Profile... Mickey Mouse no match for Hong Kong pioneer

Allan Zeman may be the least plausible bus driver in the world. But that, insists the sharply-dressed entrepreneur, is how he sees his role at the forefront of Hong Kong’s efforts to maintain its appeal in the new millennium.

Zeman is in charge of two of the city’s key tourist attractions — Lan Kwai Fong, and the newly resurgent Ocean Park. And despite pointing out that his world consists only of first-class — “I don’t do business or economy” — bus travel figures predominantly in a description of his own particular role. “There’s many people sitting on a bus, but without the bus driver, the bus is not moving,” he explains. “I guess I’m that bus driver — I have a vision, and I surround myself with creative people.”

So far, it is a vision that is reaping rich rewards for Zeman and for Hong Kong. After spending more than 20 years building Lan Kwai Fong into a major entertainment hub, Zeman turned his attention to the ailing Ocean Park theme park in 2003. In less than two years, the attraction staged a stunning turnaround, upsetting the doubters — including a particularly famous mouse.

“Disney has the fake mouse, but Ocean Park has the real mouse,” says Zeman, a reference to the stuttering US park which arrived on Hong Kong’s shores in 2005. Disneyland’s arrival prompted widespread anticipation of Ocean Park’s closure, before former Hong Kong chief executive Tung-chee Hwa persuaded Zeman to take on a difficult task.

“It was looking tired and it was really dilapidated when I first came there,” recollects Zeman. “I was able to get at the heartstrings of the local population because I realised how important Ocean Park was to the local community — I gave them a reason to go back.”

By focusing on Ocean Park’s core values of animals, conservation and education, Zeman was able to successfully differentiate the attraction from Disneyland, and re-ignite what was, at that point, a dormant brand.

Added gusto, meanwhile, came in the form of Zeman’s very public willingness to don a range of outlandish costumes — Bob the Builder, a jellyfish and a shining blue gown to name just three — to publicise the park’s critical events component.

“It’s part of the branding,” says Zeman, admitting that the strategy has drawn comparisons with his “good friend” Richard Branson.

“Theme parks are about fun and entertainment, so you want to bring them into a world that’s leaving everything else behind. By dressing up, it’s really showing the public what to expect. Obviously, if I was marketing a bank, I wouldn’t be dressing that way.”

In many ways, Zeman’s success with Ocean Park is not all that different from his work at Lan Kwai Fong — where he transformed a refuse collection point into one of the world’s most famous entertainment districts.

Indeed, an apparent simplification of the branding process is a theme he returns to often, an area of some importance given the rise of regional tourism competitors such as Macau and Singapore.

“Creating an area whether it’s a theme park or LKF, it’s understanding who your customer is, what they want and what they like,” explains Zeman, who credits his roots in the fashion business for fuelling a spirit of restless creativity. “Fashion changes six times a year, and it’s all about marketing and branding — when you come into doing an area, it’s not dissimilar.”

At Ocean Park, for example, Zeman recruited a team of 15 designers from across the globe to redevelop the attraction. If there is a Zeman blueprint, this may be it: by surrounding himself with young, creative talent, he notes that he is able to “think ahead all the time”.

So while Zeman’s dizzying array of interests includes the likes of property development, F&B, film production, theme parks and gaming, for him it is all fuelled by the creative impulse.  

It is a focus which can — at times — appear almost limitless, including, as it does, a gentle exhortation to this writer to “find your own style”. But all of Zeman’s artistic leanings should not detract from a business edge that few would describe as anything less than hard-nosed.

“Doing design is one thing, but you have to make sure it’s financially viable,” he admits. “You might say it’s philanthropic, but it’s important for Hong Kong.”

Allan Zeman's CV

2003 Chairman, Ocean Park Hong Kong
1996 Chairman, Lan Kwai Fong Group
1983 Founder, California Entertainments
1975 Founder, Colby International Group