Is the fairytale over for Hong Kong Disneyland? Analysts see tough times ahead for 10-year-old theme park amid tourism slump
As the park marks a decade in business, experts say the weak economy and strong local currency will push tourists to rival attractions in Asia
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Analysts see lower visitor numbers and tough times ahead for Hong Kong Disneyland as a sluggish economy, strong local currency and rival attractions weigh heavily on the park.
The attraction celebrates 10 years in business this weekend and its managing director Andrew Kam Min-ho is optimistic about its prospects.
"It is not a 10-year business," Kam said yesterday. "It is a century business."
Kelvin Lau Gin-yip, an economist and strategist with the Bank of Communications, said given the weak Asian economy and the strong US dollar, tourists were more likely to head to places with weaker currencies such as Singapore and Malaysia.
"Hong Kong Disneyland is not the only theme park in Asia. There are substitutes - Universal Studios and Legoland," he said, referring to parks in Singapore and southern Malaysia.
INTERACTIVE: Timeline of Hong Kong Disneyland's history
With the emergence of more rivals - including Shanghai's own Disney park and a theme park development on Hengqin , an artificial island off Zhuhai across the Pearl River Delta - Lau said tourists, and not just those from the mainland, would have plenty of options.
Figures for July showed a year-on-year decline in visitor numbers of 8.4 per cent, a decrease that was reflected in retail sales, which have seen falls for six consecutive months year on year.
Tourists from the mainland, who account for about 70 per cent of Hong Kong's total inbound tourists at present, are the primary visitors to Hong Kong Disneyland.
Last year, almost one in every two visitors to Disneyland were from the mainland. The 3.6 million visitors from across the border accounted for 48 per cent of the park's total customers. The rest were Hongkongers, who accounted for 32 per cent of the total, and tourists from elsewhere, who made up 20 per cent.
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Retailer and lawmaker Michael Tien Puk-sun said both the tourism and retail sectors were bracing for a sustained downturn, with the situation worse than in 2003 when a deadly outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome paralysed the city.
"This time, it is different. It is not a slump. We don't know when it will bounce back," said Tien, who is vice-chairman of the pro-establishment New People's Party. "We can't see anything that can lead to a bounce back if we do nothing."
Tien said unfavourable conditions were clouding the city's outlook including the recent stock market plunge on the mainland and forecasts that the US dollar, to which the Hong Kong dollar is pegged, would remain strong in the next two years.
Added to this was a five per cent year-on-year decrease in the number of mainlanders who visited the city as individuals rather than in tour groups in the first half of the year, he said.
