LOS ANGELES — Mickey Mouse is finally making money in Hong Kong.
The Walt Disney Company on Monday said that its seven-year-old theme park and resort complex in Hong Kong turned a profit for the first time — a modest $14 million, but a profit nonetheless — following an aggressive expansion costing several hundred million dollars.
To compare, the park lost about $31 million dollars during the previous fiscal period. As recently as 2008, the park was losing roughly $200 million a year. Disney owns 48 percent of Hong Kong Disneyland, with the balance controlled by the local government.
Disney said attendance at the park increased 13 percent last year, to 6.7 million people. Revenue was up 18 percent; occupancy at two themed hotels, which have a combined 1,000 rooms, stood at 92 percent.
Hong Kong Disneyland has been the smallest of Disney’s theme parks around the world, limiting interest in annual passes and repeat attendance. But a continuing expansion to increase the size of Hong Kong Disneyland by 25 percent appears to have had dramatic effects.
Already open are new rides themed to the “Toy Story” movies and an Old-West area called Grizzly Gulch; coming this spring is another area called Mystic Point, billed by Disney as “the site of mysterious forces and supernatural events in the heart of a dense, uncharted rain forest.”
One question for the future: To what degree, if any, will Disney’s mega-resort in Shanghai, now under construction and scheduled to open in 2015, take wind out of Hong Kong Disneyland’s sails?
Media Decoder Blog: Hong Kong Disneyland Turns a Profit
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Media Decoder Blog: Hong Kong Disneyland Turns a Profit
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Media Decoder Blog: Hong Kong Disneyland Turns a Profit
