Ocean Park Breaks Attendance Record Once Again

6th New Record in 7 Years on Strength of New Offerings and Seasonal Presentations

(25 June 2010 – Hong Kong) Having shown exceptional resilience against an array of external challenges in the prior fiscal year, Ocean Park once again broke its attendance record at noon today when Mr. Yeung Kwok Man, visiting the Park with his family, passed through the turnstile as guest number 5,033,385. As record breaking guests, the Yeung family will each receive a Lifetime VIP Pass along with other wonderful gifts. Mr. Yeung said, “We come to Ocean Park every year! However, this year is particularly meaningful as we get to help Ocean Park mark a new milestone.” Mr. Yeung said he and his family travel from Tuen Mun to Ocean Park every year for new attractions and fun presentations.

This marks the sixth year out of the last seven in which the Park has broken its attendance record. Dr. Allan Zeman, who has led Ocean Park as Chairman during each of those seven years, said, “We want to thank the Yeung family for helping us attain this attendance record. We are grateful to the loyal people of Hong Kong and the record number of guests from all over the world who enjoyed our new attractions and exciting presentations over the past year. Being Hong Kong’s People’s Park, we continue to introduce new attractions for our guests from time to time. With the Master Redevelopment Plan underway, our guests can expect more world-class attractions over the next few years.”

According to Dr. Zeman, October 2009, supported by a wildly successful Halloween Bash, and May 2010 were among the biggest contributors to this achievement as the Park attained record attendance numbers in those months. June 2010, with only a few days to go, is shaping up to be the best June in our history as well. Also of great importance were March and April, which came in with second best ever attendance achievements, with the latter being driven by one of the most successful Animal Month events in the Park’s history. Summer Splash, Christmas and Chinese New Year presentations all drew fantastic crowds as the public was eager to celebrate the economic recovery with a visit to their favourite holiday destination.

Dr. Allan Zeman said, “A great number of exciting developments contributed to our record attendance.  In addition to having Amazing Asian Animals operational for one full year, we also launched the much anticipated Ocean Express, a key attraction and transportation infrastructure that underpins our Master Redevelopment Plan. In terms of connecting our guests with nature, we have welcomed several spectacular birds of prey as permanent resident animals in our Emperors of the Sky presentation and exhibited rare and exotic lizards during Animal Month—In High Definition. Furthermore, the recently opened Chinese Sturgeon Aquarium—Yangtze Exploration is already drawing great crowds at the gates. Through these animal ambassadors, we provide guests with wonderful opportunities to learn about nature and the importance of conservation.”

"According to the latest guest survey, the most popular attractions in Ocean Park are: the Atoll Reef, Ocean Theatre and Amazing Asian Animals. With our new flagship attraction Aqua City set to open in the near future, guests can look forward to an all new experience at Ocean Park. To reciprocate the phenomenal support of our guests, Ocean Park will spare no effort in fulfilling our founding mission to connect guests with nature by presenting more eye-opening natural wonders and engaging edutainment offerings,” said Dr. Zeman.

He continued, “To maintain our record-breaking momentum and industry leadership, we introduced in 2009 our World Attractions Fun Deals program, which offers reciprocal admission discounts to guests visiting Ocean Park and our 11 theme park partners. This pioneering promotional alliance has since grown into a worldwide collaboration with 17 participating international theme parks, aquariums and zoos. A new representative office was also opened in Beijing during this fiscal year to further strengthen our sales and marketing efforts in the mainland China market.”

"Our hard work was recognized in the Attraction Attendance 2009 report released by TEA (Themed Entertainment Association)/AECOM, which ranked Ocean Park 1st in China and 5th across Asia in terms of annual attendance. The Park also came in 14th in the world, up one spot from the previous year. We would like to thank our loyal business partners and our wonderful Park staff, who have never wavered from our commitment to delivering entertainment, conservation and education messages every day of the year. Most importantly, our gratitude goes to each and every guest who has made these accomplishments possible and our efforts worthwhile,” said Dr. Zeman.

Among the numerous guests who have paved the way for today’s record breaking attendance is the Yeung family. In addition to receiving lifetime free admission to Ocean Park with our Lifetime VIP Passes, the family will also enjoy a wealth of exclusive gifts sponsored by Ocean Park’s business partners, including two Hong Kong Airlines round-trip tickets to Bangkok, and gift vouchers from PRO CAM-FIS and Häagen-Dazs®!

Ocean Park’s 2009/2010 fiscal year is from 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010.

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