- Tourism management dynamics visualized from the case study

The world’s tourism is undergoing changes all the time, influenced by economics,
political circumstances, climate and natural or artificial disasters (Holloway, 2009). We
can summarize some trends from these changes, thus the management and planning of
tourism business and destinations be altered accordingly. We could visualize the
tourism management dynamics in this case study from the following aspects:
 Tourism marketing has evolved to emphasize tailor-made products that meet the
demands of consumers rather than the classic product-centered approach (Buhalis,
2006). Traditional marketing orientations will give place to consumer-centered
marketing. In the case study, the Hong Kong Government and Tourism Commission
noted one of the most important benefits of HK Disneyland is to raise local business’s
quality of customer service using Disney’s reputation for creativity and customer
service.
 The future success of the tourism industry will depend on the way destinations are
managed and planned. The quality of the infrastructure, facilities and amenities are
considered critically important. In Hong Kong Disneyland, even though the HK
government paid 90% of the initial investment into the park, it is up to the Disney
Corporation to maintain the running operation of the park. This is in order to use their
world leading management experience and knowledge. Hong Kong government was
very enthusiastic and positive about this park, and provided great help in a number of
ways to ensure its success, such as financial support, providing enough land for
expanding, restriction of the height for nearby building, restrictions on flights over the
site, a rail shuttle to the park, etc.

- How the dynamics are relevant

Koldowski (2006) believed there are 7 dominant forces affecting the Asia Pacific
travel and tourism industry, which included the political environment, changing
demographics, and an improving level of disposable income, etc. The above mentioned
three dynamics points all contributed to the planning and building of the Hong Kong
 Disneyland. In order to enhance HK’s international image as a vibrant cosmopolitan city
leading its regional competitors such as Singapore, Shanghai and Beijing, the HK
government performed very actively and enthusiastically to build the HK Disneyland,
and provided all manner of support to assure its requirements and success. After Hong
Kong returned to China in 1997, it has gotten easier for the mainland people to visit
Hong Kong. According to the statistics, there was a 50 percent increase of mainland
Chinese tourists visiting Hong Kong comparing 2002 to 2001, and the increase has kept
rising steadily and rapidly (Lew, 2003). Also, because of the fast economic growth of
China, it is shown that the mainland tourists are spending on average HK $5169
(1HKD=0.12AUD) in 2001, more than any other market.
Thus, we can see Hong Kong Disneyland was built under the need of Asian market,
especially the Chinese market after going through a long and well planned progress. It
is the result of the dynamics development in that area.

- Reservations about the need for applying such dynamics

Even though Hong Kong Disneyland has attendance rose 13% to 5.2 million from 4.6
million, and it had more than 25 million visitors from its opening in September 2005 to
the end of December 2010 (Yung, 2011), there is a potential competition to Hong Kong
because Walt Disney Corporation has signed a formal agreement with Shanghai
municipal government in November 2010 to build a theme park in the city (Zhao, 2010).
It is estimated Shanghai Disneyland will be finished and open to public in 2014, and then
it will be a strong competitor to HK Disneyland for attracting mainland tourists.
This proved the unpredictable character of tourism at a local site level (Zahra, 2006).
To build a Disneyland in Shanghai has been a plan since the 1990’s, but the application
was deferred for several years, and doubts remained whether it was going to be built
until November 2010. It is right for us to apply the dynamics to re-adjust or change our
management of destination, business and projects, but we have to be aware that
tourism is very unpredictable and changeable. When the unexpected situation appears,
 as a manager, you have to respond quickly and change your management strategy to
adjust, achieving sustainable tourism in the end.

- Case study finished before the destination attraction was built

This case study was published in 2004 while Hong Kong Disneyland didn’t open until
September 2005. The case study logically explained each and every stage of the business
case until 2004, and the evolution of the business happened after that couldn’t be
referred to.
On 30 June 2009, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong announced that the expansion of
Hong Kong Disneyland had been approved by the Executive Council. The park will
receive three new themed lands (Wong, 2009) and the expansion will be finished in
2014. Meanwhile, Walt Disney Corporation has signed a formal agreement with the
Shanghai municipal government in November 2010 to build a theme park in the city
with the earliest possible opening date of 2014. Hong Kong Disneyland must respond for
these huge changes which unfortunately couldn’t be included in this case study.

- Bibliography
Buhalis, D. & Costa, C. (2006). Tourism management dynamics: trends, management and tools.
Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford.

Holloway, C., Humphreys, C. & Davidson, R. (2009). The business of tourism. Pearson Education
Limited, Essex.

Koldowski, J. & Yoo, J. (2006). Seven dominant forces affecting Asia Pacific travel and tourism
industry. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 20, 2, 75-78.

Law, A., Yu, L., Ap, J. & Zhang, G. (2003). Tourism in China. Haworth Hospitality Press, New York.
Wong, L. (2009). Groundbreaking Ceremony Celebrates Hong Kong Disneyland Expansion.
Retrieved 29th March 2011, from http://news-
en.hongkongdisneyland.com/PressReleases/PressReleaseDetail.aspx?AssetId=035f469b-1ca8-
4146-ac2e-85aa1a6ff2de

Yung, C. (2011). Visitors up at Hong Kong Disneyland. Retrieved 29th March 2011, from
http://blogs.wsj.com/hong-kong/2011/01/18/visitors-up-at-hong-kong-disneyland/

Zahra, A. & Ryan, C. (2007). From chaos to cohesion—Complexity in tourism structures: An

analysis of New Zealand’s regional tourism organizations. Tourism Management, 28, 854-862.

Zhao, T. (2010). Formal agreement signed between Walt Disney and Shendi Corporation, and
Shanghai Disneyland is launched today. Retrieved 29th March 2011, from
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