The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Financial decision · 1993–2020
Taiwan Folk Village, once the island's #1 attraction, closed with NT$3B of debt
台湾民俗村 opened in Changhua in 1993, drew 100,000 in a single day at its peak, and closed in 2012 under NT$3 billion of debt.
台湾民俗村 (Taiwan Folk Village) · 金景山實業 (Kim Ching Shan Industrial) · 2012-03
What happened
台湾民俗村 opened on 11 December 1993 in Huatan Township, Changhua County, on a 52-hectare site in the Bagua hills. It became Taiwan's largest private amusement park and once topped the island's top-ten tourist attractions, with single-day attendance above 100,000.
The 1999 921 earthquake damaged the site and cut visitors, and when founder 施金山 died in 2007 the park lost the management that had kept it going. Debts mounted to NT$3 billion, and in 2011 a court auction passed the debt to 大佛山 for a NT$1.56 billion takeover.
Public operations were suspended on 13 March 2012, with the site open only to film crews. Demolition began in January 2020, some of it without permits, and the land was slated for industrial use.
Why it happened
- A single-day record of 100,000 rested on novelty, and the park's fortunes were tied to one founder whose death ended the management that kept it profitable.
- The 1999 earthquake and falling attendance cut revenue while NT$3 billion of debt stayed on the books, so the operator could not service what it owed.
- A folk village that stopped growing after its founder died could not outrun declining tourism and rising competition.
The lesson
台湾民俗村 proved that a beloved landmark is not a business: 100,000 single-day visitors could not service NT$3 billion of debt, and a park that leaned on one founder died with him.
Aftermath
The site was razed from January 2020, some demolition carried out without a permit and drawing a NT$30,000 fine; around 20 hectares were cleared and the land reassigned for industrial use.
Sources
- 自由時報：1993年12月开业、52公顷、负债30亿、2011法拍、创始人2007年去世、2020年拆除、曾居全台第一
- 自由時報：2020年无照拆除罚3万、1989年开发许可、逾20公顷夷平
- TVBS：2011法拍、妙天之女黄爱伦以15.6亿承接负债、单日十万游客、921受创
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