Stardust

By: Maritoni Alvarez
Yehey In-house Production

It’s summer once again, the time when kids put down their pens and books for a while to take few months off in school and look forward to the perfect destination to spend with their families. Whether it be an out town or country trip, taking time off with family and love ones during summer is the best way to bond and de-stress on this brightest season of the year.

This April 30, 2009, Ocean Park in Hongkong, one of the world’s leading theme parks in the world, will be launching the Amazing Asian Animals and the newest Ocean Express. These newest attractions in the park will not only give visitors a more unique, exciting and unforgettable experience but will definitely give them a more convenient way to enjoy the park to the fullest. Aside from its world class attractions, Ocean Park in Hongkong also marks a couple of first in the world’s theme park industry – Amazing Asian Animals being the world’s first and only integrated indoor and outdoor multi-Asian-species exhibit; and Ocean Express being the first and only theme park funicular system running inside a tunnel and with an immersive show.

Ranked as the 15th in the world, 5th in Asia and China’s number one theme park, Ocean Park Chief Executive Tom Mehrmann is proud to launch Ocean Park’s milestone as part of their missions of conservation, entertainment and education.

“Our success is rooted in our ability to provide what is relevant to the market and at the same time, remain steadfast to our founding mission — connecting guests with nature by creating unique edutainment (coined term for education and entertainment) with strong conservation values. As such, the launch of the first two areas, with multiple attractions,” said Mehrmann.

Coming in this end of April, Ocean Park Hongkong’s executives can’t hide their excitement to introduce to their guests the park’s newest attractions. The main star of the show on April 30 will be their two 3-year old Giant Pandas, Ying Ying and Le Le. The Giant Panda Adventure will serve as home to the two precious baby Pandas. Aside from the Giant Pandas, guest will also get the chance to know other exotic animals such as the playful Red Pandas, the prehistoric Chinese Giant Salamanders, Asian Small-Clawed Otters, Chinese Alligators or locally known as the “Earth Dragon” and a dozen of turtles. This summer, the Amazing Bird Show will make a comeback with a new face and narrations.

Another main attraction that should not be missed is the Goldfish Treasure where 300 kinds of Goldfish varieties, in different colors and sizes are housed. If you crave for some naturey feel, you can take a hike through the Emerald Trail, a nature path which will be set among waterfalls, a suspension bridge and multiple connections that will lead you to various landscapes. From these descriptions alone, it sure sounds that the Emerald Trail is a perfect place to take some souvenir snaps with your family and friends.

Visiting Ocean Park Hongkong won’t be complete unless you grab some souvenirs for yourself, right? With the newest and largest themed souvenir shop Panda Kingdom which has over 5,000 animal-themed items in over 350 variations, surely you won’t run out of stuff to bring home with you. Tired of walking, riding and sight seeing? Treat your empty stomach into a smorgasbord of popular dishes from various Asian regions in Ocean Park Hongkong’s Panda Café.

If you have been to Ocean Park before, you must be, pretty surely, familiar with their world famous cable cars. Spread over 870,000 square metres, it sure sounds tiring to walk from both ends of the park so the best way to reach your preferred destination inside the theme park is through the 15 minute travel using the cable car. If you’re running out of time and wants a speedy journey, then Ocean Park Hongkong’s “Ocean Express” is the answer to your prayer. Equipped with a three ropeway system, the Ocean Express will effectively transport 10,000 guests per hour into the park’s future Waterfront (currently known as “Lowland”) and the future Summit (currently known as “Headland”) areas in just 3 minutes.

Ocean Express, which took inspiration from the 19th century “Jules Verne” explorer submarine, will open in the fall of 2009 and guarantees to take guests into a multi-sensory journey, undersea-odyssey and out-of-this-world feel.

Asked if Ocean Park Hongkong has been affected with the economic downturn that the world is experiencing, “Remarkably, we actually [have] not been negatively affected by economic downturn, we’ve in fact just reported our best January, February and March in our history… and I think what’s happen in Ocean Park has been seen as real value for money… we offer double the attraction for half the price,” said Tom Mehrmann. “Hongkong, generally is where I think we’re getting our visitors, I thinks there’s a lot of reason, I think it’s proximity, there are airfares that are cheaper, but I think Hongkong offers so many thing, there’s great dining, great shopping and of course there’s great theme parks, and Ocean Park, I think, is top of the list for theme destinations, because we’re so different, we offer animal experiences, we offer education experiences, we offer a wide variety of things unlike most theme parks, ” explained Mehrmann when asked if what might be the reason why big fractions of their guest are mostly Filipinos.

Aiming to double their attractions from 35 to over 70, Ocean Park Hongkong promises to launch four more brand-new themed attraction areas between the year 2010 and 2013 and open three themed hotels between 2013 and 2015. It sure sounds that Ocean Park Hongkong does not cease to give guests more reasons to visit the park in the coming years.

And in behalf of the whole Ocean Park Hongkong Chief Executive Tom Mehrmann, Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Financial Officer Matthias Li and Executive Director for Sales and Marketing Paul Pei, would like to personally invite and thank the Filipinos for their continued support and patronage to Ocean Park Hongkong and hopes to see everybody there. And to quote one of the Ocean Park’s guests, as told by Mehrmanm, “You haven’t been to Hongkong if you haven’t been to Ocean Park Hongkong.”

To know more about Ocean Park Hongkong, visit their website at www.oceanpark.com.hk.