Events

18 May 2016

6:00pm – 7:15pm (light refreshments will be offered after the talk)

LT4, 2/F, Yasumoto International Academic Park, CUHK (within 5 minutes’ walk from the University MTR Station)

Mr. Tom Mehrmann, Chief Executive of Ocean Park Corporation

Mr. Tom Mehrmann is the Chief Executive of Ocean Park Corporation, Hong Kong’s marine life and animal theme park, which hosts more than seven million visitors annually. Founded in 1977, Ocean Park is a not-for-profit statutory body.

Mr. Mehrmann started his career in the theme park industry in 1977 at Knott’s Berry Farm in the United States as a sweeper, cleaning the Park grounds. From there, he spent the next 21 years progressively working through various management and leadership roles, eventually becoming Vice President of Park Operations and Entertainment in 1996.

In 1998, he joined Six Flags Marine World as Vice President and General Manager, and later accepted an appointment as VP and GM of Warner Brothers Movie World in Madrid, Spain, when the park was taken over by Six Flags in 2000. He was responsible for the design, development, construction and operation of Madrid Movie World, which opened in April 2002.

Since joining Ocean Park in 2004, he has directed the activities of the Park to achieve eleven record-breaking years of attendance or revenue and surplus, while leading the effort of defining the HK$5.55 billion Master Redevelopment Plan (MRP) for the future Ocean Park. The 6-year MRP broke ground in late 2006 and was completed in July 2012 on time, on budget and with exceptional quality. Not only did the MRP successfully transform Hong Kong’s People Park into a leading world-class family travel destination, it also enabled us to achieve new heights in attendance. During the 2014/15 fiscal year, the Park has recorded its third-highest ever annual attendance.

Highlighting the growth and evolution of Ocean Park under Mr. Mehrmann’ s direction, the Park became the first Asia recipient of the prestigious “Applause Award” in November 2012, the most significant recognition within the global attractions industry recognizing a theme park for its foresight, originality and sound business development. The industry authorities, Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) and AECOM, in the 2014 TEA/AECOM Global Attractions Attendance Report, ranked Ocean Park Hong Kong as the world’s number 13, Asia Pacific’s number four, and China’s number one, theme park in terms of annual attendance.

In 2008/2009, Mr. Mehrmann was named the “CEO of The Year” in the Asia Pacific Customer Relationship Excellence Award. In 2007, Mr. Mehrmann was presented with the Executive Award of the DHL/SCMP Hong Kong Business Awards 2007. He was also named Director of the Year by the Hong Kong Institute of Directors in 2006.

Mr. Mehrmann also devotes efforts to the community and to promoting tourism development in Hong Kong by serving in the following positions under the organizations below:

• Member of the Advisory Committee on Hotel & Tourism Management of the School of Hotel & Tourism Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Aug 1, 2012 to Jul 31, 2014) 
• Committee Member of the Travel/Tourism Committee of the Hong Kong Coalition of Service Industries, Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce 
• Member of the Hong Kong Employers’ Federation of Hong Kong 
• Member of the American Chamber of Commerce
• Advisory Committee Member of the Tourism Orientation Programme of the Hong Kong Tourism Board
• Member of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions Foundation 
• Member of the HKSAR Public Affairs Forum 

A graduate of the California State University, Fullerton, Mr. Mehrmann holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology. He also completed the Advanced Courses organized by IAAPA in Theme Park Management at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.

Please register online at http://www6.baf.cuhk.edu.hk/eform/view.php?id=111229

3943 4718; maggieching@baf.cuhk.edu.hk (Ms. Ching)

Ocean Park has been a leader in the theme park industry for annual attendance, guest experience and exceptional results in conservation, education and entertainment for the last 12 years. Mr. Tom Mehrmann, Chief Executive of Ocean Park, will share with attendees the key global trends, which are impacting the theme park industry and shaping Ocean Park management decisions for strategic planning. Likewise, he will share how the global trends are being applied to ensure Ocean Park is always culturally relevant to the markets it serves, while remaining fluid and responsive to market and guest needs that occur at a relatively quick rate of transition and transformation.

Organiser: Alumni and Corporate Affairs Office, CUHK Business School For further details, please refer to http://alumni.bschool.cuhk.edu.hk/en-gb/events/upcomingevents.aspx?udt_428_param_detail=15321