Ocean Park celebrates 35th anniversary with 7.1 million annual attendance

Hong Kong's Ocean Park has released its annual report for the 2011/12 fiscal year that ended on 30th June 2012 a year in which it celebrated its 35th anniversary by launching three new world-class themed areas and welcoming a new high of 7.1 million guests, a 20% increase over the previous year.
Ocean Park's eighth new attendance record in nine years also produced a series of new highs, including HK$505.4 million in EBITDA, a 49% increase over the previous year, and overall revenue of HK1.6 billion. Net surplus came in at HK$103.3 million. The unprecedented performance resulted in a record amount of donation for conservation and the highest ever level of benefit to the community through 13 social care programmes.
Ocean Park Chairman Dr. Allan Zeman stated "with the launch of Thrill Mountain, Old Hong Kong, and The Hong Kong Jockey Club Sichuan Treasures, we were able to strengthen all three pillars of our offering conservation, education and entertainment while deepening our cultural relevance for the markets we serve.
"The response to all the new attractions we unveiled over the past two years was so strong that nearly every single month of the 2011/12 fiscal year set a new high for that calendar month. Further supporting our optimistic outlook was the new record number of annual pass subscriptions and significant increase in in-park revenue, including a 34% rise in revenue from food and beverage, giving us a more balanced business model going forward.
"Besides being the 35th anniversary of Hong Kong People's Park, 2011/12 held special significance because it took our Master Redevelopment Plan (MRP) to near completion. The eventual launch of Polar Adventure at the start of the 2012/13 fiscal year marked the conclusion of the single largest investment in Ocean Park's history, which quadrupled the size of our staff. The redevelopment was so successful that we were able to break the 7 million attendance level a full ten years ahead of initial projections, underscoring our status as a key pillar of Hong Kong's tourism industry. We are equally gratified by the tremendous number of local guests that visited us during the past fiscal year. Of particular note was the record number of local seniors who enjoyed our longstanding free admission offer to visit the newly launched Old Hong Kong for a nostalgic walk down memory lane."
In addition to 145,834 local seniors, Ocean Park also treated 17,602 persons with disabilities and 176,314 birthday boys and girls to a free visit last year. The Park's expanded birthday free entry offer for the 35th anniversary celebration also enabled 75,422 people accompanying friends to enter the Park at half price. In all, Ocean Park's 13 social care programmes produced over 606,461 beneficiaries and a total value to the community equivalent to HK $143,468,427 a 30% rise over the previous year and the highest ever in the Park's history.
Not only has Ocean Park grown from a local marine zoological facility into a world-class theme park over the past 35 years, it has also become a leading funder of wildlife conservation among zoos and aquariums worldwide. In the 2011/12 fiscal year, the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation, Hong Kong (OPCFHK) received a record amount of HK$10.92 million from Ocean Park, as well as over HK$1.3 million raised at a special Halloween Bash preview night hosted for OPCFHK in September 2011. During the same period, OPCFHK allocated HK$5 million to support 42 projects, involving 36 institutions worldwide, on 27 animal species across 10 countries. The Foundation also continued to work with the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) on responding to reported cases of cetacean stranding and on managing local wild monkey population through contraception. The Park also supported the Development Bureau of the HKSAR government on Wolong rebuilding efforts by consulting on the design and cons

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