New resort focus for Ocean Park

Ocean Park wants to develop glamping and ziplining facilities on its hilltop to turn itself into a holiday resort, an operations director said.

In an interview with Sing Tao Daily, The Standard's sister newspaper, operations and entertainment executive director Timothy Ng Sau-kin said the park needs to reposition itself.

"We are no longer just an amusement park. We will be a holiday resort," he said.

To reduce costs, the park will phase out its old rides - including the Ferris Wheel and Mine Train - and continue to operate seven or eight of them. These will all be rides launched in the past decade.

The park's annual reports said the maintenance fees ranged from HK$150 million to HK$190 million in the past three years, or 12 percent of its operation costs.

The park will start to recruit operators for three new attraction zones, as the Ocean Park Corporation (Amendment) bill gazetted in June allows the park to outsource part of its operations.

A leisure, retail and catering zone downhill will be open to the public free of charge, while the uphill zones will focus on adventure and health. Both will make use of sea views to draw visitors.

The park wants to hire a company to build and operate zipline facilities near the retired Mine Train and Raging River rides.

Activities like hiking, yoga and camping could be developed near another retired ride, The Abyss, to attract youngsters and families, Ng said.

With no tourists amid the pandemic, the park organized new events to attract local visitors, apart from regular seasonal events such as the Halloween Fest.

In celebrating Halloween this year, Ocean Park has already started organizing a time-limited "Ghostly Glamping" event - costing HK$6,888 for a tent with a maximum of four people.

Visitors can enjoy priority access for three interactive attractions: Survivor of the Undead, Forbidden Rainforest Treasure Hunt and the Supernatural Ghost Tour, as well as visit a spooky wedding ceremony - the Wedding of the Undead, with actors wearing make-up by professional artists.

Those who would rather stay away from ghosts can still enjoy nature at night with Starry Summit Glamping.

Meanwhile, a "Doggies' Groovy Weekend" will be held on October 9, which targets dog owners, who can visit the park along with their pets.