After more than 100 days of closure due to the new coronavirus epidemic on January 26，Recently, there is news that Hong Kong Ocean Park is facing bankruptcy due to depletion of funds: the current cash flow is only enough to maintain operations until June。

May 11，Announced by Edward Yau, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of the Hong Kong SAR Government，The government has submitted documents to the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council，Plan to allocate approximately HK$5.4 billion to the park。The bill has been submitted for consideration，He said，If it cannot be passed before June，Ocean Park will officially close next month。

Once bankrupt，About 2,000 employees are affected，and 7500 animals，Including the national treasure panda、Red Panda、Sloth，There are also dolphins、Penguin、Seal、walrus、Sea lion、dolphin、Whales and other animals，Covers more than 400 varieties。

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Hong Kong Ocean Park opened on January 10, 1977，Carries many beautiful memories of Hong Kong and mainland tourists。

The park’s predecessor was a theme animal park called Paris Farm that operated in the 1950s。After taking office in 1971, Hong Kong Governor MacLehose advocated vigorously building recreational facilities for citizens，So the land was taken back，Building a public ocean park。Ocean Park, which had been operating smoothly for more than 20 years, was closed in 2003，After the "Father of Lan Kwai Fong in Hong Kong" Sheng Chi-man took over，Ushered in the real highlight moment，Quickly turn losses into profits，Profits continued to rise from 2004 to 2014。

2012，Ocean Park Hong Kong won the Applause Award (the world’s best theme park) in one fell swoop，Become a good story。The number of visitors exceeded 7 million that year。

In interview，Xiong Xiaojie, a senior domestic cultural and 188bet online sports betting tourism marketing expert, highly praised the brilliance that Ocean Park once created - one is that Ocean Park hit the "scarcity" characteristic；Second, the various initiatives of Sheng Zhiwen, then chairman of Ocean Park Hong Kong，Activates the atmosphere and eyeball attention of the park，“This is the most critical factor in building a theme park”。He analyzed，In addition to new equipment，The park built many good projects at that time，For example, introducing a giant panda exhibition hall，And special events to create Halloween，“Sheng Zhiwen has done a very good job in entertainment marketing and corporate media。”

Mansi, who grew up in Guangzhou, thinks it represents the feelings of mainland tourists towards Hong Kong，"What a pity，Ocean Park is one of the must-visit attractions for parents’ generation when traveling to Hong Kong。There are many childhood memories of mine there，Plus it’s a long way to Ocean Park，Get on the cable car，Visit the scenic spots again，Watch the dolphin show，The whole process seems more exciting and unforgettable。”

Halloween and "Hello"

The fate of Ocean Park，It has also sparked ongoing discussions in Hong Kong。As a Hong Kong born in the 1980s, Stella didn’t pay much attention，I just remember that the business was doing pretty well in the past few years，"Especially the annual Halloween event。”

Someone who has a strong affinity for Ocean Park is Sha Sha, a post-90s girl from Mainland China，“Shocked，After all, this was the place I most longed for when Hong Kong was first opened for free travel。”she said，I have been obsessed with this theme park - I have been going to Halloween events for several years in a row，Exceptionally scary，Much more fun than Disney。She still remembers being in the "haunted house"，She was so scared that she didn’t dare to open her eyes the whole time，The park also requires men and women to play separately，The process is very exciting。I was also impressed by the funny food provided by the festival，The juice tastes like plasma... "I don't want Ocean Park to become an eternal memory。”

The park’s flagship project “Hello Garden Festival” mentioned by Stella and Shasha，It is one of the most popular projects successfully built by Ocean Park during the period when Sheng Zhiwen 188bet app took over，It is still imitated by many parks。

"Hello" poster at Ocean Park Hong Kong。This event was launched in 2001，However, under the promotion of Sheng Zhiwen，It has become one of the most representative events in Hong Kong。

After seeing the booming "Hello Hello" event，Some scenic spots in the mainland have begun to introduce Halloween marketing activities。Chimelong Group was the first to smell the business opportunity，Created Halloween activities in domestic theme parks,The "Happy Halloween" special event held at Chimelong Paradise has been launched，Immediately popular in the market。

Subsequent years，This event held during Halloween has become another magic weapon for Guangzhou Chimelong Paradise and Zhuhai Chimelong Ocean Kingdom to attract tourists - when Halloween meets "joy"，The joy of visiting the park is further enhanced。Reporter learned，Halloween in recent years，The number of visitors to Chimelong Paradise reaches 100,000，The tickets had been sold out the day before。One hundred thousand people are due to the park’s traffic restrictions。

Crazy squeeze from competitors

If the 2010s were the most prosperous era 188bet sports betting app download of Hong Kong Ocean Park，Then this glorious period was also the year when it was crazily pursued by its peers。

30 years passed，Ocean Park has been criticized for its outdated facilities，Mainland tourists, especially those from Guangdong, will inevitably compare it with the adjacent Guangzhou Chimelong Wildlife Park and Zhuhai Chimelong Ocean Kingdom。

"Neither the aquarium nor the visitor facilities are competitive，Not to mention that Ocean Park is not big、The fare is not low、Very low cost performance。A paradise with the same ocean theme，Why not choose the bigger, newer and more fun Zhuhai Chimelong Ocean Kingdom？”Interviewing，Xiaoqian from Shenzhen issued a series of questions。After taking my son to check in both，She decided not to go to Ocean Park Hong Kong again。

