q: So the press has speculated that the investment in the park is now set at total of $6.5 billion. And again, you have 30% stake. But that's even larger than the $5.5 billion of Disney Shanghai or Shanghai Disney.
Tom Williams: Reported
Q:
Reported. Can you talk about the plans there? The opportunity? Key attractions?
Tom WIlliams: Yes. I mean like I said, it's our largest park. It will have the 1,200 rooms to begin with, located in two different locations. It's got a great location going for it. It's got Harry Potter. It's got Transformers. It's got Minions. It's got Hollywood. It's got Jurassic Park with new rides that we have never done before. I mean it's a terrific line-up giving weight to the winter weather in Beijing for about a month. It's got colder temperatures in Osaka. Our park in Osaka open 12 months of the year. So we know we are going to get wintertime visitation.
But indifference to it, two-thirds of the attractions are indoors. About 40% of the total park facilities are completely indoors. Now there is a Kung Fu Panda Land, it's 100% indoors. The rides are indoors. The shops are indoors. It's all indoors. And so we think that ratio of the total park capacity aligns nicely with the expected visitation on those cold, cold days. You wouldn't need it any more because not that many more people are going to come. So we think we planned it correctly.
Q:
And what's your assessment of the competitive environment in China? It feels like there is lot of parks going up?
Tom Williams:
Well, not in Beijing. I mean 22 million people live there and 275 million people visit. And we have been able to substantiate the number. When the Mayor first told me that, I thought he was exaggerating. But now it's correct. There is a lot of cultural effects, lot of places to visit from a cultural standpoint in Beijing. Orlando, by comparison, has 80 million visitors that come, whereas Beijing has 275 million. Now they are not all going to be income qualified, but it's certainly going to be more than enough of a pool for us to be quite successful. And Disney has been successful in Shanghai.
Q:
And finally on China, what's your plan for additional gate openings or parks in China?
Tom Williams: No plan except we know we have got the land and we have the product because we have developed it elsewhere. We have two gates in Orlando and so forth. And so when the timing is right and it makes sense, you have to be open for a few years to get your feet on the ground and do a great job and really confirm all the assumptions that you made were correct and those that weren't correct, fix them and plan accordingly. But the important part is the opportunity is there, when and if we choose to avail ourselves of it.