Disneyland Set To Reopen In April As Covid Rules Ease

Hong Kong Disneyland is set to reopen on April 21 as the government relaxes social distancing rules, but will operate at half capacity at the beginning.

This was revealed at a Legco panel meeting on Monday, where Commerce and Economic Development Secretary Edward Yau said theme parks will gradually resume full capacity in accordance with the government’s roadmap.

“For instance in the first phase for theme parks such as Disneyland, we’ll have limit capacity to a maximum of 50 percent of full capacity, and in the second phase 75 percent,” he said.

The resort in Lantau has been shut since January 7 when the Omicron outbreak worsened, but as the epidemic showed signs of easing in recent days, the government announced last week that it plans to relax Covid rules in stages from April.

The managing director of Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, Michael Moriarty, told lawmakers that he felt encouraged.

“We would be included in the opening on April 21, and we are excited about that, and we will follow the government’s recommendations as it relates to the social distancing relaxation over that time period,” said Moriarty.

Moriarty said he is confident that the park can improve its financial performance, which has been in the red for seven consecutive years.

“When we are open we do well,” he said.

“In the first quarter of this fiscal year, we were able to break even, and I’m confident that when we do open up again that we’ll be able to have similar results going forward,” he continued.

Meanwhile, the Tourism Board also briefed lawmakers on its work.

The board’s executive director, Dane Cheng, said there’re plans to spend at least HK$100 million in promoting Hong Kong as a travel destination for mainland residents.

Cheng pointed out that the board conducted a poll with mainland residents earlier, and half of them said they wanted to travel to Hong Kong after the pandemic subsides.