Ocean Park Hong Kong covers an area of ​​91.5 hectares，Zhuhai Chimelong International Ocean Resort covers an area of ​​132 hectares。The latter is not only large in area，There is also a supporting theater、Circus City、Science Museum and many hotels to choose from。And talking about the supporting facilities 188bet sports betting app download of Hong Kong Ocean Park，Even Hong Kong resident Jia Jia reluctantly said: “I just think the scenery at the Peak Restaurant is pretty good。”

All the current Ocean Park projects are almost the same as those under Sheng Zhiwen management，The pace of innovation comes to an abrupt halt，Some interviewees spoke out，“I didn’t feel the innovative and lively atmosphere like Disneyland or Legoland” “It feels more and more like a place where retired people and preschoolers would go”。

Ocean Park Hong Kong began to suffer losses in fiscal year 2014。In that year，Mainland’s theme parks enter the fast lane: 2014，Zhuhai Chimelong Ocean Kingdom opens。2015，Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park opens。2018，Shanghai Disneyland opens。2018，Atlantis Sanya opens。

Domestic includes Shanghai Disneyland、Guangzhou Chimelong Wildlife Park、Zhuhai Chimelong Ocean Kingdom and other theme parks，The number of visitors has exceeded 10 million in recent years。

Also，Another domestic cultural tourism dark horse，Sunac Cultural Tourism Group has emerged，As of March 2019，Sunac has intensively built 10 cultural tourism cities across the country、4 cultural tourism resorts and 9 cultural tourism towns，Covering 39 Sunac parks and 70 star hotels。

Plus with the improvement of people’s living standards、Visa convenience，Previously included Japan、South Korea、Theme parks in Singapore, Europe and the United States have become within reach，has also become a place where people “check in”。In interview，Senior travel program host Feng Jieping said: “There are so many travel spots and ways to play that everyone can choose from，Ocean Park Hong Kong needs to be updated，In particular, software packages and services for mainland tourists must keep pace with the times，To maintain its status and appeal。”

The turn of 10.6 billion?

Hong Kong Ocean Park is not without a sense of crisis.

2018，Hong Kong media has reported on Hong Kong Ocean Park’s transformation。But I didn’t really see any splash until January this year。January 13th this year，Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of Hong Kong, Edward Yau, announced that he will apply to the SAR Legislative Council for 106.HK$400 million，Support the development of Ocean Park Hong Kong。In this new plan，Ocean 188bet online sports betting Park Hong Kong will be redeveloped into seven experience zones，Attractions increased to more than 100。

An unexpected epidemic，This ambitious HK$10 billion development plan，An emergency bailout application that shrunk to HK$5.4 billion after four months。

At that time，With the disruption caused by the opening of several major theme parks，The entire cultural and tourism environment in China has undergone earth-shaking changes，Tourists’ tastes and gameplay are different from the past。Even if Ocean Park spends huge sums of money to expand its scale，It may not be possible to restore the past glory。

Xiong Xiaojie pointed out，There is nothing exciting anymore in the park - including the introduction of new equipment、No more persistent IP，And groundbreaking event planning，These three factors may be the key reasons why Hong Kong Ocean Park is heading for bankruptcy in a severe competitive environment。

The epidemic is just the last straw

Since the outbreak of the new coronavirus epidemic，Many theme parks around the world have reported serious losses and layoffs。But the situation in Ocean Park Hong Kong is different，The crisis began to emerge in fiscal year 2014。Data display，As of fiscal year 2018-2019，Loss 5.HK$5.7 billion，This is the fourth consecutive financial year that Ocean Park has suffered losses。Affected by the epidemic this year，Loss amount is expected to further expand year-on-year。

This was once the most famous tourist business card in Hong Kong，Like an old man who suddenly fell seriously ill，Seriously exposed the irreversible weakness of aging。Many social factors add up，And the continuation of the new coronavirus epidemic，No doubt accelerated its aging，become the last straw。

Someone supports the transformation of Ocean Park，Considers that its existence value is “as indispensable as the Guangzhou Zoo to Guangzhou people。It is a feeling。”

Feelings are precious. But cultivating feelings is more expensive.

Kong Lingcheng, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ocean Park Hong Kong revealed，Ocean Park Hong Kong’s monthly fixed expenses are 1.HK$400 million。

Based on the most optimistic scenario，Even if the HK$5.4 billion funding is approved，It cannot help Ocean Park completely escape the 188bet online sports betting crisis。Because more than half of this allocation、About HK$3 billion will be used to repay commercial loans that have expired and must be repaid，There is only enough left to maintain the operation of Ocean Park for the next 12 months。

As a public relations staff member from Hong Kong, Jia Jia said，When Disney entered Hong Kong, it had a huge impact on Ocean Park Hong Kong，The tourism industry has been greatly affected by the epidemic，“If it goes bankrupt, it will be a normal survival of the fittest，Nothing to regret。”

Starting from January 26 this year，Ocean Park temporarily closed。On May 8th，The park also stated，We will take various measures to welcome the official opening of the park。Qiu Tenghua thinks，Ocean Park has unique significance to Hong Kong，He does not want this world-class conservation base to become the first victim of the epidemic。

*Source of this article: WeChat public account "Nandou Weekly" (ID:nbweekly）Author: Yu Si、He Tong，Original title: "Ocean Park Hong Kong, the unspeakable goodbye》.