Hong Kong Disneyland Resort reported an 83 percent reduction in net loss to HK$356 million ($45.5 million) for the fiscal year ended Sept 30, driven by record-high local attendance and a strong recovery in nonlocal visitor numbers.

“As soon as travel restrictions were lifted (after the COVID-19 pandemic), our guests returned … and our business momentum has been positive ever since”, extending to the first quarter of 2024, Michael Moriarty, managing director of Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, said on Tuesday.

Disneyland’s positive performance came as Hong Kong strives to bring its tourism back on track after the COVID-19 pandemic. Visitor arrivals to the city soared 17.3 percent year-on-year to 3.39 million in April

The theme park saw its revenue skyrocket by 156 percent to HK$5.7 billion from the previous fiscal year, with total attendance surging 87 percent to 6.4 million, and per capita spending growing 54 percent.

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EBITDA — earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization — more than doubled to reach HK$924 million.

The park’s hotel occupancy rate also rose 23 percentage points to 77 percent for the 2023 fiscal year.

Moriarty said the resort’s nonlocal attendance recovery has outpaced Hong Kong’s overall visitor arrival recovery from April to December in 2023.

“We saw a strong rebound in nonlocal guests, particularly those from the Chinese mainland,” he noted, adding that tourists from Southeast Asian countries have also returned, with The Philippines, Thailand, and Singapore “all very strong in coming back”.

The senior executive highlighted the significance of geographical proximity and the recovery of air travel in driving visitor numbers from these markets.

Disneyland’s positive performance came as Hong Kong strives to bring its tourism back on track after the COVID-19 pandemic. Visitor arrivals to the city soared 17.3 percent year-on-year to 3.39 million in April, according to the latest data released by the Hong Kong Tourism Board. The city welcomed over 14.6 million visitors in the first four months of the year, doubling from the same period in 2023.

However, the city is facing challenges in bringing back long-haul visitors due to flight capacity issues.

Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong’s flagship airline, is currently operating at 80 percent of its pre-pandemic capacity, said Lavinia Lau, the airline’s chief customer and commercial officer. The carrier is expected to fully recover to pre-pandemic levels by the first quarter of 2025.

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Disneyland achieved profitability in the calendar year 2023 and recorded its best-ever quarterly net profit, EBITDA and revenue in the first quarter of 2024, after logging a nine-year losing streak. In fiscal year 2022, it recorded a net loss of HK$2.1 billion, following a loss of HK$2.35 billion in fiscal year 2021.

It announced that it has repaid the revolver facility provided by a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, and it has not drawn on the facility since the repayment.

The resort has been renovating and investing in new attractions to draw visitors, including the opening of Ant-Man and The Wasp: Nano Battle! in 2019, the reimagined Castle of Magical Dreams in 2020, the castle daytime show “Follow Your Dreams” in 2021, and the “Momentous” Nighttime Spectacular in 2022.

Contact the writer at tianyuanzhang@chinadailyhk.com