Singaporean entertainment group Neon Group said its sales are growing by more than 20% a year, driven by the popularity of its immersive experiences among young consumers.
Ron Tan, CEO of Neon, which operates exhibitions using IP drawing on pop culture and history, said the company would continue to expand in developed countries, including Japan, despite the uncertain global economic outlook.
Tan was in Tokyo to announce an Egyptian-themed immersive exhibit, which will open its doors in March. It is operated by a joint venture between Neon, Sankei Building, and a real estate subsidiary of Itochu. For Neon, which holds content licenses for movie hits like Jurassic World and Avatar, this will be its first permanent facility in Japan.
He said the business would weather weak consumer sentiment in some of its markets. The company’s revenues are currently increasing by 20–30% a year. “We’re growing rapidly,” he told Nikkei Asia.
Tan said experiential entertainment had innate strengths in difficult economic conditions, citing the resilience of the movie industry during the 2008 recession. “Right now, the younger generation in their 20s [and] 30s are more into the experience … into what you feel inside rather than what you have outside.”
Neon positions its experiences in the midprice range, catering to the needs of a wide bracket of income groups, which could be beneficial in an inflationary climate, he said. For example, pricing for adult tickets for the Harry Potter: Visions of Magic interactive art exhibit in Singapore start at SGD 49 (USD 36.30). Neon’s focus on the domestic consumer rather than foreign tourists, and experiences over merchandise sales, is an advantage in an unstable economic situation, Tan noted.
Neon was set up as Cityneon in 1956 and rebranded as Neon in 2022. It has hosted events, mostly in temporary venues, in at least 80 cities globally that were attended by more than 16 million people, according to the company. The Singaporean company has a robotics and IP management company under its umbrella, enabling it to produce more immersive experiences than its competitors.
The company typically operates special exhibitions by renting venues for limited periods. Its first permanent facility, Crevia Base Tokyo, will host exhibitions for around six to 12 months.
The company sees an opportunity to expand in Japan through collaboration with holders of valuable Japanese IP, Tan said. Neon is also looking to build permanent venues in other developed nations, or relatively rich Asian cities. It is considering Bangkok, Paris and an unspecified city in Germany as possible locations.
The confident tone from the head of the entertainment company comes despite uncertainty over the global economy, which faces the possibility of higher trade tariffs under US President Donald Trump.
Economic growth was flat in the eurozone in the fourth quarter ending in December 2024, weighed down by countries such as Germany, which is struggling with high energy costs and other difficulties.
ASEAN was more of a mixed bag. Singapore’s economy saw a robust 4% expansion in 2024. In Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy, gross domestic product expanded at the slowest pace in three years in 2024.
This article first appeared on Nikkei Asia. It has been republished here as part of 36Kr’s ongoing partnership with Nikkei.