Disney Company: Losing magic in the Middle Kingdom

Résumé du document

Today, the Disney Company is well known around the world for its theme parks based on the American Disney fantasy world. In 2007, the theme park industry was estimated at US$22.8 billion and Disney is one of the major players on this growing market. Since 2008, the company has 5 Parks and Resorts located on 3 different continents with 11 different theme parks. In September 2005, Disney opened the doors of its last Park & Resort in Hong Kong. The company did a joint venture with the Hong Kong Government investing a total of US$1.8 billion in the project. The Government, which invested US$419 million and provided the land for the project owns 57% of stake and Disney, which invested US$316, has 43%.

Disneyland has been studying the idea of opening a theme park in China since the 90s. The company finally decided to build it in Hong Kong because of the city's good infrastructure and the high level of income of its citizens compared to other Chinese cities. In 2006, the median income in Hong Kong was US$1,282 per month and the median household income was US$2,212. The city, which used to be an English colony, has a big Western influence, which makes its people more familiar with Disney characters. Hong Kong also has a large number of tourists from Mainland China and other countries. Everything was pointing out that the Hong Kong Disneyland could have been very successful. However the project didn't work out as it was expected. This failure was due to many different events and issues encountered before and after the opening of the theme park.

Extraits

[...] Some famous people like singers and artists also did some bad commentaries on the theme park. One famous popstar even said he would never return to it again. The theme park didn't have a good image because of the fact that it was too small and that you had to do long lines for everything. Many press coverage were released a few days after the opening pointing out the fact that the park was too crowded. Those reviews clearly had a negative effect on the people because the weekends after the opening, the number of people was very low. [...]

[...] Disneyland has been studying the idea of opening a theme park in China since the 90s. The company finally decided to build it in Hong Kong because of the city's good infrastructure and the high level of income of its citizens compared to other Chinese cities. In 2006, the median income in Hong Kong was US$1,282 per month and the median household income was US$2,212. The city, which used to be an English colony, has a big Western influence, which makes its people more familiar with Disney characters. [...]

[...] Disney also tried to make some deals with local and foreign tourist agencies in order to promote the park and make them bring more tourists. Unfortunately, there were some problems as Disney was said to underpay local travel agencies and favorites overseas agents. Its competitor, Ocean Park, was much more generous. The Company was able to sign a contract with only six wholesalers in the region. Social issues The theme park had to face many social issues involving its employees. In September 2005, not long after it's opening, there were already 69 complaints and 100 enquiries regarding labor abuse. [...]

[...] Environmental issues The Disney Company had to face many environmental issues when it the park was still under construction. The site evaluation was criticized as being too short for a project like that. Environmental groups pointed out the fact that the construction of the park destroyed coastlines, coral, sea walls and fish spawning grounds. In 2000, more than 6 million fish died at the coastal fish farms, for which the government had to pay US$740,000 in compensations. Some historical structures from the Tang Dynasty were also lost forever under the park. [...]

[...] Disney forgot very important elements about Hong Kongers when creating the park. First, Chinese school kids, and especially in Hong Kong, are always very busy. Chinese parents are a lot focused on their children. They have to study a lot and very often have extra scholar activities. Their schedule is always packed with activities like tutorial classes, music classes, language courses and sports activities, even during the weekend and on vacations. They therefore didn't have many occasions to go to a theme park except during long holidays such as summer or Christmas. [...]