Ocean Park has claimed victory over rival Hong Kong Disneyland in terms of attendance figures and earnings.
The Aberdeen-based theme park welcomed a record 5.4 million visitors last year, beating Disneyland's 5.2 million, its chairman Allan Zeman said.
Zeman also said it was hopeful that net surplus for this financial year could hit the HK$100 million mark, from HK$82 million in the 2009-10 financial year. This contrasted sharply with Disneyland's report of a net loss of HK$720 million for its last fiscal year, ended October 2.
A new aquarium is set to open on Thursday, among a series of attractions Ocean Park will offer under a HK$5.5 billion facelift announced in 2005 to boost competitiveness, as the city's Disneyland opened its doors that year. Both theme parks are keen to take advantage of the rise in mainland arrivals as wealth generated in the world's fastest-growing major economy spurs outbound tourism.
This month, Ocean Park unveiled a plan to sell milk powder, a favourite commodity among mainland tourists because of the low quality of baby formula sold back home. The idea was dropped upon criticism that it would go against the park's education and conservation role. Zeman yesterday said the impact might have been overstated because the plan was only to sell milk powder at one store, and it would be only one of many products on display.
Ocean Park chief executive Tom Mehrmann said its real competitor was not HK Disneyland, but in Zhuhai , referring to reports that a 20 billion yuan (HK$23.7 billion) mega theme park cum resort was coming up on the island of Hengqin . That theme park was estimated to draw 20 million visitors a year.
