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Published on July 21, 2007

"Thailand is one of the most important markets for Disney in Hong Kong, with thousands of visitors a year. And we want to increase the number of Thai tourists in the future," Josh D'Amaro, Hong Kong Disneyland's vice president for sales and travel trade marketing, said yesterday.

The World Discovery Travel Network has been given an initial one-year contract to act as a service provider and run a daily contact point and communications platform between Disney in Hong Kong and travel operators in Thailand.

It will also provide sales support and product training for key trade stakeholders.

The amusement-park operator recently selected a representative in South Korea to be responsible for marketing all of Disney's properties.

The operator has visited several countries in search of representatives and plans to pick more foreign offices in Asia, depending on the market growth of each country.

"After operating a year-and-a-half, we are happy with attendance of more than 5.2 million. And now we're aiming to promote the park as a premium product to the world," D'Amaro said.

One-third of the park's visitors come from mainland China, another third from the local market

and the rest from elsewhere.

Disney succeeded with its exclusive shop in China's Guangzhou and is now considering opening a similar one here after finding a marketing representative.

D'Amaro said the proliferation of casinos in Macao would benefit Disney, because Macao was close to Hong Kong, while the casino soon to open in Singapore was an entirely different destination that it would not directly compete with. The park recently kicked off its "Summer Blast: Get Wet, Get Wild and Get Animated" campaign to increase admissions during the summer season.

Suchat Sritama

The Nation