Putting the mickey back into HK's beleaguered Disneyland

Hong Kong Disneyland, the theme park that has struggled since its opening in 2005, was all smiles on Wednesday after the special administrative region government made it the sole beneficiary of an easy-pass scheme that could bring millions of tourists from the Chinese mainland.

Under a supplementary agreement annex to the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement signed between the mainland and Hong Kong governments on Tuesday, resident cardholders in the neighboring city of Shenzhen who have been working there for at least one year can join group tours to Disneyland and spend one night in Hong Kong, the Guangzhou-based Southern Metropolis Daily reported.

The targeted visitors, which the Hong Kong authority estimates number about 8 million, have to return to their home provinces to obtain travel permits to Hong Kong before the new arrangement kicks in.

Hong Kong Disneyland has missed attendance targets, prompting the Hong Kong government, a major stakeholder in the park, to brand its performance "unsatisfactory". The Hong Kong government owns 57 percent of the park and Walt Disney Co owns the rest.

"We see a lot of upside," said B.C. Lo, the theme park's vice-president for public affairs. The plan would boost attendance initially by about two to three tours a day, each including 40 to 100 people, he said. That number is not considered huge, but Disneyland sees the scheme as a foot in the door to other parts of Guangdong province, a magnet for laborers from other areas in China.

"The goal is to expand," Lo said.

The park does not release daily attendance figures, but Lo said it could accommodate a maximum of 34,000 people at any given time.

Cao Liying, a native of Hunan province who has been working in Shenzhen for three years, said the new scheme is attractive.

"My company will soon apply a resident's card for me. I hope I can visit Hong Kong as soon as possible because it has long been a dream of mine," said the 26-year-old.

Besides the theme park, she hopes the group tours can arrange more time for shopping, especially for skin-care products and clothes, she said.

Another worker, Xue Wei, has wanted to visit Hong Kong since he started working in Shenzhen six years ago.

"Shenzhen and Hong Kong are separated by a river, but without registered permanent residence, I have to return to my hometown Shaanxi, which is more than 1,000 km away, and join the tour groups there," he said.

"So the new arrangement sounds great."

(China Daily 08/01/2008 page8)