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Annual Attendance Surpassed 5,000,000 on 29 June 2008
(29 June 2008 – Hong Kong) Ocean Park’s five millionth guest walked past the turnstile at 11 am today, helping Ocean Park clock up five successive years of record-breaking attendance. Ocean Park Chairman, Dr Allan Zeman, who has been at the Park’s helm for each of those five years, thanked all the people who made this happen. The attendance for 2006/2007 was 4.92 million, and Ocean Park surpassed this record on 21 June 2008.
“We couldn’t have done it without you, Hong Kong! I am so excited and thrilled with the five successive years of record breaking growth, and everyone in the Park shares this sentiment. We had our first record year in 2003/04 with 3.68 million guests, and today, we are at five million. This is a testament of our hard work to remain relevant to the markets we serve,” said Dr. Zeman. “We want to thank every guest and all our loyal partners who have supported Ocean Park. But more importantly, this is possible only with the commitment of our staff - Hong Kong residents who are passionate about running and nurturing their People’s Park. I am proud of the effort they put forth everyday and ask you to join me in giving them the recognition they so rightly deserve.”
In 2004/05, the Park recorded an attendance of four million and was considered to be one of the most popular theme parks in the world by Forbes Magazine. Ocean Park surpassed that target in 2005/06; and again in 2006/07, making the Park the world’s 16th ranked theme park, Asia’s 5th, and China’s 1st, in terms of annual attendance, as ranked by TEA/ERA, an authority on global theme park attendance. Locally, hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren chose Ocean Park as their “Most Favorite Landmark” (Sing Tao Magazine Group – 2008) and the “Top 10 Favorite Hong Kong Landmarks” (Yellow Bus -2007.)
According to Dr Zeman, all indicators earlier in the fiscal year showed that Ocean Park will be able to achieve a five million attendance this year. “In July and August, over a million guests came to Ocean Park to catch a glimpse of the young giant pandas Ying Ying and Le Le, which took Hong Kong by storm. We were also very much encouraged with our Halloween results, which broke all previous records,” he said. But visitation to the Park tapered off slightly in February due to the unexpected cold weather. “Luckily, favorable market forces, such as low hotel rates, immediately came into play during the spring season. This quickly attracted more overseas visitors to come to Hong Kong in March and April, when our Animals In High Definition was in full swing. As a result strong attendance was back on track again,” he added.
Dr. Zeman said, “Challenges are all around us, and we will meet each challenge with hard work and adaptive strategies to ensure growth in our business. As such, we will continue to foster strong partnerships with the travel industry to grow our Mainland and overseas portfolio, all the while contributing to Hong Kong’s overall tourism development by strengthening Hong Kong’s capacity as an attractive vacation destination hub. At the same time, we will strengthen local loyalty through attractive consumer incentives and remain close to community projects by sharing our unique experiences with the less privileged through our comprehensive social initiatives.”
He continued, “As for the products Ocean Park offers, we literally renew the Park with brand new guest experiences for each key holiday and seasonal period during our Five Annual Events – Summer Splash, Halloween, Christmas, Chinese New Year, and Animal Month in High Definition. We also look forward to new attractions, as our Master Redevelopment Plan progresses with the Funicular Train, “Ocean Express”, the unveiling of Ying Ying and Le Le’s new home, and our all-new world famous Gold Fish Pagoda within Amazing Asian Animals in 2009.”
“Through it all, Ocean Park recognizes the need to stay relevant to the markets we serve, and one of the reasons for our popularity is our defining quality and founding mission to connect guests with nature through innovative animal exhibits and inspire them to take part in learning about and conserving nature. This will remain the cornerstone of all our business planning and further developments,” Dr Zeman said.
On 29 June, 11 am, Mr. Eddy Hung and his family, all local residents, walked through the turnstile at the Main Entrance and into a barrel of surprises bestowed only to them as they became Ocean Park’s record-breaking five millionth guests. To celebrate this moment, Ocean Park and its business partners have provided many gifts ranging from: One Ocean Park Life Pass for each member of Mr Hung’s immediate family visiting the Park today, a $5,000 gift voucher from Bossini, a $5,000 gift voucher from Pro Cam-fis, $5,000 worth of treatment coupons courtesy of Oasis Spa, 500 coupons for “No MSG Added” meals from Fairwood Fast Food, and five Häagen-Dazs® Premium Gift Sets worth $268 each!
Ocean Park’s 2007/2008 fiscal year is from 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2008.
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About Ocean Park
Ocean Park is Hong Kong’s unique homegrown theme park with a heritage of delivering family fun and fond memories. Since its opening in January 1977 as a non-profit organization, Ocean Park has developed itself to be a world-class attraction connecting people with nature, and recognized for its animal husbandry, research and relationship with the community. Over 85 million people have visited Hong Kong's premier park since its inception and Ocean Park has remained committed to offer adults and children experiences that blend entertainment with education and conservation. Part of the proceeds from the Ocean Park admission tickets and some retail items will go to Ocean Park Conservation Foundation, Hong Kong to support its wildlife conservation projects.
