HONG KONG, Feb 18: Hong Kong’s struggling Disneyland said on Monday it made a profit in 2012 for the first time since opening eight years ago, thanks to a surge in revenue as it welcomed a record number of visitors.

The park made HK$109 million ($14.06m) in the fiscal year ending September 29, 2012, compared with a net loss of HK$237m the year before.

The result was fuelled by a 13 per cent jump in attendance to a record 6.73m people, providing relief for the resort, which has been battling lower-than-expected numbers since opening in 2005. Visits by Hong Kong residents posted a record growth of 21 per cent while visits by mainland visitors expanded by 13 per cent. Revenue meanwhile grew 18 per cent to HK$4.27 billion.

“We are all very excited about the milestone that we have achieved. This is a very significant milestone,” Hong Kong Disneyland Resort’s managing director Andrew Kam told reporters.

“We have seen the business has turned a corner. This is very, very encouraging and exciting among our leaders and our shareholders.” Kam said the turnaround was not easy given the park’s route to profit was slowed by the financial crisis, as well as the 2009 swine flu and bird flu outbreak which saw travel demand fall.

Hong Kong Disneyland, which is majority owned by the city’s government, has been desperate to ramp up the number and quality of its attractions as it seeks to lure more visitors while facing stiff competition from local rival Ocean Park.—AFP