Hong Kong’s Ocean Park goes digital in bid to attract visitors amid tourism gloom
The attraction offers free Wi-fi, virtual tours of attractions, interactive exhibits on animal conservation and even a treasure hunt
Ocean Park is rolling out new digital services in a bid to attract more international visitors amid the downturn in mainland tourists coming to Hong Kong.
In February, the theme park began offering free Wi-fi in partnership with Hong Kong Broadband Network as well as an upgraded mobile application that provides virtual tours of attractions. The digital revamps cost the park more than HK$10 million.
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The park also collaborated with board game Monopoly to introduce an animal discovery feature available from Saturday. It will last until mid-April. It includes an activity called “Animal Monopoly”, which invites visitors to do a real-life treasure hunt in the park. There are also more interactive exhibits on animal conservation.
“Southeast Asia is another key part of our market. But clearly mainland tourists are [still] our largest source market,” park chief executive Tom Mehrmann said. “We want to continue to make it more convenient and easier for them to visit. And I think these [new programmes] will do.”
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Visits from mainland tour groups to the park suffered a double-digit fall during the recent Lunar New Year holiday. The park saw a 14 per cent drop in overall attendance last year.