Ocean Park's Water World reports HK$200m losses in last financial year

Ocean Park has reported losses of around HK$70 million over the past year, with its Water World facing a deficit of HK$200 million, said the park's chairman at a LegCo meeting yesterday.

This comes after the park received HK$784 million in funding from the government in 2022-23, as the park saw a 45% decrease in revenue in 2021 because of pandemic constraints.

Paulo Pong, chairman of Ocean Park Corporation, said during a LegCo panel on economic development that Water World Ocean Park Hong Kong has been operating for about two years and is still in its growth phase, as it continues to explore its potential.

“Water World performed very well during summer, but winter presents challenges due to the climate and consumers' spending habits. As a result, we closed the Water World in mid-October. However, we did not reduce staff; instead, they were reassigned to Ocean Park,” he added. 

Ivan Wong, chief executive of Ocean Park, stated that the majority of visitors to Water World are local, adding that the number of visitors usually declines after the summer holidays, whereas the park’s Halloween events in October are more profitable, that's why it decided to temporarily close the water park.

He also said “year-round water parks” across the globe also shut for two to three months during winter, as operating costs are much higher than revenue during this period.

Regarding the losses at Water World, lawmaker Michael Tien said that they are roughly equivalent to the government's annual funding of about HK$280 million. While Ocean Park is attempting to leverage the two giant pandas, An An (安安) and Ke Ke (可可), gifted by the Chinese government to stimulate the local economy, Tien questioned whether, regardless of how successful the panda economy might be, it would be difficult to achieve a profit of HK$280 million.

Tien claimed that this funding mainly serves to cover Water World's annual losses and predicted that Ocean Park could face bankruptcy once the government ceases funding in 2026. Water World does not contribute to conservation and is similar to a swimming pool, suggesting that it could be managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, he added.

In response, secretary for culture, sports and tourism Kevin Yeung said the claim regarding Ocean Park potentially "going bankrupt" is merely Tien's personal opinion. The park has not indicated that the Water World will "go bankrupt" and there have been no layoffs.

Lawmaker Regina Ip also raised concerns about the future of the Water World, noting that it's still quite warm in October and questioning its closure in mid-October. She also asked whether the expectations were met when the Water World was initially designed and constructed for HK$4 billion.

"Over the past two to three years, the visitor numbers and revenue for Ocean Park's Water World have not aligned with our initial estimates. Therefore, we need to consider how to address this gap. Is it that people are still getting accustomed to the operation, or is there another issue?" Yeung said. 

The seasonal closure was based on historical data showing declines in visitor numbers during certain months, he added.

Another lawmaker, Adrian Ho, asked what measures Ocean Park would take if the panda economy does not yield the expected benefits. Pong said that they would not doubt the public's enthusiasm for giant pandas.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Ocean Park for a statement. 

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