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OCEAN PARK OPENS FIRST CHINA REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE MAJOR EFFORTS IN PRD REGION TO BOOST AWARENESS & VISITS

2006-08-22

(Hong Kong – 21 August) Ocean Park Chief Executive, Tom Mehrmann, was in Guangzhou today (21 August) to officiate the opening of its Hong Kong Ocean Park Corporation Guangzhou Representative Office, the Park’s first in China. Mr Mehrmann also announced the launch of a nationwide enquiry hotline, 400-8800-288, which will handle enquiries from guests and the travel trade about the Park.

According to Mr Mehrmann, in 2005/2006, guests from the Mainland made up 44 percent of the Park’s total attendance, with 40 percent of this figure originating from the Guangdong province. “The Mainland market is very important to Ocean Park, especially the Southern China provinces, and our strategy now is to bring Ocean Park closer to their doorsteps by actively developing transportation packages to make traveling to Ocean Park easy,” Mr Mehrmann said.

“For this, we are very grateful to the support from our travel business partners, the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC,) Eternal East Cross-Border Coach, CTS Express Coach, and CKS, in developing travel programmes which provide direct links between Ocean Park and seven major cities in the Guangdong province via rail, bus, and ferry, respectively,” Mr Mehrmann said.

“The establishment of the Guangzhou Representative Office is a major milestone for Ocean Park, and signifies the importance we place in this market. We have recruited staff locally, and set up a nationwide hotline, 400-8800-288, to provide Park information to guests and the travel trade in the Mainland,” Mr Mehrmann said.

Ocean Park has also lined up a ticket telesales arrangement with Guangzhou Telecom’s highly popular “114 BestTone” call centre. People in the Guangzhou city region can make telephone bookings of Ocean Park admission tickets. “We will continue to develop, where appropriate, other programmes that make it easy for Mainland guests to visit Ocean Park,” Mr Mehrmann said.

Mr Mehrmann also outlined other business partnerships to boost visits from the region, including the Park’s first foray in the Mainland into retail co-op with Swire Coca-Cola Guangdong, extending the Park’s brandname to 13 cities in the Guangdong province. A credit card joint promotion with Bank of China Guangdong Branch will further generate awareness on Ocean Park among cardholders.

“Ocean Park has hit record attendances, as well as earning international and national accolades as one of the world’s best theme parks. We cannot achieve this without the support from our loyal local guests as well as guests from the Mainland. We are thankful for the guidance from provincial and city authorities, and the Hong Kong Tourism Board in the setting up of our office, and to our business partners who have helped to strengthen our market position in the Mainland. We also thank all the Hong Kong and Mainland tour operators who have been bringing the Mainland tour groups to Ocean Park each year,” Mr Mehrmann said.

Ocean Park’s Guangzhou Representative Office is located at Telecom Plaza in Guangzhou, and Mr Alfred Ma is the Chief Representative – Southern China.

The office-opening officiating ceremony took place at The Garden Hotel in Guangzhou. Officiating guests included representatives from the Guangdong Provincial Tourism Administrator, the Tourism Administration of Guangzhou, the Hong Kong Tourism Board, and business partners, KCRC, Eternal East Cross-Border Coach Mgt. Ltd, CTS Express Coach, and CKS, and its representatives from the ports of Jiangmen, Panyu, Shunde, Zhuhai, and Zhongshan.

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About Ocean Park
Ocean Park is Hong Kong’s unique home-grown theme park with a heritage of delivering family fun and fond memories. Since its opening in January 1977 as a non-profit organization, Ocean Park has developed itself to be a world-class attraction connecting people with nature, and recognized for its animal husbandry, research and relationship with the community. Over 76 million people have visited Hong Kong's premier park since its inception and Ocean Park has remained committed to offer adults and children experiences that blend entertainment with education and conservation.