HK Disneyland faces changing tastes

Mainland tourists eye other destinations as lure of city fades

Hong Kong Disneyland Resort (HKDL), the Walt Disney Co’s first theme park in China, faces changing consumption patterns among tourists from the Chinese mainland, an industry analyst said on Wednesday.

The comment came as the Palace Museum in Beijing staged a stunning Chinese lunar Lantern Festival night light show on Tuesday, which sparked hot discussions on the future of the culture and tourism industry.

It also came after HKDL reported a continued loss in its financial report released on Monday.

The resort, the fifth Disneyland Resort in the world, posted a net loss of HK$54 million ($6.88 million) for the 2018 fiscal year ended on September 29, 2018, according to the company. Still, the loss narrowed 84 percent from fiscal 2017.

In 2018, mainland guests accounted for 34 percent of all visitors, down from 41 percent in 2015.

In comparison, Shanghai Disneyland, the second Disneyland park in China, received more than 11 million visitors in the first year after it opened in 2016.

Yang Yong, dean with the School of Tourism at Shanghai-based East China Normal University, told the Global Times that changing consumption patterns among mainland tourists could pose threats for HKDL.

“There are four Disneyland parks in Asia, and it’s easy for many tourists to visit them, so there is a diversion of customer flows,” Yang told the Global Times on Wednesday.

There are other factors at play. A mainland student surnamed Ma told the Global Times on Wednesday that HKDL is smaller in size and the number of mainland tourists to Hong Kong has been dropping since protests in the city in 2014. A recovery only came in 2018.

There are more choices for mainland tourists now, and the soured sentiment toward Hong Kong is driving a lot of people to other global destinations, a Beijing resident surnamed Guo told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Hong Kong Ocean Park is also a strong competitor for HKDL, with its attractiveness to grown-ups, Ma said.

In addition to convenient travel, the bigger size of the Shanghai Disneyland also helped.

Pan Yuetong, a primary school student from Shanghai who has visited both parks, favors the one in Shanghai, even if the waiting time to get in is longer. “There are more interesting themed areas to play in,” Pan told the Global Times on Wednesday.

“With its convenience and the unique brand recognition enjoyed by the Disneyland intellectual property, the Shanghai Disneyland will grow to be the most successful of the four” in Asia, Yang predicted.