Crucial information on the projected swarms of visitors to the park when it opens on September 12, and the mechanisms of selling entry tickets to them, has been withheld and communication with the tourism industry is lacking, according to travel agents.

``We have been in numerous discussions with them [Hong Kong Disneyland] but we regret that they have so far been putting off giving us definite answers,'' said Bonny Ho, in-bound travel manager at Hong Thai Travel.

Ho said he and others in the industry are most anxious about whether they can have a share in the benefits Disneyland will bring.

``The government - and you and I - all have a part in the park. But it seems that we cannot do anything to share in the benefits,'' he said.

According to Travel Industry Council executive director Joseph Tung, Disneyland allows local travel agents a 10 percent commission when they take bookings for the two hotels inside the theme park.

The commission rises to 15 percent when agents book packages for both Disneyland hotel rooms and entrance tickets.

``But Disneyland makes it clear that no one can have any commission for selling entrance tickets because they fear that commissioning tickets will give rise to a black market,'' Tung said.

Ho said he has learned of talks between Disney and agents in mainland cities such as Beijing and Shanghai.

``According to what I know, Disney has agreed on a definite number of tickets to be sold through these agents,'' Ho said. ``It would be unfair to local agents if Disney does not sell through us.''

A Hong Kong Disneyland spokeswoman, however, was vague about directly selling tickets or offering tour packages to mainland travel agents.

``I can't tell you whether we have or have not been distributing tickets to mainland travel agents. We can only affirm we are in talks with Hong Kong, mainland and overseas agents alike.''

Last month, the Immigration Department stepped in and asked Disney to avoid chaos and uncontrollable crowds at the gate and Lok Ma Chau checkpoint by selling all its tickets in advance when the park opens, possibly through travel agents.

But the Disney spokeswoman said the proposal is against park policy. She said ticket sale arrangements and crowd control methods are still being studied.

She gave no estimates of the number of visitors expected within the first weeks of the park's operation, but

reiterated that 5.6 million visitors a year, or an average of 30,000 visitors a day, are expected and Hong Kong, mainland and overseas visitors will each make up one-third of the numbers.

``Our view is crowd control will be easier with advance ticketing, and 30,000 could be an underestimate on September 12 and the first few days. But it's a question of their policy. We can only remind them that they must disclose relevant information to us and they have agreed,'' Tung said.

``We hope we can obtain more information by June or July. The market for Hong Kong agents is mainly from South East Asia and China - two to three months will hopefully be sufficient time for promotion.''

SAR travel agents' fears that the theme park could be a lopsided deal between Disneyland and the government are not new. Although the park has created thousands of jobs, critics have questioned whether the government was too accommodating, with taxpayers paying most of the park's US$3.5 billion (HK$27.3 million) cost.

sylvia.hui@singtaonewscorp.com