As Hong Kong charts a course toward a sustainable “blue economy”, how is Ocean Park anchoring the city’s future in marine conservation, tourism, and education?

 

Hong Kong’s future is turning back toward the sea. Policy discussions around Island South, yacht tourism, and waterfront revitalisation all point toward renewed interest in the blue economy, a term used to describe the oceans and seas as an engine of growth.

According to the World Bank, the blue economy is the “sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and jobs, while preserving the health of the ocean ecosystem.” In Hong Kong, the term covers industries such as shipping, marine services, fisheries and aquaculture, marine conservation, coastal tourism and recreation.

In conversations with Youth Hong Kong, Paulo Pong, Chairman of the Board of Ocean Park Corporation, shares his perspectives on Ocean Park in coastal development and an economy built on marine tourism, as well as the role of ocean education.

Paulo Pong, Chairman of the Board of Ocean Park Corporation, shares his perspectives on Ocean Park in coastal development and an economy built on marine tourism, as well as the role of ocean education.

Gift to Hong Kong

Since opening in 1977, Ocean Park has been part of the city’s coastline story. Perched above Aberdeen and facing the South China Sea, it was never meant to be just a theme park, but a place for conservation, education, and recreation and, perhaps, a reminder of the city’s maritime treasures.

Pong described the Ocean Park as “a gift to the Hong Kong people.” At a time when Hong Kong’s middle class was expanding, he says, families needed public spaces for weekends.

The Hong Kong Ocean Park, while unique in combining amusement park elements and its iconic giant pandas, is not alone in balancing marine conservation and education. Singapore Oceanarium, as one of the world’s largest aquariums, advances regional ocean research through ocean observatories and coral propagation. Okinawa, which is held up as an “ocean tourism” success story, also sees institutions such as the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium contributing to research while participating in reef-restoration work.

The Park began as an oceanarium with rides and animals, but its operational logic was built on something meaningful: reconnecting visitors to nature and the ocean.

For many Hong Kong children, the place is about their first encounter with the living ocean. “Even though we’re surrounded by the ocean in Hong Kong, you don’t see wildlife such as dolphins, sea lions, seals, etc” Pong notes. Ocean Park, in this sense, functions like a social thread, weaving between city life and sea life.

Ocean Park’s conservation and education efforts

Marine Tourism

Yet Ocean Park does not operate in an ecological vacuum. It sits within a tourism economy shaped by growing regional competition, fluctuating visitor numbers, and post-pandemic recovery. The temptation, he warns, is to measure success purely by headcount.

“I don’t think it’s wise to go after big numbers. We need to look for the right audience and find the right tourists to come to Hong Kong to enjoy what we have now,” he says.

Serving multiple roles in film and the art industries, he suggests that the future of Hong Kong’s tourism industry is a more targeted, diversified tourism mix, such as concerts at new venues, arts and culture, and crucially, nature-based experiences that spread visitors beyond the usual mega shopping malls.

The broader city faces similar tensions in attracting visitors post-pandemic. Hong Kong in 2025 welcomed 49.9 million visitors, which is still below the pre-pandemic peak of about 65 million in 2018. The 2024 Policy Address highlights yacht tourism as a new growth area, with the development focus to attract international yachts and encourage overseas visitors to buy yachts in Hong Kong and sail them here for travel. Its tourism policy also emphasises better use of islands and coastline resources, especially marine tourism. China’s recently concluded annual meetings of its top legislature and political advisory body in March, known as Two Sessions, also highlighted high-quality development and protection of marine resources.

Blue Future Through Education

As one of the most important tourist attractions in Hong Kong, Pong hopes the Park, while remaining an indispensable part of local residents’ memory, will provide tourists with the same joy and fun, and most importantly, educational values.

While expanding marine experiences raises difficult ecological questions on how to balance economic growth with environmental conservation, Pong’s answer is consistent: biodiversity must remain a priority, animal welfare must be taught, and education must underpin development. The solution, he thinks, “always lies in education” of children, parents and adults alike.

Ocean Park’s education work is not confined to visitors listening to the narrations in the aquarium. Pong speaks of a school alliance of around 700 schools, with programmes designed each year for school ambassadors, reaching over 14,000 students through the Ocean Park Conservation Alliance and Seahorse Rangers programmes. The goal is to move conservation from a one-off field trip into experiential learning, where students learn not only biology, but also what personal responsibility looks like in a modern city.

The Park also offers opportunities for older youth. Examples include various programmes which offer university students experience as education ambassadors, sharing animal and conservation knowledge with the public, participating in activities from events to eco-tours, and building soft skills such as presentation and communication.

And crucially, Pong emphasises taking conservation outside the Park. Since an ordinance amendment in 2021, Ocean Park has been able to do more external work, including consulting services off-site and even using a small boat to remove rubbish at sea. The Park works closely with local marine start-up Archireef, supporting research and monitoring of artificial reef tiles designed to regenerate damaged coral ecosystems.

Most recently, Ocean Park Corporation and The Coral Academy at the School of Life Sciences of The Chinese University of Hong Kong signed a Memorandum of Understanding to solidify joint efforts in scientific collaboration, education, capacity building and public awareness for marine conservation, with a special focus on corals.

Near the end of our interview, Pong encourages young people to discover their interest in the ocean through all means, including water sports.

“Go to the beaches. Go to the seashores. Touch the water,” he says. Water sports such as sailing and diving, he suggests, allow young people to experience the sea without exploiting it.

If Hong Kong’s blue economy is to succeed, it will depend not only on marinas or visitor statistics, but also on whether the next generation understands that the ocean is not a backdrop to the city’s success. ■