A new Legoland Discovery Centre and Dungeons attractions are being planned for Australia and New Zeland by operator Merlin Entertainments, according to divisional director Rob Smith.

Smith said that the expansion follows increased visitor numbers at Merlin's existing Aussie attractions during 2018. The operator expects the number of visitors to be up by "between 3 and 4 per cent" for the year.

Smith credited Merlin’s growth in the region – where it is currently the largest visitor attraction operator – to a rapidly-growing Asian outbound tourism market, with visitors from India and China "particularly adding value".

“You could almost say that Australia is becoming a short-break destination for certain international markets – the average length of time spent in-destination is definitely shrinking,” Smith said.

Merlin's newest attraction, Legoland Discovery Centre Melbourne, opened in April 2017 and has performed strongly, he added, while a high amount of natural snowfall bolstered visitor numbers at its Victoria ski resorts, Mount Hotham and Falls Creek.

Merlin is currently the world’s second largest family entertainment company – with Disney being the largest – and it has more than 130 attractions around the world.

It entered the Australian market in 2011, acquiring the Sydney Attractions Group, which at that time operated the Sydney Aquarium, Sydney Tower and Sydney Wildlife World. It operates 13 attractions in total in Australia and New Zealand.