Despite a decline in theme park attendance, Disney has recorded strong overall earnings following the release of its Q3 results.
Overall theme park revenue for the company increased 6.6 per cent to US$4.4bn (€3.9m, £3.4m), with spend per visitor increasing. Operating income also rose 8 per cent to US$994m (€888.4m, £759.6m), though those numbers were partially offset by a decrease for Disney’s overseas operations.
Internationally, Disney’s new Shanghai opening has been very successful so far, with the company reporting 95 per cent occupancy rates and visitors staying two hours longer on average than expected. Hong Kong Disneyland also saw improved results, though operating income was lower at Disneyland Paris.
“There've been some foreign exchange issues that we've seen, but – and clearly what's happened in Europe on the terrorism front has put a damper on the Paris results,” said Disney CEO Bob Iger, speaking during an earnings call. “I think the long-term trajectory of this business is quite strong.”
According to Disney, the timing of the Easter holiday was largely to blame for a 4 per cent drop year-on-year for Walt Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California. Because of the holiday falling in March, it was of benefit to Disney’s Q2 results rather than Q3.
Despite
Orlando facing a mire of problems, including a Brazilian recession, the Zika virus, Britain’s decision to leave the EU and fears over gun-related violence in the US, Iger said that overall international visitation so far hasn’t dropped significantly, though some markets are being affected.
“While there's a fair amount of concern about the international tourists, the mix of international tourists to our domestic parks hasn't really shifted that much,” said Iger.
“We've had shifts market-to-market. Brazil's had some big issues in the last year for instance. But the mix from international versus domestic attendance is basically in-line with what we've seen. Interestingly enough, Great Britain has been fairly strong, which given what's gone on there, particularly the headlines and the Brexit issue, you'd expect otherwise. But business is quite strong there."
