After 11 years of operation, Hong Kong Disneyland has announced a major new HK$11bn upgrade which will include Frozen and Marvel Zones. With over half of this investment to come from the public purse – the government will ask the Legislative Council to approve an injection of HK$5.8 billion – taxpayers need to be confident that the planned developments will deliver.
With China still being a relatively young market for theme parks, the business being one with a history of liberal financial estimates and the Hong Kong park facing competition from a number of other attractions, least of all Disney’s new theme park in Shanghai (which has its own ambitious expansion plans), it remains to be seen, says the South China Morning Post, if the numbers provided below by Disney and the Government are overly optimistic.
- Attractions at the park to increase from 110 to 130 between 2018 and 2023.
- Visitor numbers (6.8 million in 2015) to increase to 9.5 million by 2025.
- Up to 8, 000 jobs will be created across the tourism industry following the upgrade.
- Total economic benefit of upto HK$41.6 billion over next 40 years.
https://www.scmp.com/comment/article/2048730/hong-kong-disneyland-must-prove-public-funding-expansion-worthwhile
