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Lo Hoi-ying

Hong Kong’s Ocean Park could shut down its Water World facility to prevent further losses and “actively consider” any government takeover offer, its chairman revealed on Thursday.
Paulo Pong Kin-yee said that the theme park’s HK$274.7 million (US$35.3 million) deficit over the past year was primarily driven by its water attraction.
Asked whether the park would close the facility to balance the books, Pong said the option remained on the table.
“I do not dare completely deny this possibility,” he told a radio show. “We will have to discuss this with our stakeholders.”
On another radio show, Pong said the park “would not rule out any options” when asked whether Water World might be handed over to the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.
He said the park would “actively consider” the option if the government was willing to take back the operating rights.
The theme park’s deficit widened to HK$274.7 million in the 12 months to June 30 from HK$71.6 million in the same period a year earlier, due to higher expenses such as depreciation, at HK$414 million, according to a document it submitted to the Legislative Council on Wednesday.

The park reported a surplus from operations of HK$42.4 million in its 2024-25 financial year compared with a HK$17.2 million deficit in the same period a year earlier.
Water World continued to lose money last year, recording a deficit of HK$148.3 million from operations, although losses decreased by 19.5 per cent compared with 2023-24.
The Water World in Aberdeen was first proposed in 2013 and completed in 2021 after construction delays.
Built with an indoor section, it was initially conceptualised to operate all year round after the park learned from the pitfalls of its previous water world, which shut down in 1999 due to losses incurred during colder seasons.
“Hong Kong experienced many changes during that period and the spending patterns of tourists also changed,” Pong said.
“There is a certain gap between the initial concept and its performance.”
He said the park closed during the winter last year to cut costs and organised events such as DJ performances and extended evening hours to attract more visitors.
Pong also said that Water World had already closed for the year since mid-October and would only reopen next May.
“Unfortunately, what benefited Water World the most were the seven months it remained closed during the winter,” he added.
“Our team has actually considered some possibilities, but we also need to sit down and talk to different stakeholders, including the government, about how to turn this situation around.”
Pong noted that the park had engaged with other water attraction operators in mainland China and abroad to explore ways to improve its operations.
“Some of them suggested adding or removing some attractions or ways to improve facilities, which we will consider,” he said.
Dennis Wong Ka-wing, programme director of hospitality at the Vocational Training Council, said that the theme park’s growing number of visitors proved that its marketing strategies, visitor attraction models and merchandising strategies over the past few years had been effective.
Addressing the water park’s losses, Wong attributed the operational difficulties to weather issues and growing competition from attractions in nearby cities in recent years.
“Its strengths lie in the high-class facilities and services that stand out in the region, but the marketing and transport can be worked on to attract tourists,” he told the same radio show.
Lawmaker Michael Tien Puk-sun said that he gave Ocean Park’s performance in the past year a “high score”, as it managed to turn its loss into a profit within a year, but added that the water attraction posed a challenge.
“If they hadn’t spent HK$4 billion to build Water World back then, we wouldn’t be facing this burden today,” Tien said in a social media post on Wednesday.
“I believe that since the facility would perpetually lose HK$150 million a year in the future, the Legislative Council should no longer allocate funds to fill this endless abyss that is Water World.
“Naturally, the answer is to sacrifice a rook to save the king and close Water World to focus on the main theme park projects.”


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Chairman Paulo Pong also says park will ‘actively consider’ any government offer to take over water attraction


Chairman Paulo Pong also says park will ‘actively consider’ any government offer to take over water attraction.


Ocean Park

Paulo Pong Kin-yee

Michael Tien Puk-sun

Leisure and Cultural Services Department