Letters | Hong Kong Disneyland hasn’t lost its magic

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I do not see eye to eye with your correspondent about the proposal, “Why not move loss-making Hong Kong Disneyland to mainland China’s Sanya?” (December 19). We should not lose sight of the indirect financial benefits Disneyland has brought to the local tourism industry. Besides, our Disneyland is still attractive to mainland and international tourists.

If you look at landmarks across the globe, you would find a raft of loss-making attractions. I recently visited Burj Al Arab and Burj Khalifa in Dubai, both of which were not expected to be profitable because of their extremely high construction costs. Locals seem to understand that the attractions were never meant to be lucrative in their own right. Their importance lies in their ability to lure millions of visitors to Dubai every year, thereby benefiting shopping malls, hotels and restaurants nearby.

By the same token, visitors to Hong Kong Disneyland are likely to spend an extra day or two in Hong Kong, visiting other attractions, restaurants and shops in the city. We cannot judge Disneyland’s worth merely by its revenue.

On the mainland, I see social media posts comparing the parks in Hong Kong and Shanghai, and noting that the former is less crowded and offers a better tourist experience. The newly opened World of Frozen is also attracting the eyeballs of our mainland friends, making our Disneyland a unique one to visit even with the presence of a much larger one up north.