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Ernest Kao

Building work began yesterday on Hong Kong Disneyland's third luxury hotel, with the 750-room Disney Explorers Lodge scheduled to open its doors to tourists by early 2017.
The seven-storey theme hotel, inspired by the early 20th-century age of exploration and adventure, will help attract more overnight stays by park visitors, its managers say.
The Lantau Island resort will feature four themed gardens based on "exotic cultures" from around the world, including the African savannah, South American rainforest, Polynesian island paradise and Asia.
Disney elements to be represented at the hotel include characters from The Jungle Book, The Lion King, Finding Nemo and Up.
The resort will house three restaurants, a shop and a large outdoor pool. Standard and bay window rooms will be available as well as one deluxe suite.
Park boss Andrew Kam Min-ho said the new hotel would help boost room supply by 75 per cent to 1,750 rooms and create 600 to 700 full-time jobs.

"With the expansion of the new hotel, our goal is to increase room availability so that more tourists can stay on property and enjoy the full Disney experience." Kam said he expected construction costs to rise in the next few years but was confident the park would stay within budget.
The investment will come at a cost of HK$4.26 billion, a fifth of it loaned from the public purse. The legislature's finance committee approved the funding plans last summer.
Kam brushed off concerns that a larger park would face stiff competition from a rival in Shanghai, set to open this year.
He said Hong Kong mainly targeted visitors from southern China and Southeast Asia.
Occupancy rates of the two existing hotels were already at more than 90 per cent and a one-year study found there was a need for more lodging to meet growing demand, he added.
The park's management remained tight lipped about room rates at Explorers Lodge, but it would be cheaper than the upmarket Disneyland Hotel and more expensive than the Hollywood Hotel.
Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony yesterday, Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah said the new hotel would help the city meet its target of supplying 84,000 hotel rooms in the next two years.
The hotel and an area based on Marvel's Iron Man, set to open next year, are part of phase one of the park's development project.
 


Building work starts on Hong Kong Disneyland's third hotel

Bill Ernest, Asia president of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, and Financial Secretary John Tsang join Mickey Mouse at the groundbreaking ceremony. Photo: Jonathan Wong

News

Hong Kong

HK$4.2b Explorers Lodge will boost overnight room capacity by 750


Building work began yesterday on Hong Kong Disneyland's third luxury hotel, with the 750-room Disney Explorers Lodge scheduled to open its doors to tourists by early 2017.
