Introduction

Visitor attraction and the management of venues is critical in sites such as museums, tourist destinations, as well as other types of venues that operate in the hospitality industry, particularly as visitor attraction sites and destinations (Moss & Walmsley, 2014). This report discusses the observations made after visiting Ocean Park, to analyze how the venue operates in attracting and managing visitors. The report will discuss the major observations that are linked to visitor attraction and how the venue is managed through a critical lens of management knowledge. This discussion and analysis will help in understanding the critical trends and techniques that influence visitor attractions at Ocean Park. This understanding and analysis will help in determining the strong points and weak points that Ocean Park has in attracting and managing visitors, and it will facilitate the suggestion of possible refinements that the venue could consider implementing to achieve continuous improvements.

Background

Ocean Park Hong Kong, also known as Ocean Park, is in the Southern District of Hong Kong and is a park with an animal theme, oceanarium, marine mammal park, as well as an amusement park (Xiaoting, 2015). Ocean Park comes second in size after Disneyland. However, it is older than Disneyland, where it comes second in terms of age after Lai Chi Kok Amusement Park which was closed down in 1997. Ocean Park was officially opened in 1977, where it gained significant popularity in Hong Kong and within the outside world (Xiaoting, 2015). Nevertheless, after operating for 22 years, the tourist attraction became unprofitable (Fyall, 2008). Most people expected it to shut down its operations, especially after the emergence of Disneyland. Shutting down did not take place because Ocean Park responded with a development plan that cost it 5.5 billion Hong Kong dollars (Huang et al., 2020). To the surprise of many people, the development plan helped Ocean Park in expanding to more than 80 rides and attractions, and it rapidly grew the number of visitors to around 76 million people by 2014 (Xiaoting, 2015). This growth in the number of visitors made Ocean Park rank the thirteenth among the most visited theme parks in the world, as well as one of the biggest theme parks in Asia.

Ocean Park has a vision of becoming the global head in the provision of excellent guest experiences in a theme park environment through hooking up people with respect (Yip & 2019). Moreover, the Park focuses on becoming the number one marine-based park for all families in Hong Kong and mainland China. More than half of the visitors that go to Ocean Park are from mainland China. The main aim of Ocean Park is to merge entertainment and education, other than being an amusement park only (Fyall, 2008). Nonetheless, it continues facing criticisms by advocates of wildlife as a result of practices that include the capturing of large sea animals e.g. orca and dolphins, as well as the presentation of shows that feature these animals performing (Yip & 2019). These are however some of the most significant visitor attraction activities in the Park. The Ocean Park is also widely known for holding the largest Halloween events in the entire of Asia. The number of visitors at Ocean Park declined to around six million in 2016 as a result of the declining arrivals of tourists in Hong Kong, as well as increased competition from competitors such as Chimelong International Ocean Tourist Resort that is located in Zhuhai (Huang et al., 2020). In 2017, Ocean Park experienced an increase of 30% in the number of visitors as a result of big discounts, a new MTR line, as well as an early Lunar New Year holiday (Huang et al., 2020). However, in 2019, there was a lower number of tourist arrivals as a result of social unrest in the city, alongside continued increased competition from Chimelong (Huang et al., 2020).

Porter’s five Analysis

The risk of new entrants: Ocean park is in the entertainment industry, where a lot of money is required for acquiring area equipment and resources, as well as recruiting maintenance. In addition, developing an ocean park demand a huge space. Land or rather space in Hong Kong is extremely scarce, making entry into this industry a challenge for new entrants (Moss & Walmsley, 2014). A lot of capital is also required in the processes of planning, construction, and development and launching of a theme park. A great deal of legalization and licenses also come into play. The complexities associated with the development of a theme park make it extremely difficult for new entrants to join the industry.

The threat of rivalry: Ocean Park faces rivalry from organizations that were developed later, including Disneyland and Chimelong (Xiaoting, 2015). Essentially, there is minimal differentiation of products and services in the industry that Ocean Park operates in. This results in most visitors making their choices based on services and prices only. This results in increased strain on service and price competition. Ocean Park is necessitated to carry out different activities and plans such as releasing new sights and redevelopment, which it continues to engage in to become more competitive (Moss & Walmsley, 2014).

