Ocean Park’s Water World to open on Tuesday, as Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam predicts attraction’s global appeal
- Lam says water park will be a major source of local pride
- Water World attractions, spread over 6.5 hectares on Hong Kong Island, include 107-metre long slides
Asia’s first all-season water park opens to the Hong Kong public on Tuesday, with the city’s leader predicting it will make a splash as a favourite leisure destination of locals and international visitors in the years to come.
Ocean Park’s new Water World will open to Hong Kong public on September 21
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor told Monday’s opening ceremony that the water park was “world class” and worthy of Hongkongers’ pride, boasting a unique design and high-level architecture.
“With the unique natural scenery of the water park, it will consolidate the theme park’s position as a major resort and leisure destination,” she said.
“I believe that the water park will become the favourite leisure and entertainment destination for Hong Kong people and a new attraction for foreign tourists in the future, enriching Hong Kong’s tourism resources.”
The water park aims to attract visitors of all ages, offering 27 indoor and outdoor attractions such as rainbow-coloured slides stretching 107 metres (350 feet), serpentine tube slides and wave pools.
Tickets are priced at HK$320 (US$41) for adults and HK$225 for children, which will be adjusted based on the time of year. A discounted price of HK$150 is available for the elderly and people with disabilities.
Opening day tickets were still available, but those for the public holiday following the Mid-Autumn Festival, as well as the coming Saturday and Sunday, had sold out.
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Hong Kong’s Ocean Park unveils new water theme park attraction
The amusement park’s chairman Lau Ming-wai said the sales were “satisfactory” and visitor numbers at the outset were likely to be slightly lower than the capacity limits.
As the first major project of Ocean Park’s revamp, the HK$4 billion (US$531 million) water venue is expected to reinvigorate the wider business, which is heavily indebted but has been able to survive with government support over two consecutive years.
The 44-year-old attraction, which has suffered losses during the pandemic, is set to undergo a major transformation, with plans in place to turn it into a financially self-sufficient leisure and retail resort with a focus on education and conservation.
Lau said they were expecting to receive proposals from various operators by mid-October, with the tender process set to launch in early 2022 and with implementation marked for the first half of that year.
