Visitors enter Shanghai Disneytown in Shanghai Disney Resort after they reopened on June 16, 2022. It was also the 6th anniversary of the opening of the resort (See story on Page 9). Photo: cnsphoto

Shanghai Disneyland will temporarily operate with a reduced workforce on Sunday as some staff were required to comply with COVID-9 epidemic prevention requirements. 

While some Chinese social media users commented that Shanghai Disney Resort had posted the notice late at night without clear clarifications on what reduced operation of "some experiences" meant for patrons, others hoped the park would soon resume normal operation. 

According to a notice posted on Shanghai Disney Resort's official website on Saturday, the resort will operate with reduced offerings on Sunday, with some experiences including Donald's Halloween Treat Cavalcade as well as select attractions and live entertainment unavailable, while Mickey's Storybook Express will be presented in a scaled back format.

The two resort hotels, Disneytown and Wishing Star Park, will continue to operate as usual. The notice said that refunds and exchanges will be provided, and the park will resume normal operations as soon staff numbers can be guaranteed. 

Affected by ongoing domestic COVID-19 outbreaks and other uncertainties, foreign theme parks are facing challenges.

For instance, Universal Beijing Resort did not make it into the top 10 travel destinations during this year's 7-day National Day holidays, while Beijing Happy Valley, a major amusement park in the city made the list with 280,000 visitors in total, the Beijing Daily reported on Saturday.  

Despite uncertainty, experts noted that China still has huge potential with solid market support for foreign theme parks, while these parks have helped drive local economic development.

China's population base, consumer market and future spending potential will allow foreign theme parks to continuously grow, while the parks can promote the development of the local tourism economy by attracting more tourists and offering job opportunities, Jiang Yiyi, deputy head of the School of Leisure Sports and Tourism under the Beijing Sport University, told the Global Times on Sunday.

According to a report by the China Tourism Academy in 2021, consumer spending linked to Shanghai Disney contributed an average of 0.21 percent to Shanghai's annual GDP growth from June 2016 to June 2019. Universal Beijing Resort meanwhile has driven the development of the park's surrounding supporting industries, with the revenue of culture, sports and entertainment industry above the scale in Tongzhou District, where the resort located, increasing by 367.4 percent year-on-year in 2021, yicai.com reported. 

Shanghai reported two new confirmed local COVID-19 cases and 19 asymptomatic infections on Saturday, the city's health authority said.  

The Shanghai Disneyland reopened on June 30 after suspending operations for 101 days during the financial hub's battle against a resurgence of COVID-19.