Risk of substitution: Within the portion of family leisure activities, and entertainment industry that Ocean Park engages in, many organizations provide diverse types of services. For instance, different companies run Botanic gardens and Cultural zoos. In Hong Kong, there are numerous karaoke clubs, cinemas, museums, concert halls, and family cafes. However, the organizations that offer such services are not able to offer a full selection of activities in the manner that they are offered by Ocean Park. However, some customers prefer visiting these facilities. Moreover, the services and products that Ocean Park offers can be substituted with the services and products from its competitors.

Bargaining power of buyers: Basically, few organizations offer the products and services that are offered by Ocean Park. This leaves visitors with minimal choices from which they can choose. They are forced to visit either Ocean Park or its major competitors (Huang et al., 2020). The existence of only a few competitors in Hong Kong reduces the bargaining power of the visitors or buyers.

Bargaining power of the suppliers: In this industry, the sellers have significant purchasing power. The products and services that Ocean Park offer are significantly differentiated from those of its competitors. Even though they could be similar in one way or the other, they have significant differences (Xiaoting, 2015). The differences are also prevalent when it comes to the pricing of those products and services. As such, the sellers, have significant purchasing power due to the uniqueness and nature of their products and services.

Competitive Analysis

While Ocean Park is among the oldest theme parks in Hong Kong, it has undergone numerous changes that have helped it in becoming competitive among emerging and strong competitors in the industry (Yip & 2019). Ocean Park is an education, conservation, leisure and travel facility, and it consists of a large centre for visitors (Yip & 2019). The facility provides visitors with the opportunity of observing wildlife and attain awareness and understanding. When evaluating the potential of Ocean Park alongside its competitors, it is evident that Ocean Park and Disneyland have different products range and facilities, including themed exhibitions, a souvenir shop, a theatre, an inside pay area, among other facilities that attract visitors, while providing different services (Huang et al., 2020).

Initially, Ocean Park used to face limited competition. However, the coming of Disneyland gave a wake-up call to Ocean Park. Disneyland intensified competition significantly, prompting Ocean Park to pursue strategies for achieving growth and competitiveness. Disneyland has a positive reputation among visitors, enabling it to stand out among Ocean Park’s competitors. Even though Ocean Park redeveloped itself to become more competitive, the reality is that more needs to be done for it to become even more competitive (Moss & Walmsley, 2014). There are various aspects in which Disneyland beats Ocean Park when it comes to competition. For example, Disneyland is strategically located, where visitors take less than ten minutes to reach it from Hong Kong airport, and barely thirty minutes from downtown Hong Kong. The prices at Disneyland are cheaper compared to the prices at ocean Park. While Disneyland stands on a 310 acres space, Ocean Park occupies an area space of 215 acres (Huang et al., 2020). In terms of investment, Disneyland is considered to have invested five times better compared to Disneyland. Consequently, Ocean Park has a long way to go in an attempt to become more competitive.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

Various strengths have put Ocean Park in an advantageous and competitive position over its rivals. One of the strengths is that it has a wide and diversified selection of museums with diversified portfolios of pets, thrills, special and seasonal activities. It is highly linked to Chinese culture, where it recognizes the needs of Chinese visitors (Yip & 2019). This is the reason why Ocean Park receives a huge number of visitors from mainland China. Most importantly, Ocean Park has strong business links with the local and federal government, where it can obtain support from the Hong Kong government and the Chinese government. In addition, Ocean Park has a positive image that has led to the development of a local market (Yip & 2019).

Weaknesses

Ocean Park is located on the hills, making it challenging for visitors to access it easily. This is one of the reasons why visitors tend to experience trips only once. Given that the facility is one of the oldest theme parks in Hong Kong, some facilities are old and outdated, hence unattractive (Xiaoting, 2015). Most of the activities that are carried out at Ocean Park depend on the weather. Consequently, poor weather conditions significantly affect the operations of Ocean Park.

Opportunities

Focusing on international or foreign visitors can be a major opportunity for Ocean Park. Currently, Ocean Park concentrates on visitors from Hong Kong and Mainland China. As such, focusing on foreign visitors can help in increasing traffic for the company. Investment in modern and attractive facilities is another opportunity that Ocean Park has (Yip & 2019). Theme parks need to regularly invest in new products and services while focusing on the core of the business. For instance, Ocean Park needs to invest in the development and improving leisure machinery. This can have significant impacts on service delivery. Comparing Ocean Park and Disneyland, Ocean Park requires raising the requirement of the recreation area to match that of Disneyland (Moss & Walmsley, 2014). Moreover, it can plan the construction of hotels. Particularly, while focusing on foreign visitors, Ocean Park needs to invest in new luxurious hotels to effectively enter the high-end tourist market segment.

