Losses at Disneyland in Hong Kong mount in the year the virus struck

The Hong Kong Disneyland resort, which announced the full results after seven and a half months, said it lost nearly $ 1 million a day last year. For the fiscal year through September 2020, theme park and hotel revenues were $ 185 million. Net losses totaled 1,341 million (2.66 billion Hong Kong dollars).

The global coronavirus outbreak covers up to 60% of the theme parks during the fiscal year. Hotels in the park have been open for a long time, but operate with minimal safety. The administration described the turmoil: “Unprecedented uncertainty and challenges for global tourism.”

“These numbers do not provide an important indication of our future potential,” MD Michael Moriarty said.

Border restrictions mean the park cannot trust the natural mix of international and domestic visitors. He needed to focus on the local Hong Kong people again. Moriardi said that the average presence of locals has increased by 15% since opening day. But, due to frequent shutdowns, the total audience decreased by 73% to 1.8 million.

Walt Disney, a 47% minority owner, provided a revolving loan of $ 270 million (HK $ 2.1 billion). Since the start of the current fiscal year, HKDL has drawn a credit line for capital and operating needs. Moriarty said the park has no plans to leverage the Hong Kong government, the major shareholder, for similar lending services. He said the administrative expenses Walt Disney is earning from HKDL, which has proven to be controversial with local politicians, is performance-based and has not been paid for the fiscal year until September 2020.

Moriarty suggested that the resort is well established for resumption of business. He pointed to new or changed sites in the park, including the original Magic Dreams Castle, which was rebuilt twice, and the new daytime show “Follow Your Dreams” will begin on June 30th.

But Moriarty avoided microfinance because many of the factors that make the difference between profit and loss, such as fighting disease and vaccines, and resuming cross-border travel in the greater Gulf region and Southeast Asia, are out of control. .

“We have to remain open and the borders must be reopened,” he said. The park has been in operation since February 19, 2021.