Morale crisis shakes HK's House of Mouse

Since its launch in September last year, Hong Kong Disneyland has had a difficult time casting its spell over the local media and, more importantly, the public, with a communications directive which appears to talk up the good, while remaining tightlipped about the bad.

Shuffling from one PR crisis to another, the park has weathered storms of controversy over the serving of shark's fin soup, an initial lack of cooperation between officials from the park and Government food and hygiene officers, the pollution from the nightly fireworks show and the Lunar New Year ticketing fiasco, among others.

There has been growing discontent among some cast and crew members over working conditions and a significant disillusionment among sections of the marketing and communications teams, reportedly over the park's management. At least four senior marketing executives have departed recently. Disney has remained tightlipped about the reasons for their departure, offering the anticipated, 'good job, well done' farewell to the media.

Often regarded as a difficult PR communicator during difficult times, experts — media and industry alike — have lambasted the brand for what they say is a lack of corporate transparency and accountability, especially considering Disneyland received significant funding for the development from the SAR Govern- ment and, ultimately, Hong Kong's taxpayers. And then there's the reticence from park chiefs to release official attendance figures, a decision which only serves to fuel an increasingly cynical public.

Whether Disneyland can turn its fortunes around in the face of renewed competition from Hong Kong incumbent Ocean Park remains to be seen. If the first rule of good public relations is openness and transparency, Disneyland chiefs will need to pull a rabbit out of the magic hat to pass the test. Clearly there are many satisfied consumers who have visited the park, and will no doubt continue to visit in the future. But can the theme park continue to ignore a growing scepticism about the corporate objectives of the House of Mouse?