香港迪士尼乐园将开设背景介绍课程

HK Disneyland to provide lessons for visitors

Hong Kong Disneyland plans to hold induction programmes in its theme park to educate mainland tourists about Mickey Mouse and Winnie The Pooh after a slow first year.

Bill Ernest, managing director, yesterday said that a lack of familiarity of Disney characters in China contributed to the park's failure to meet its goal of attracting 5.6m people in its first year of operation.


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"We realised we needed more education materials out in the market place," said Mr Ernest.

"If you haven't grown up with the brand, the characters, the stories or the theme, you are not quite sure what you are walking into," he said.

To help Chinese tourists understand the background of Mickey Mouse and the history of theteacup ride, Mr Ernest said the park - the first Disneyland in China - was developing a "pre-show" to show to its visitors when they go to the park.

"When you go in to the park, you will go to an area for 10-15 minutes where we will tell you stories of the lands, the attractions, the characters, how they stand together and what is it that you are about to experience," he said.

Mr Ernest said the movie show, which has never been done in other Disney parks and will be launched in a few months, would allow Chinese tourists "to learn and catch up" with Disney's history.

He also said the company would work on its relationships with Chinese travel agents.

Hong Kong Disneyland, majority owned by the territory's government, is trying to win more Chinese tourists as it admitted for the first time that it would not meet its first-year attendance target when it marks its anniversary next Tuesday.

Mr Ernest said yesterday the park had received "well over" 5m guests so far, and should be able to hit its 5.6m goal this month or in early October.

"We had a slow start and there were some marketing glitches in the early days," said Mr Ernest.

Hong Kong Disneyland has suffered a series of hiccups since its opening last September.

During Chinese New Year in February, the park was forced to close due to ticketing problems, which prompted ticket holders to force their way in by storming through gates and climbing fences.

Visitors to the park have also complained about mistreatment; that there are too few attractions; and that the park is too small.

"Like all new ventures there have been teething problems and adjustments," said Mr Ernest.

But he said the park's attendance had improved significantly in the past six months, thanks to the holiday period and a summer pass programme. In July and August, the park attracted 20,000-30,000 people every day, with half coming from China.
香港迪士尼乐园将开设背景介绍课程

香港迪士尼乐园(Hong Kong Disneyland)计划在其主题公园开设背景介绍课程，以便向中国大陆的游客更好地介绍米老鼠(Mickey Mouse)和唐老鸭(Donald Duck)。香港迪士尼乐园第一年的业绩令人失望。

香港迪士尼乐园行政总裁安明智(Bill Ernest)昨日表示，中国人对迪士尼卡通人物不够熟悉，这是乐园在首年运营中未能实现吸引560万游客目标的原因之一。

“我们意识到，需要向市场发放更多的背景介绍材料，” 安明智表示，“如果你不是与这个品牌、这些卡通人物、故事或主题一起长大，你就不太清楚自己正走进什么地方。”


安明智表示，为帮助中国内地游客了解迪士尼卡通人物（如米老鼠和他忠实的狗布鲁托(Pluto)）的背景故事，香港迪士尼乐园正在拍摄一个“游览前”影片，准备在游客游览时放映。香港迪士尼乐园是中国第一家迪士尼乐园。

安明智表示，这是迪士尼乐园的第一部介绍影片，将于数月内开播，它将使中国游客“了解并跟上”迪士尼的历史。

香港迪士尼乐园正在设法吸引更多的中国游客。下周二是香港迪士尼乐园开幕一周年纪念日，但该乐园首次承认，将无法实现第一年吸引游客数量的目标。香港迪士尼乐园的多数股份由香港政府持有。

安明智昨日表示，迄今为止该乐园接待的游客数量已“远远超出”500万，应该能够在本月晚些时候，或10月初达到接待560万游客的目标。

安明智说：“我们起步较慢，而且初期在营销方面出现了一些问题。”

但他同时表示，过去6个月来，乐园游客数量已明显增多，这要归功于假期以及夏日通行证计划。

Hong Kong Disney Misses Target

Attendance Trails Goal After Slow Start

Hong Kong Disneyland all but acknowledged it will miss attendance targets for its first year of operations, following a slow start and marketing challenges.

The first Walt Disney Co. park in China as of yesterday had received "well over five million guests" since last summer, said the park's managing director, Bill Ernest. Avoiding repeated questions from reporters about the company's publicly stated target of 5.6 million visitors by Sept. 12, he said the park will reach that total later this month or in October.

The park's first year has been a roller-coaster ride for Disney. It opened amid a swirl of public-relations glitches and faced serious difficulty controlling crowds during the Chinese New Year holiday. "Like all new ventures, there have been teething problems and adjustments," Mr. Ernest said.

Most of the time, Disney's problem hasn't been too many visitors, but too few. Park officials have been tight-lipped about performance, irking some legislators in Hong Kong's government who questioned why the city paid $417 million, on top of $1.74 billion in infrastructure costs, for a 57% stake in the operation. Disney paid $314 million for its 43% stake in the venture.

Hong Kong Disneyland's performance also has been watched by Wall Street as a gauge of Disney's prospects in mainland China, a market the company hopes to tap for growth. Disney is investing in its consumer-products, television and motion-picture businesses in China, and is in talks with the government about building another theme park -- in Shanghai.

