Disneyland 'posts record earnings in Q1 of 2024'
Hong Kong Disneyland Resort on Tuesday said it achieved record-breaking earnings in the first quarter of 2024, boosted by the opening of its "World of Frozen" attraction last November.  "The first quarter of 2024 was our most successful quarter ever, achieving record-level revenues, [Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization] and net income. These results are our continued focus on creating the best place to work for our amazing cast members in the power of Disney brand and franchises," said the resort's managing director Michael Moriarty.   Disneyland also noted its net loss had shrunk by 83 percent to HK$356 million in the fiscal year of October 2022 to September 2023 while year-on-year revenue grew by 156 percent to HK$5.7 billion.  The park attributed the boost to a strong rebound in both local and non-local travellers.  Total attendance last year grew by 87 percent to 6.4 million with the number of local visitors reaching a record-high, the company said, and a rebound in mainland China visitors was particularly strong, but there was also growth in visitor numbers from Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines.    Disneyland had operated at a loss for nine fiscal years in a row, but Moriarty highlighted that the park actually turned profitable if the number was calculated from January to December 2023.  “When we look at the fiscal year, I think you have to really look at it in two ways - there’s a lot of old news in there, and our losses that we suffered as a result of Covid are very similar to those during the previous years during Covid that everyone suffered through,” he said.  “But as soon as the masks came off, our business took off. And literally, immediately out of the gate, we started to out-pace the market's recovery. And that's when we really started to turn profitable right away, in the summer of last fiscal year.” He added that demand for the resort’s three hotels was also recovering strongly, with a more than 90 percent booking rate observed in the first three months of 2024.