Visitor numbers at Ocean Park have plummeted by 70 per cent since mid-March and the park is losing $15 million to $20 million a month because of Sars, its chief executive said yesterday.
Randolph Guthrie said: 'We should have about 6,000 local and overseas visitors on a normal weekday.
'Now we have 1,200 to 1,500 local visitors and no overseas [or mainland] visitors at all.'
All school tours were cancelled last month. Last year, about 40,000 students visited the park, he said.
Non-local visitors, largely from the mainland, previously accounted for 40 per cent of Ocean Park's total business.
'The Sars impact is significant. We are losing not only overseas visitors but also local customers,' Mr Guthrie said.
The slumping ticket sales had prompted emergency cost-cutting measures, including the cancellation of all capital expenditure and reduced operational hours for some rides and facilities.