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Updated Wednesday, January 19, 2011 10:55 pm TWN, By Kelvin Chan, AP



	In this file photo dated Nov. 22, 2005, a worker cleans the logo of a Disneyland hotel in Hong Kong. Hong Kong's Disneyland theme park failed to turn a profit again last year but said its loss narrowed thanks to higher visitor numbers, Tuesday, Jan. 18. (AFP) Enlarge Photo

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HK's Disneyland sees smaller loss in '10

HONG KONG--Hong Kong's Disneyland theme park failed to turn a profit again last year but said Tuesday its loss narrowed thanks to higher visitor numbers.

The park reported that it lost HK$718 million (US$92.3 million) in 2010. It lost HK$1.315 billion in 2009.

The number of visitors to the park rose 13 percent last year to 5.2 million and each guest spent an average 7 percent more than the year before.

Hong Kong Disneyland opened in 2005 and is a joint venture between The Walt Disney Co. and Hong Kong government, which owns a majority stake. The park did not release attendance figures or disclose how well it performed until 2009.

Set on 126 hectares on Lantau Island, Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest of the company's theme parks.

Managing Director Andrew Kam said three new attractions slated to open over the next three years would help the park turn a profit, but did not give a date for when he expected that to happen.

The first new attraction, based on the “Toy Story” series of movies, is set to open this year. Two others, “Grizzly Gulch” and “Mystic Mountain” will open in phases through 2014.

“We believe that with the completion of our new attractions, the park will continue to attract more tourists and hence we foresee that the park will turn to profitability fairly soon,” Kam told reporters.

Kam said he's not worried about potential rivalry from a Disney theme park planned for Shanghai, which he did not expect to open for another five or six years. The Shanghai park received formal approval from China's economic planning agency in November.

Figures show the park is growing in popularity with visitors from outside of Hong Kong, especially from mainland China. They accounted for the bulk of total visitors in 2010 at 42 percent, up from 36 percent in 2009. Other international visitors edged up to 25 percent from 23 percent in 2009 while local visitors fell to 33 percent from 41 percent.

Kam said Hong Kong's status as a popular destination in Asia will help boost the park's visitor numbers.

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