- Repairs after typhoon took park's operating costs to HK$1.5 billion
- Visitor numbers have dropped as anti-government movement scares away tourists
Hong Kong's resort Ocean Park reported a widening deficit for the past financial year largely caused by Typhoon Mangkhut, with the ongoing civil unrest also dimming its prospects.
Its deficit more than doubled to HK$557.3 million (US$72 million) in the year ended June 30, from HK$236.5 million in the same period last year, according to its annual report released on Wednesday.
The results have yet to reflect the impact arising from the tourism slump since July, as anti-government protests scared tourists away and added to the economic woes brought on by the lingering US-China trade war.
During the financial year, revenue grew 2.9 per cent to HK$1.7 billion while the number of visitors to the park was slightly lower at 5.7 million from 5.8 million previously.
The park said "a notable" rise in repairs and maintenance expenses required after the damage inflicted on facilities by the typhoon helped lift operating costs by 14 per cent to HK$1.5 billion.
"Ocean Park is facing fierce competition from the proliferation of theme parks in the region and an increasingly difficult market environment," Leo Kung Lin-cheng, the park's chairman, said.
"Despite cost pressures, it is mandatory for us to invest in new infrastructure and meticulously curated offerings to uplift the guest experience, and maintain the park's attraction as an entertainment destination and a tourism hotspot."
He said the park would continue to reinvent itself through stepping up hospitality services, education and conservation programmes.
The first half of the park's performance was seriously challenging as it revealed last week that the number of tour group visitors plunged 56 per cent, and individual visitors from mainland China and overseas slumped more than 60 per cent between July and October, compared with the same period last year.
Ticket prices at Hong Kong's Ocean Park up nearly 4 per cent
The city has been caught up in increasingly violent civil unrest since June, which arose from the now-withdrawn extradition bill, and escalated into a broader anti-government movement. It subsequently evolved into violence in tourist, commercial and residential districts such as Causeway Bay, Central, Tsim Sha Tsui, Yau Ma Tei, Mong Kok and Tseung Kwan O.
The tourism sector has taken a battering, with visitor arrivals down 43.7 per cent in October year on year to 3.31 million " the worst since May 2003, with mainland visitor numbers down 45.9 per cent. They accounted for about 75 per cent of the total. More than 40 regions have issued warnings or alerts to travellers planning to visit Hong Kong.
Ocean Park's rival, the Disneyland theme park on Lantau Island, has not fared any better. Last month, the resort said the turmoil will have cost it US$135 million (HK$1 billion) in income by the end of this year. Last year, Disneyland reported a HK$54 million loss compared with HK$345 million in 2017.
Copyright (c) 2019. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
