What A Load Of ...
Hong Kong Disneyland seen to open in late 2005
Theme park to attract some 5 million visitors during first year of operation, says forecast
2004-08-12 / Taiwan News, Staff Reporter / By Marie Feliciano
Drumbeaters of the multi-billion Hong Kong Disneyland theme park are banking on the magic of Mickey, Winnie and company to make the destination resort a "must-see" for Taiwanese tourists.
"The response from Taiwan (travel operators and tourists) has been very, very enthusiastic," said Roy Tan Hardy, vice president for marketing and sales of Hong Kong Disneyland. The executive was leading Hong Kong Disneyland's Asian roadshow.
Still under construction, the theme park was scheduled to open in late 2005 and early 2006. It is located at a land reclamation project in Penny's Bay, the northwestern tip of Lantau Island, approximately two kilometers from Discovery Bay. When it opens, Hong Kong Disneyland will feature a theme park, two hotels, and retail, dining and entertainment facilities stretching over 126 hectares.
The theme park was forecasted to attract five to six million visitors during its first year of operation, and generate at least 5,000 direct jobs.
"It is comparable to Disneyland in California when it opened so Hong Kong Disneyland will grow over time," Hardy said. "We will have two hotels (offering a total of 2,100 rooms initially), and there's room for another two hotels. We will expand over the years."
Just an 80-minute flight away from Taiwan, Hong Kong received at least 2.5 million Taiwanese travelers in 2002, making Taiwan its second biggest tourism market.
Hardy was confident the Disneyland-style theme park would boost, not just Hong Kong's appeal as a tourist destination, but Greater China's as well.
"It will make the Greater China region stronger, and lift other markets. At the end of the day, everyone benefits," he said.
"It's not necessarily a zero-sum game where Hong Kong grows at the expense of other markets. I don't think the tourism world works that way."
The resort would give Hong Kong - Asia's shopping mecca - a new dimension, Hardy said, adding that it would not even directly compete with Tokyo Disneyland.
"Close to 90 percent of Tokyo Disneyland's attendance is from Japan. It's very heavily Japanese-focused. Hong Kong Disneyland, on the one hand, will be promoted as an international family vacation destination. It's a place where kids and adults can have a great time together," he explained.
Hardy added that his team still saw Asia as a new market for Disneyland.
"In the U.S., they are now in their third or fourth generation of people who grew up with Disney. But in this part of the world, this is a greenfield environment. Hence, the education part cannot be neglected," he said. "We are using a lot of other Disney businesses like TV, video releases, and 'Disney on Ice' to bring the story of Disney into the market prior to the actual opening of Hong Kong Disneyland. We are educating people about Disney stories, the Disney heritage, and Disney characters. That's the phase we are in at this stage."
Disneyland's traditional attractions would be found at the Hong Kong theme park, said Hardy.
"Of course, we are using some new technologies and some of the recent improvements and innovations that 50 years ago were not available," he continued.
"You'll see some of the latest versions of those (thrill) rides, but we will make sure that the unique Disneyland experience is there."
According to a study conducted by Hong Kong Disneyland, visitors listed "photography" as the No. 1 activity that they wanted to have at the theme park.
"Another interesting finding that we came up with was that thrill rides were not as popular as we had envisioned. Yes, they liked watching people screaming (while taking those rides) but they did not want to be in it," said Hardy.
Hong Kong Disneyland was a venture between The Walt Disney Company and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government.
