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Lionel Messi Experience Theme Park in Nanjing

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In October, MediaPro Exhibitions, Phoenix Group, and Leo Messi Management announced their plans to invest ¥1.3 billion in the design, development, and construction of a football theme park, based on the famous Argentinian player Lionel Messi.

The park, to be named Messi Experience Park (MEP), is scheduled to open by the beginning of 2020 in Nanjing, and from 2023 onwards is expected draw four million visitors per year (80-20; Chinese-foreigners).

MediaPro is a multimedia group founded in Barcelona, which has a division (MediaPro Exhibitions) specialising in projects such as museums, showrooms and events. Some such projects have been the tour of Santiago Bernabeu Stadium (Real Madrid), the Museum of the Brazilian National Football Team and the Fernando Alonso (Formula One Spanish pilot) exhibition centre .

The MEP will cover approximately nine hectares, without counting the hotels and residential areas that will be built around it by other private operators. The area will be divided in 46,000 square metere of indoor spaces, 12,000 for gardens and 25,000 for public spaces. MediaPro will take on 200 direct workers and 300 indirect workers for the design and development of the project. Nanjing was selected with the intention of convert the city in a worldwide touristic center based on sports. The Nanjing government plans to link the city centre with the MEP through a new metro line; the developers also expect the park to be served by a new high speed train station connecting Nanjing and Shanghai in just 1 and a half hours.

David Xirau, director of MediaPro Exhibitions, mentioned that in the future, once Messi retires from being an active football player, their strategic positioning of the park will remain. He explained it this way; “Michael Jordan (basketball player), who is already retired, is the most popular sports brand in China. This is a tribute to the footballing brand of Messi. The site will need to be updated eventually, but not Leo, fortunately. None of Pele, (Johan) Cruyff or (Diego) Maradona lost their influence on the sport once they retired”.

The Design

The design of the MEP is based on one of Lionel Messi’s most famous goals; that scored against Getafe, in which he took the ball from the middle of the pitch and dribbled past half of the opposing players. Xirau said that the park is intended to be a tribute to football in general, not only a homage to Messi. Jaume Roures, president of MediaPro group explained, “The idea is that visitors will want to spend the whole day here. The project started as a museum, but over time, after seeing the ambition of the partners and the Nanjing authorities, we saw that we needed to make it for all ages. Young people don’t go to museums. They want other experiences and we are offering them that. Above all, on a level of interaction.”

Xirau also has specified that the Argentine player will visit the park “as much as possible”, and assured that he is committed to promoting the project and its development through his company Leo Messi Management. Messi has also participated in the design, by adding aspects of Rosario and Catalonia culture.

The head of MediaPro Exhibitions has also admitted that they have already received more proposals for theme parks in the country to promote inland tourism and help to distribute visitors traveling to China, decongesting large cities. This theme park will be exclusive in China; however MediaPro has also confirmed that there will be other Messi Experience Parks in other parts of the world.

The Attractions

The park will have approximately 20 attractions, including robotic attractions with audiovisual productions, state-of-the-art software solutions such as virtual reality and mixed reality, synthetic characters and holographic technology. Performing arts events will bring dynamism to the park, with permanent shows and some itinerant ones. There will also be a gastronomy area, hotel and football field. Tickets prices are expected to be approximately ¥270.

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