Hong Kong Disneyland Celebration Overshadowed by Dark Clouds
First of all happy Birthday to Hong Kong Disneyland. 2 years young and ready for many more magical years. But Hong Kong Disneyland did have a rocky start and has been negatively in the news on many occasions. From missing key Disney rides to employee issues.
Here is a little list of the last two years of struggles for the park
The park didn’t draw the numbers it needed. The first year it was 400,000 visitors short of the expected 5.6 million. While that might not be to bad Disney already revealed in their quarterly reports that earnings for the second year are disappointing. Low attendance and low spending per guest being the main reasons for the bad numbers. The numbers, if local news media is indeed correct are somewhere near the 4.8 million for the second year. That is another 400,000 les than the year before.
One wonders why the park is fighting with low attendance, still remembering the Chinese New Year debacle Where more tickets where sold than people could enter the park. Angry guests who could not enter the park even tried to climb the gates to be able to get in when they where told the park was full to capacity. While problems like this where solved for the future, not enough guests are coming or returning to the park.
Could it be that the park is to small, even with some new rides added, or are people waiting for more rides or even the second gate before coming to visit the park?…
Even so, Disney must have big hopes for the Chinese market. The parks future extension is a fact, Disney has been looking to build more parks in China, a Disney Movie especially made for the Chinese market and masses of shops selling Mickey orientated plush and toys are all part of the expanding Disney market in China.
But there is more bad news circulating in the orient. During the same time as the celebration a report has been released where Disney is being accused of violating Chinese Workforce laws.
Workers at a Chinese factory making Disney toys are overworked, underpaid, exposed to dangerous toxins and forced to live in filthy conditions, a labour rights group said in a report on Wednesday. The study, released on the second anniversary of the opening of Hong Kong Disneyland, said factory workers complained they were forced to work 28 days a month and up to 15 hours a day. Staff at Haowei Toys in southern China also are not allowed to take time off during peak seasons, according to the report released by the Hong Kong-based Students and Scholars against Corporate Misbehaviour (Sacom). (Straitstimes)
Disney however admits they know about the problem after their own investigations revealed violations and Disney said they are working on a solution to solve this problem. I am convinced that Disney management will do its best to improve this situation, it cannot have its brand name attached to this kind of negative reports as people will react negatively when it comes to the abuse of people.
Even with the bad results and the bad report in China the future looks bright. Support from Hong Kong government who see a positive impact on tourism is a given (and who invested a lot of dollars in the construction of the park), future park and resort growth and a solution for the workers are surely on top of the agenda. Maybe not all will be solved by year three, but I am convinced it will go in the right direction. By year 5 we might be able to give a fully positive celebration entry here. I believe it is possible. Happy Birthday again Hong Kong Disneyland and I wish you a fantastic future…
Copyrights Picture Disneyana Magazine Tomart Publications