Mr. Ernest said the five-million-plus attendance figure included so-called familiarization tickets, given out for free to build buzz about the park within the travel industry, but he wouldn't specify what percentage of the visitors got in free.

Mr. Ernest also declined to offer attendance targets for the coming year or disclose any specific details of Hong Kong Disneyland's financial performance, saying only, "we are on very solid ground financially." He acknowledged that Hong Kong Disneyland had gotten off to a slow start in its first year but said it was making progress. "There were some marketing glitches in the early days, but we are very encouraged that all major indicators suggest that we are moving in the right direction," he said.

Business, particularly from mainland China, picked up considerably over the summer school holidays, he said.

Since opening, Hong Kong Disneyland has gone through considerable turnover in senior management, with Mr. Ernest taking over as managing director in January, followed by new senior executives in sales, marketing and public relations. He said the park has changed the way it works with the travel industry and the way it markets itself in mainland China. Moreover, he said Disney has learned more about how to translate its American content to Asian audiences.

The park is now preparing a 10- to 15-minute "pre-show" that visitors can watch after they enter to explain "how the stories and characters knit together," he said.

Mr. Ernest downplayed any disappointment with the attendance figures. "As we built our original projection, we really had no history in this market," he said.

On the other hand, Hong Kong has become a much more popular attraction for mainland tourists since Disney first announced its 5.6-million attendance target in 2002. At that time, Chinese could visit Hong Kong only in tour groups. The government began to allow individual tourists into the city in 2003. Today, they account for the bulk of the city's visitors.
香港迪士尼乐园未实现首年游客人数目标



香港迪士尼乐园(HONG KONG Disneyland)将无法达到首年560万人次的预定目标，原因在于起步较慢以及市场营销不利。不过，香港迪士尼乐园没有明确承认未实现目标。

乐园行政总裁安明智(Bill Ernest)说，华特－迪士尼公司(Walt Disney Co.)在中国开设的首个主题乐园从去年夏天至周一共接待了“500多万游客”。不少记者就该公司早先公开宣布的香港迪士尼乐园在9月12日前达到560万人次的预定目标反复提问。但安明智没有正面回答这些问题，他表示香港迪士尼乐园的游客人数将在本月晚些时候或10月达到这个数字。

对华特－迪士尼公司来说，香港迪士尼乐园第一年的状况可谓大起大落。乐园开业之初公共关系方面做得不够到位，并且在中国春节假期期间无法有效控制游客流量。安明智说，像所有新生事物一样，我们在开始阶段也碰到了一些问题，由此也进行了诸多调整。

在大多数时间中，香港迪士尼乐园面临的问题并不是游客数量过多，而是游客人数过少。乐园管理人员对公司业绩守口如瓶。一些香港的立法委员为乐园的业绩感到苦恼，并开始质疑政府投资的初衷。持有乐园57%股份的香港特区政府斥资17.4亿美元为乐园进行基础设施建设，并且向乐园投资4.17亿美元。迪士尼投资3.14亿美元，持有乐园43%的股份。

另外，华尔街也在密切关注香港迪士尼乐园的业绩，投资者将其看作评估迪士尼在中国大陆发展前景的一个风向标。迪士尼希望在中国市场占有一席之地以实现业务增长。该公司正在投身于中国的消费产品、电视节目以及动画片等行业，目前它正在与中国政府就在上海兴建另一个主题乐园进行谈判。

安明智说，这个500多万人次的数字包括为了造势在旅游行业内部派发的免费门票，但是他没有说明免费游园游客的比例。

安明智拒绝透露接下来一年乐园的游客人数目标以及财务状况细节。他只表示，乐园的财务状况十分稳固。他承认，香港迪士尼乐园在第一年运营中起步确实较慢，不过他表示乐园在不断取得进步。他说，最初确实有一些市场营销问题，但是大多数迹象显示他们正在朝着正确的方向前进，他们为此感到备受鼓舞。

他说，乐园的生意在暑假期间明显有起色，特别是中国大陆游客明显增加。

自开业以来，香港迪士尼乐园高层管理进行了大换血：继安明智1月接任行政总裁后，销售、市场营销以及公共关系等领域先后更换高层管理人员。安明智说，香港迪士尼乐园改变了与旅游行业的合作方式以及在中国大陆进行市场营销的方式。另外，他还说，迪士尼在如何将美国文化内容传递给亚洲游客方面学到了很多。

安明智说，香港迪士尼乐园正在准备一个10-15分钟的短片。它将在游客进入乐园后播放，预先向游客展示乐园中的卡通人物与各种故事是如何融合在一起的。

安明智并没有对未达到游客人数目标流露出多少失望之情。他说，在最初设定目标时他们在这个市场毫无经验。

另外，自迪士尼在2002年宣布其560万游客目标以来，香港日益成为备受中国大陆游客青睐的旅游目的地。当时，中国大陆游客只能通过旅行团游览香港。中国政府从2003年开始允许个人游客进入这个城市。现在，来自中国大陆的个人游客已经成为香港的主要游客。

Geoffrey A. Fowler