Ocean Park is reopening this weekend and entry for your kids is our favorite F word: free.
Until July 31, children aged 11 or below can enjoy free entry to the park while adults can purchase tickets at 30% off, or $350, and receive the equivalent in cash vouchers for spending at restaurants and souvenir shops.
Bonus perk? Now that the coronavirus outbreak—the park has been closed since January—has finally given the park’s resident giant pandas the privacy needed to get hot and heavy for the first time in over a decade, you just might be able to catch some intimate scenes between Ying Ying and Le Le. (You know, if you’re into that kind of stuff.)
READ MORE: Ocean Park’s pandas mate naturally for the first time after 10-year dry spell
Authorities announced yesterday that the park would reopen this weekend with public health measures including a cap on visitor numbers and compulsory masking for all guests. Visitors will also have to book in advance.
“I have no concern that Ocean Park will not be able to bring in local tourists, if anything, I’m afraid there will be lots of queues because people will be going there and enjoying themselves,” said Chairman of the Tourism Board, Pang Yiu-kai.
The reopening offer is the park’s attempt to recover its reputation as a cash-strapped attraction that has seen declining visitor numbers in recent years.
Last month, authorities approved a HK$5.4 billion (US$697 million) cash injection for Ocean Park even as both pan-democrat and pro-establishment lawmakers agreed that the park is not worth saving. Some said the vast land that the park occupies would be better off used to build public housing estates for the city.
But there are signs that the park’s reopening offer is winning some Hongkongers over—according to the website, tickets for the next two weekends and some weekdays are all sold out.
