H.K. Disneyland to open Sept. 12 next year

Asian Economic News, Nov 24, 2004

HONG KONG, Nov. 22 Kyodo

Hong Kong Disneyland is scheduled to open on Sept. 12 next year with admission prices below those at Tokyo Disneyland in Japan, a statement issued by the theme park said Monday.

An adult day pass for weekends and holidays for the amusement park in the territory will be HK$350 (around US$45), compared with 5,500 yen (around US$53.30) at Tokyo Disneyland.

A child day pass will be HK$250, while that for seniors aged 65 and over will be HK$200, it said.

The weekday rates will be even cheaper at HK$295 for adults, HK$210 for children and HK$170 for senior citizens.

Song Haiyan, a tourism professor at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, said mainland visitors will be won over to Hong Kong by the cheaper prices.

''The price will be a factor influencing those planning to go to Tokyo originally,'' Song said. ''Mainland tourists tend to choose very carefully.''

The Hong Kong government struck the Disneyland joint venture deal with Walt Disney Co. in 1999 in a bid to salvage the territory's flagging tourism after the Asian financial crisis.

It owns a 57 percent stake in the project while Disney holds the remaining 43 percent.

Hong Kong Disneyland is expected to generate an estimated HK$148 billion boost to the economy over a period of 40 years, including employment income and profits for small and large companies in Hong Kong.

Attendance is projected at 5.6 million in the park's first year of operation, rising to 10 million after about 15 years.

One third of visitors will come from mainland China, one third from Hong Kong and the rest mainly from other Asian countries, according to Disney's forecast.

The amusement park is being built on 125 hectares of reclaimed land on the territory's Lantau Island, west of Hong Kong Island.