Bob Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company, has announced ambitious plans to turbocharge investments in the experiences offered at Disney Parks. The company plans to invest a staggering $60 billion over the next decade, aiming to significantly enhance and expand the parks' experiences and offerings.
"Given our wealth of intellectual property, innovative technology, buildable land, unmatched creativity, and strong returns on invested capital, we're confident about the potential from our new investments," said Iger. "While we still have work to do, these efforts have allowed us to move beyond this period of fixing and begin building our businesses again."
Iger stated that Disney has a "solid foundation of creative excellence and innovation built over the past century," which has been reinforced by restructuring and cost efficiency work carried out this year. The company is on track to achieve roughly $7.5 billion in cost reductions.
The CEO outlined four key building opportunities central to Disney's future success: achieving significant and sustained profitability in its streaming business, building ESPN into the preeminent digital sports platform, improving the output and economics of its film studios, and turbocharging growth in its parks and experiences business.
"We have already made considerable advancements in these four areas and will continue to move forward with a sense of purpose and urgency," Iger noted. He revealed that Disney Parks posted a record revenue of $32.5 billion in 2023, underscoring the growth potential of its parks and experiences business.
Iger added, "Even in the case of Walt Disney World, where we have a tough comparison to the prior year, when you look at this year’s numbers compared to pre-pandemic levels in fiscal ’19, we have seen growth in revenue and operating income of over 25 and 30%, respectively."
Over the last five years, return on invested capital has nearly doubled in Disney's domestic parks. The company has also seen sizeable increases across the total Experiences portfolio. Improved guest experience ratings at every one of their parks further underscore the success of their strategy.
"As we announced in September, we plan to turbocharge growth in our Experiences business through strategic investments over the next decade," Iger added.
Iger concluded his remarks by emphasizing Disney's focus on driving profitable growth and value creation as the company transitions from a period of fixing to a new era of building. With these ambitious plans, the magic of Disney promises to become even more enchanting in the coming years.
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