Threats

The main threat that Ocean Park faces is increased competition from emerging competitors such as Disneyland. Economic instability is another threat that Ocean Park faces. For example, the Asian financial meltdown that lasted between 1999 and 2001 presented a significant challenge for the Sea Recreation area (Huang et al., 2020). The outbreak of pandemics such as Covid-19 also presents economic challenges to Ocean Park. Such factors negatively affect the number of visitors and their arrival patterns. This leads to challenges in the economic planning of Ocean Park.

Managing the operations of Ocean Park

From the visit to Ocean Park, various attractions stood out, and these can be considered key attractions for visitors. One of the major attractions that most visitors seemed to enjoy most is the shows at the site. There are various types of shows that include Ocean Theater, Whiskers’ theatre and emperors of the sky. Particularly, I was able to enjoy the Ocean Theatre, which is a production theatre that is located in the Marine World (Huang et al., 2020). It is a show that lasts for 20 minutes, and it is commonly known as Ocean Wonders. Amazing Asian animals are other attractions that are fascinating to visitors. The Emerald Trail was specifically fascinating to me, where I enjoyed viewing the verdant garden that featured natural settings with flowers, stone bridges, tall trees, as well as gentle pools (Yip & 2019). The atmosphere within this setting is cool and lovely, where visitors can experience relaxation in this environment. The panda village and the Goldfish treasures are other attractions that are appealing to visitors. For example, it is normally a happy moment viewing a variety of Asian birdlife within and woodland setting (Fyall, 2008).

Generally, the products and services at Ocean Park are efficiently managed, with these products and services matching the prices. According to my observation, the products and services are significantly cheap compared to the experience that visitors achieve at Ocean Park. Even though Ocean Park is one of the oldest theme parks in Hong Kong, the product and services are of high quality, and they tend to be fresh and new. Quality is of the issues that the management concentrates on in ensuring quality service delivery. The services and products are effectively positioned to provide better experiences for the visitors. The use of discounts and packages sales is a major factor that promotes the purchase of products and services at Ocean Park (Yip & Yiu, 2019). Despite the significant attraction of visitors at Ocean Park, a major challenge that the management faces are inconsistency in the number of visitors. Even though the park was ranked third in 2004 as the most visited park globally, in recent years, these figures have declined significantly (Moss & Walmsley, 2014). Consequently, strategic planning has been playing a critical role in managing resources and visitors at Ocean Park. For instance, in 2005, the park has become unprofitable, forcing the management to focus on what was important for the park (Huang et al., 2020). Strategic planning has been used effectively to make the park one of the largest in Asia.

Irrespective of the success that Ocean Park has achieved, there are sectors that it could do better. Amusement park, marine mammal park, and the oceanarium park constitute the major sectors that form Ocean Park in Hong Kong. As such, animals in these parks need to be exposed to the best environments possible to make them look more attractive (Moss & Walmsley, 2014). This will help in attracting visitors even more. The management should encourage the staff members to be more mindful of the visitors and to accord them the best possible services. The staff should have a broad knowledge regarding the park and the animals to effectively guide the visitors (Fyall, 2008).

References

Fyall, A. (2008). Managing visitor attractions. Routledge.

Huang, X., Li, M., Zhang, J., Zhang, L., Zhang, H., & Yan, S. (2020). Tourists’ spatial-temporal behaviour patterns in theme parks: A case study of Ocean Park Hong Kong. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 15, 100411.

Moss, S., & Walmsley, B. (Eds.). (2014). Entertainment management: towards best practice. CABI.

Xiaoting, H. (2015). A Study of Tourists’ Emotional Experience Process Based on Space-Time Path: A Case Study of Ocean Park in Hong Kong. Tourism Tribune/Lvyou Xuekan, 30(6).

Yip, A. C., & Yiu, E. (2019). Corporate social responsibility (CSR) incorporate DNA: a case study of Ocean Park Hong Kong. In International Dimensions of Sustainable Management (pp. 249-262). Springer, Cham.