Tour firms offer Disney thrills without a price tag to match
The opening of Disneyland is poised to attract thousands of mainland and local tourists, but travel agents believe many will avoid expensive accommodation and entrance fees.
Leung Chui-han, spokesman for the inbound Chinese visitor department of the China Travel Service (Hong Kong), said 2,000 mainland travellers had already booked tickets to visit the park in the first week of October.
However, most had chosen not to stay the night in Hong Kong, she said.
'If a mainland family chooses to visit the park and stay the night, it will cost them several thousand dollars. Most of them choose not to stay the night. Even if they do, they book hotels outside the park, which are considerably cheaper.'
But this does not seem to pose a problem for the two Disneyland hotels, which have been heavily booked for weekends in September and for the October 1 holiday weekend.
'The Disneyland hotels have enough customers from the upper market,' Ms Leung said.
Local tour providers were catering for the large number of Hong Kong families wanting a glimpse of the park without having to pay the entrance fees, said Iris Cheung Wing-cheong, manager of tour operator Fat Tat Hang.
