New Aston Villa FC owner eyes museum and theme park to attract overseas visitors
Tony Xia, new owner of recently relegated English football club Aston Villa, has revealed plans to develop a theme park and museum for the club as the businessman aims to attract visitors from overseas.
Speaking in an hour-long interview from his home in Beijing following his £74.5m (US$108.2m, €96.5m) acquisition of the club, Xia told The Daily Mail that the long-term plan for Villa included “a football museum and theme park to attract football tourists from China and India”.
While seemingly a stretch of the imagination for the club to get its own theme park, Xia has the financial strength to fund such a project, with his net worth valued at more than £1bn (US$1.4bn, €1.3bn). The businessman also has some experience in the sector, with his company the Recon Group operating ventures in IT, health, transport, design, tourism and finance.
Xia’s plans aren’t the first touting a theme park for a football club. In May 2014, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez had confidential meetings with an “American company” to scope out plans for a potential theme park project. Real Madrid also had designs for an amusement park as part of its US$1bn (€892m, £688m) resort island project on Ras al-Khaimah, but those plans were shelved in June 2013 due to lack of funding.
Leisure Centre Duty Manager
Leisure Supervisor (Development)
Recreation Assistant (Dry Site)
Party Leader
Cleaning Assistant
Duty Manager
Duty Manager
Team Leader (Harrow School Fitness Club)
Centre Manager (Leisure)
Director of Operations
Fitness Motivator
Recreation Assistant/Lifeguard (NPLQ required)
Membership Manager
Recreation Assistant
Swim Teacher
Swim Teacher
Chief Executive Officer, Mount Batten Centre
Swimming Teacher
Swimming Teacher
Company profile
Featured Supplier
Property & Tenders
Company: Knight Frank
Company: Belvoir Castle
Company: AVISON YOUNG
Company: London Borough of Bexley
Company: Forestry England