Source:
https://scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3084869/ocean-park-will-forever-be-part-hong-kong-memories-cash-injections Letters
Ocean Park will forever be a part of Hong Kong memories, but cash injections will not revive its fortunes
- Additional funding for building more attractions cannot solve the park’s problem, which is basically is a lack of sensitivity or responsiveness to the market
A visitor poses at the entrance to Ocean Park in December 2016. That year the part recorded a deficit of HK$241.1 million, the largest since the park ceased to be a Hong Kong Jockey Club subsidiary in 1987. Photo: Sam Tsang
I refer to the debate over the government’s HK$5.4 billion (US$687 million) bailout request for Ocean Park, roughly half of the HK$10.6 billion long-term funding proposal announced in January, amid pleas from management for public support. The fundamental question is what kind of organisation Ocean Park is and should be if it continues to exist.
The debt-hit park has been losing money since 2015 and a water park due to open in 2017 was delayed and over budget by more than HK$1 billion. I am surprised at the governing body’s lack of effective oversight of its management over the past years. If it had properly evaluated the park’s business strategy, financial management and capacity for expansion, the expansion plan might have been axed or significantly modified without the park landing in the present financial difficulties.
Although visits to the park are a part of many Hongkongers’ childhood memories, if the government has to cough up so much public money to bail it out, I would rather it goes under. Commercial operations, such as Lai Chi Kok Amusement Park, folded as they were not financially sustainable.
I do not believe pumping money continuously into Ocean Park with its current organisational set-up can save it in the long run. Additional funding for building more attractions cannot solve the park’s problem, which is basically is a lack of sensitivity or responsiveness to the market.
Any theme park should be run as a business and not as an NGO. The park might have served its historical role as an aquarium, which is now an add-on rather than its core business.
I hope the government will consider an exit plan rather than continued investment in this park. While many livelihoods will be affected if there is no bailout, that would be the result of mismanagement and a lack of accountability. I am sure most Hong Kong taxpayers would not like to foot the bill for Ocean Park’s failure.
Tony Leung, Kwai Chung
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