Aug 16, 2007, 4:59 GMT
Hong Kong - The Hong Kong Disneyland theme park is battling against falling attendances as it struggles to achieve 4 million visitors in its second year of business, a media report said Thursday.
The park, which saw 5.2 million visitors in its first year of operation, will achieve its second anniversary in early September, the South China Morning Post said.
But with a daily average of less than 11,000 people, or about 33 per cent of the park's 34,000 visitor capacity, it is far from meeting its second year target of at least 5.4 million visitors.
The Hong Kong government, which owns 57 per cent of the venture, projected an attendance of 5.47 million visitors for the park's second year, while Disney was more ambitious and set a target of 5.7 million people.
One of the main reasons for falling attendance is that Disney has been unable to attract a sufficient number of visitors from mainland China.
Disney expert Dennis Speigel, president of the United States based consultant International Theme Park Services, said the number of visitors to Hong Kong Disneyland should be around 6 million by now. 'I don't think they have their finger on the pulse of the mainland market,' Speigel said.
Visitors claim the park is too small and lacked sufficient attractions and rides to occupy visitors for a whole day. There have also been problems during public holidays when Chinese tour groups, were barred from entering the park, even though they had tickets, because it was full.
Public feeling is that the Ocean Park theme facility on Hong Kong Island offers better value with more rides, attractions and animal displays which have been reflected in new attendance records. In May, Ocean Park set a new attendance record of 4.5 million people two months before the end of its fiscal year.
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