AFTER the success of amusement parks and water parks, it's now the turn of snow parks to hit the country's entertainment sector.
October 2 will see the opening of the country's first large-scale snow park to be situated at the Delhi-Gurgaon border. A 50:50 joint venture of the Rs 35-crore Polo Group of Companies with Patine Corporation, Japan and Leisure Industries Co, Japan, it is for the first time that snow park technology will now be available in India and can be bought by small investors too.
The technology being offered by the joint venture company Polo Pantine Leisure Pvt Ltd., comes to India at an investment of Rs 5.5 crore and offers complete snow park solutions including construction, equipment, installation and management.
The snow park in Gurgaon will also serve as the showroom for the company. It is to be spread over a 2,000 square metre area with a floor area of at least 60,000 square feet. The facility will include an 800 sq. mt ice-skating rink and an auditorium with a seating capacity for 800 spectators. The snow park will mainly concentrate on recreational, sports and
leisure activities for the spectators, including ice skating, figure skating, snow skiing, ice hockey, snow circus, snow games and so on.
According to the company, a complete picture of Antarctica will be created at the park showcasing flora, fauna and lifestyle of the region. A 110-metre long indoor ski slope will be available for skiing, tubing and sledging.
Polo group's Polo Consultancy Pvt. Ltd already provides services and consultancy regarding the setting up of theme parks and water parks in the country. With the latest venture into snow parks, Polo Group hopes to capture a substantial chunk of the snow park market, which it estimates at Rs 1,000 crore.
"There are around a 100 amusement and water parks in the country, we think each of these would have a snow park as well in the future. A large part of the business will be in the sports arena with the setting up of ice-skating and other Olympic snow sports. We are looking at around 30 ice-skating rinks and 10 ski slopes across the country,'' says the Managing Director of the Polo Group, Mr Balwant Chawla.
He explains that every year amusement parks in the country attract 600 million visitors, with snow parks the numbers will increase phenomenally.