Hong Kong - Hong Kong Disneyland has been accused of cashing in on the swine-flu outbreak after offering cheap tickets to children who have to stay home from school in a bid by the government to stop the spread of the disease, news reports said Friday. The park is offering unlimited access to children from kindergartens, primary and special schools until June 30 for the price of 250 Hong Kong dollars (32 US dollars), the usual cost of a one-day ticket.
The offer, advertised on the park's website, began Friday, the first day a government-ordered school closure came into force and is targeted at the age range affected by the closure.
The Hong Kong government announced Thursday that 1,800 primary schools and kindergartens would close for two weeks after 12 pupils at one school were found to be infected with the H1N1 swine-flu virus in the first local cluster of cases.
The park said the special offer was in response to the two-week suspension of classes and was aimed at helping children fill in the time.
"Hong Kong Disneyland Resort has many open areas planted with over a million trees, which allow guests to enjoy fresh air," a Hong Kong Disneyland spokesman told the South China Morning Post.
However, education chief Micheal Suen said the special offer flouted the intention behind the closures which was to minimize the spread of infection by preventing the congregation of children.
Health Secretary York Chow said the government had informed Hong Kong Disneyland not to run the promotion.
"We have told Disney they should not use this moment to promote businesses. Our decision to suspend classes is to let the children stay at home instead of going out for fun. Children should try to stay home as much as possible," Chow was quoted as saying by the Hong Kong Standard.
Hong Kong Medical Association chairman Tse Hung-hing called the promotion "improper" saying there would be many opportunities for indirect contact and the spread of the virus at theme parks.
In defence of the promotion, a Disney spokeswoman said the park's 400-member hygiene team would be sanitizing areas and exhibits every 30 minutes.
Disneyland has launched a series of initiatives over the past 12 months, including cut-price tickets for poor families and special deals for tour groups from mainland China, in an attempt to boost visitor numbers after falling short of attendance targets since it opened in September 2005.
