KidZania is a Mexican privately held international chain of indoor family entertainment centers currently operating in 30 locations worldwide, allowing children to role play adult jobs and earn currency. It receives at least 9 million visitors per year.

Overview

Every KidZania is themed as a child-sized replica of a real city, including buildings, shops and theaters, as well as vehicles and pedestrians moving along its streets. In this city, children aged 4 through 14, work in branded activities from bottling Coca-Cola, working in a Crest-sponsored dentist office, working at a McDonald's restaurant, painting with Corporação Industrial do Norte, washing hands with P&G's Safeguard soap, and using airline tickets from American Airlines, Fly Dubai and Saudia. The children earn kidZos (KidZania's currency) while performing the tasks, and the money is kept in the KidZania bank for children to spend at the gift shop and on KidZania's activities. Inside every KidZania facility around the world, children wear electronic bracelets that allow parents to keep track of their kids remotely. The currency symbol for the kidZo is a capital letter Z with two horizontal strokes across the middle, which resembles the Ukrainian hryvnia sign (₴) but with sharp corners. Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan owns a 26% share in KidZania India and helps promote the brand in India.

History

KidZania was created and developed by the Mexican entrepreneur Xavier López Ancona, the current KidZania CEO. The first KidZania opened in September 1999 in Santa Fe Shopping Mall in Mexico City, and was named La Ciudad de los Niños ("The City of the Children"). Corporate sponsors funded 55% of the initial investment. Shortly after the first center's successful opening, Luis Javier Laresgotti and Xavier López Ancona became split on how to continue the business. In August 2001, it was announced that López would lead La Ciudad de los Niños and establish locations in California, Mexico, and Spain. Laresgotti and his partner company Grupo Mágico would establish locations in Miami and South America, paying La Ciudad de los Niños 0.25% of the locations' revenue for the next 5 years. López's plans to open a Monterrey, Mexico location were postponed as he tried to establish Kids City locations at a Los Angeles mall and at the Palisades Center, both of which fell through. Laresgotti and Grupo Mágico were able to begin construction on a center at Sawgrass Mills under a different brand, Wannado City, which opened in 2004. In 2003, La Ciudad de los Niños sued a lawsuit against Wannado Entertainment for infringing their intellectual property, and rejected Grupo Mágico's attempts to settle the lawsuit. Shortly after Wannado City opened, Wannado paid a settlement to La Ciudad de los Niños to end the lawsuit, and was forbidden from opening Wannado City locations in Mexico. In 2006, La Ciudad de los Niños rebranded as KidZania to better suit itself for international expansion, and opened its second location in Monterrey. The following year, KidZania hired entertainment strategist Andrew Darrow as executive vice president. Cammie Dunaway, previously of Yahoo! and Nintendo, joined in late 2010 as the chief marketing officer. KidZania at Westfield London, cost £20 million to build. In partnership with British Airways, it was operated by Joel Cadbury and Ollie Vigors through their Longshot Ltd company.

KidZania characters

The mascots of KidZania are called the RightZKeepers. According to the site’s story: They represent the rights that all KidZania patrons have, and together, they share an extra sixth right, the Right to Be. The following are the mascots that KidZania has adopted over time:

Locations

Current locations

Upcoming locations

Per Kidzania Coming Soon List

Former locations

Awards and recognition

KidZania was voted the World's Top Family Entertainment Center by the IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) and 2009 Global Leisure Operator of the Year. From 2011 to 2019, KidZania has been recognized as one of The Best Mexican Companies (Las Mejores Empresas Mexicanas), a recognition promoted by Banamex, Deloitte México and Tecnológico de Monterrey.

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