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Get Four
|  | MAY 24, 2005
By Bruce Einhorn Hong Kong's Theme-Park ClashWith a new Disneyland threatening Ocean Park, a hot spot for 28 years, the latter's chief formulates a $700 million revampAllan Zeman, who has earned a fortune selling entertainment in Hong Kong, has taken on a tough new assignment. The 57-year-old Brooklyn-born entrepreneur made his name as the founder of Lan Kwai Fang, the cobblestone corner that houses dozens of hip bars and restaurants near the territory's central financial district. For the past two years, Zeman has also served as chairman of Ocean Park, a theme attraction with dolphin shows, cable cars, and thrill rides. Launched almost three decades ago and owned by the Hong Kong government, Ocean Park has been a favorite with several generations of parents and kids. (My three-year-old daughter could ride Ocean Park's little pink train all day, and she shouts out "Whiskers!" upon seeing pictures of Ocean Park's mascot, a sea lion with a blue-and-white striped shirt and sailor cap.) Millions of tourists from mainland China already visit Ocean Park, and their numbers are increasing, helping to revive the former British colony's economy (see BW Online, 4/17/01, "Hong Kong: It's Back?"). DULLING SPARKLE. Come September, Whiskers and his pals are going to face a much harder time getting the attention of anybody -- locals, mainlanders, or expats. On Sept. 12, Hong Kong Disneyland, the joint venture between the Walt Disney Co. (DIS ) and the Hong Kong government, officially opens its new park on Lantau Island. Hong Kong Disneyland will mark Mickey Mouse & Co.'s debut in China and the first Disney park in Asia outside of Japan. Ocean Park may draw the crowds now that it's the only game in town, but its attractions will surely look drab and low-tech when compared with the glitz of Tomorrowland and Fantasyland. So what's a theme-park manager to do? For Zeman, it starts with acknowledging what he's up against. "Ocean Park can't really compete with Disney," he concedes. "You can't out-Disney Disney. If we're to compete, we cannot just put on a Band-Aid. The park is 28 years old and looking tired." So, Zeman, who took the job at Ocean Park after a request from Hong Kong's then-chief executive Tung Chee-Hwa, decided that he needed to transform Ocean Park into an attraction that could capture some of the overflow from Disney and be what SeaWorld is to Disneyland and Disney World. That means it will focus on live animals, not cartoon ones, though Whiskers probably doesn't have to send out his résumé just yet. PRICEY OVERHAUL. Zeman has hired Thomas J. Mehrmann as the new CEO for Ocean Park. Mehrmann has 27 years of experience in theme parks, including Knott's Berry Farm, which lies just down the freeway from Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif. Zeman has also hired a team of Los Angeles-based designers with experience at Universal Studios as well as Disney. Zeman's team has spent more than 18 months formulating its response to Disneyland. The result is a bold proposal to transform the quiet park on the south side of Hong Kong Island into "one of the top sea-mammal parks in the world," says Zeman. "We're looking at bringing in killer whales, beluga whales, polar bears, penguins, walruses, birds of prey, baby pandas, top thrill rides," he says. Taking a page from the Disney model, Zeman and his designers want to build three hotels at the Ocean Park site, each with its own theme. The Ocean Park overhaul won't come cheap. Zeman sees a price tag of $700 million, with the whole project completed by 2010, and he's now trying to convince government officials that they should give their blessing and O.K. the spending. Zeman hopes the government will come up with the money, but he's also exploring other potential funding sources. TURNAROUND CREDIBILITY. Earlier this year, he got many of Hong Kong's top officials, including Donald Tsang, the career bureaucrat and former financial secretary set to become Hong Kong's new chief executive, to visit Ocean Park. The highlight of their day: A ride on its cable car, which travels on a 1.4-kilometer track over a barren hill with breathtaking views of the South China Sea, from one end of the park to the other. Zeman is banking on getting approval not only for the park proposal but also for another project on his wish list, an extension of the city's subway system to the park's doorstep. (The government has already built a line to Disneyland.) The second project could be the tougher sell. The companies that operate Hong Kong's buses and minbuses have little enthusiasm for more subway lines. And plenty of other people are asking the government for money. But Zeman can argue that he's already shown he can turn things around at Ocean Park: Three years ago, before he became chairman, the park was loosing money. It now turns a profit. He expects more than 4 million visitors this year, up from 3.7 million last year, with about half of them coming from China. NEW FAMILY IMAGE. The costs will run high, but Zeman contends that with millions of tourists putting Hong Kong on the map for family travel, a revitalized Ocean Park, combined with the new Disneyland, will make Hong Kong stand out. That's not even taking into account several other projects in the works, such as a new wetlands park and a bridge to connect Hong Kong to the casinos in Macao across the Pearl River. "In the past [Hong Kong] never catered to families and kids," says Zeman. "Disney will bring a lot of new customers and new business to Hong Kong." That means a city known as a high-cost destination that appeals largely to businesspeople is about to have an image overhaul. "There will be restaurants for kids, shops for kids. The whole family experience will be enhanced," says Zeman. "Anyone with kids will be coming to Hong Kong." Whiskers the Sea Lion will be there to greet them. And if Zeman has his way, Whiskers and his pals will draw a bit of attention away from the American mouse who has moved in on the other side of town.  Einhorn is Asia Economics editor for BusinessWeek. Follow China Journal, only on BW Online Edited by Patricia O'Connell
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