Visitor numbers to the park fell 18.8% to 6 million and revenue shrank 17.8% to HKD 1.61 billion in the fiscal year ended June 30. The deficit stood in contrast with a HKD 45.2 million surplus the previous fiscal year.

The park said entrance fees would be raised 13.8% to HKD 438 for adults and HKD 219 for children from January 1.

“We are not immune to the industry-wide problem of having fewer mainland tourists,” Ocean Park chairman Leo Kung Lin-cheng said on Wednesday. 

Kung promised there would be “no layoffs” and “no pay cuts” for about 2,000 full-time staff. A decision on pay rises was due next month, he said.

Despite the poor performance, the park was financially sound with a reserve totalling about HKD 2 billion, he said.

Kung said mainland and overseas tourists accounted for 60% of Ocean Park’s visitors last year and that tour groups accounted for about 40% of this figure, or roughly 3.6 million people. By contrast, Hong Kong visitors last year numbered 2.4 million.

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