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Ocean Park
Hong KongHong Kong economy

Hong Kong’s Ocean Park names former UA Cinemas managing director as new chief executive

  • Ivan Wong will succeed tourism commissioner Joe Wong, who was seconded from government to serve as interim chief in May
  • Struggling theme park is planning HK$6.8 billion revamp which aims to turn it into financially self-sufficient retail and leisure destination

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Ocean Park will undergo a huge revamp. Photo: Winson Wong
Ngai Yeung
A former managing director of the now defunct UA cinema chain will take over as chief executive of Hong Kong’s Ocean Park in September as the debt-ridden theme park presses on with a planned HK$6.8 billion (US$874 million) revamp.
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Ivan Wong Chi-fai will succeed Commissioner for Tourism Joe Wong Chi-cho, who was seconded from the government to serve as interim chief executive in May as the Aberdeen park carried out an open recruitment exercise to find a new head.

Before the tourism commissioner’s temporary stint, the previous two chief executives were Ocean Park veterans. Ysanne Chan Sein-yu and her predecessor Matthias Li Sing-chung were both former chief financial officers who had worked at the theme park for nearly three decades.

Ivan Wong. Photo: Handout
Ivan Wong. Photo: Handout

Ivan Wong is chairman of the Hong Kong Institute of Marketing and a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing in Britain. He most recently served as chief operating officer of Lark International Group, which owned UA Cinemas.

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Ocean Park chairman Lau Ming-wai said he was excited to welcome Ivan Wong to the management team and would work with him on the park’s transformation.

“His market-driven mindset and remarkable business experience from product development to business re-engineering make him well suited for the role,” Lau said on Wednesday.

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