Next year, KidZania will invest a total of US$90 million in the opening of five new facilities in Mexico City, Santiago, Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai and Bangkok, which will mean a growth of around 60%, said Xavier López Ancona, President of KidZania.

The opening of the company’s third park in Mexico will take place in January 2012, said Mr. López. It has an investment of US$30 million and will open in Cuicuilco, in Southern Mexico City.

The openings outside Mexico are through a franchise scheme, each of which represents an investment of approximately US$15 to US$20 million per facility.

“(2012) will be a consolidation year for KidZania; we will open five new facilities as well as new merchandising offices to revamp our souvenir catalog and we will also start KidZania’s virtual experience online. It is also very probable that next year we will find our partner to open our first unit in the United States”, said Mr. López Ancona.

Interviewed before his participation at the EO World Collaborative Summit organized by Entrepreneurs’ Organization Forum –one of the most influential business networks in the world– the businessman said that with these new openings KidZania will grow from 8 to 13 parks in operation.

“This year we will close with a total global attendance of 5 million visitors, and next year with the new parks, we could easily get to 8 million visitors worldwide”, said the President of KidZania.

Via: El Norte (original article in Spanish)