Hong Kong’s Ocean Park looks to India after double digit drop in mainland Chinese visitors
Park chairman Leo Kung points to more visitors from India visiting the theme park; he’s also looking at expanding retail and food sales
The mainland tourism downturn has hit Ocean Park, as visitors in tour groups from there saw a double-digit drop over the Lunar New Year holiday, following a 14 per cent plunge in overall attendance last year.
The number of mainland tourists, who made up around half of the park’s visitors last June, has dropped to 43 per cent, said Ocean Park chief executive Tom Mehrmann.
READ MORE: Ocean Park visitors drop 15pc as strong Hong Kong dollar prompts mainlanders to holiday in Japan and Singapore instead
At the same time, more people from overseas have been visiting, with those from India recording 30 per cent year-on-year growth. But park managers did not expect overseas gains to offset mainland losses.
“We need a transformation in our business model” said Ocean Park chairman Leo Kung Lin-cheng. He added it should no longer rely on takings from admission tickets as fewer mainland tourists were coming to the city.
Instead, Kung said he wanted to attract more visitors from other Asian countries and boost its food and beverage sector.
“Both our retail and food and beverage sectors have seen an increase in the past year” Kung said. The per capita spending has jumped 10 per cent over the past year.