In my blogs, I have been sharing many experiences from my time at Ocean Park Hong Kong. This is because those were perhaps the best 15 years in my entire career where I learned so much about business, leadership, and management. Much of this I owe sincerely to Chief Executive Officer Tom Mehrmann. He always had time to guide me. We frequently walked the park together, managing in the field with the team as opposed to from an office. Every walk, and there were many, was a chance to learn from him. Often, I approached him in his office to invite him for a walk. He never said no and always put down what he was doing to walk with me.
We began the revival of Ocean Park in 2000 shortly after I accepted my post in sales and marketing. When Tom arrived in 2003, we had made some progress and were out of the red. However, there was much more to do. One big hurdle ahead was the upcoming opening of Hong Kong Disneyland. We were staring at the best theme park in the world with a collection of the best IP (intellectual property) features and tremendous financial resources. It was frightening but also challenging.
The sentiment throughout Hong Kong was that Ocean Park could not survive with Disneyland’s arrival. Disneyland was a fabled product, loved by all around the world and everyone felt was far superior to the locally grown Ocean Park. I recall one day when I boarded a taxi at the front of Ocean Park for an appointment downtown, the taxi driver saw the lanyard with my name tag as I entered his vehicle. He asked me “You work at Ocean Park?” Smiling, I replied “Yes” with great enthusiasm and pride. With much sarcasm, he then said “Where are you going to work next week.” Sadly enough, this was how many local people felt and they were not shy to let everyone know.
Comments like these swirled throughout Hong Kong for several years before Disneyland finally opened in 2005. While this was difficult to accept from the public, it was a reality. Ironically, this negative sentiment did not diminish our optimism not desire to succeed. Instead, the urge to not only survive but in fact prevail and grow continued to strengthen. This was truly a David and Goliath story and the thought of facing this giant competitor actually encouraged us.
In 2005 when Hong Kong Disneyland opened, it was not the fairy tale results everyone anticipated. Disneyland struggled and Ocean Park had the best year of performance in its history since opening in 1977. That trend continued for the next 12 years as Ocean Park saw annual attendance and revenue records broken with each consecutive year. It faced a giant competitor and emerged victorious.
Tell you more in the next chapter.
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