From the Front Line to the Big Picture: Culture, Leadership and the Guest-First Mindset
“No matter what role you are in, you always have to have your guests in mind. That's what we are ultimately here to do”
Alfred Poon
Park Experiences and Operations Manager
Ocean Park
13th May
Blog
5 min read
Alfred has spent his entire career at Ocean Park Hong Kong, starting as a Rides and Attractions Captain and working his way up to overseeing park-wide experiences and operations. In this chat he talks about what it really takes to lead in one of Asia's most distinctive markets, why culture shapes every operational decision, and why keeping the guest at the centre is the foundation of everything.
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You've built your entire career at Ocean Park, from Rides & Attractions Captain to overseeing park-wide experiences and operations. Looking back, which transition was the hardest, and what did it force you to unlearn?
For me, the hardest part was stepping away from the team. In operations, after a few years you build really strong relationships. So when you get promoted and move up the rank, you have to detach from that. And then when you're in a managing position, sometimes you have to make decisions where you know they will not be happy with. But deep inside, when you look at the big picture, you know it's something you have to do. A couple of decisions I've made in the past were really difficult, just because of that emotional connection with the team. That, I would say, is the biggest challenge for me.
Ocean Park sits in a market where guest expectations, safety standards, and cultural context can be distinct from Western parks. How does that shape the operational decisions that a park in Europe or the US might simply never face?
I'm fortunate that I’ve been able to visit a lot of parks worldwide, the US, the Middle East, and every time I travel, I try to bring something back, but what I realised is that culture plays a really big role in a lot of things.
I'll give you an example. When I first visited Orlando, a friend was driving me to CityWalk, and I watched how the parking lot worked. People just followed exactly the direction given by the traffic attendants, lane by lane, orderly. Once a lane filled up, they moved to the next one, and I thought, we couldn't do that in Hong Kong. It's just human nature, people will naturally go to the closest spot to the entrance. Nothing wrong with that, but in doing that it stops the traffic flow. Someone has to stop, reverse, park, and everyone behind has to wait.
"You really need to adapt to your group of guests. The guest mix plays a big role in how we do the decision making."
Same thing happens inside the park. We deploy our staff differently depending on who is actually walking through the gates that day. During a Chinese public holiday, we know we'll have a large number of mainland Chinese tour groups coming through, and for many of those guests, it’s their first theme park experience. The park ticket was included in their tour package, and they’re open to being guided. We actually use that to our advantage. We guide those groups towards our large capacity animal exhibits or quieter attractions first, where they can take their time and get the most out of the park without the pressure of crowds. We also deploy extra staff at popular attractions to manage queue behaviour.
During summer, when the majority are international travellers or local Hong Kong people, we do things differently. The guest mix shapes every operational decision we make.
When something goes wrong mid-operation and the clock is ticking, what does good decision-making actually look like from where you sit, and how have you built a team that can do it without you being present?
I always tell the team, no matter what you do, no matter if you're a ride operator, a ticketing attendant, whatever role you are in the park, you always must have your guests in mind. That's what we are ultimately here to do. You may be a ride operator, but at the end of the day you are here to give a wonderful experience to your guests. So no matter what decision you make, always have your guests in your mind.
"First, sort out the guest issue. Everything else can wait. Once the guest is settled and they're happy, then you look back at the issue and say okay, what was happening, what went wrong, but always handle the guest issue first".
A lot of training goes into that. I'm also responsible for ride operator licensing in the park, and I use that as a chance to really test where their head is at. I'll give them a situational question and wait to see what they say. A lot of the time they'll go straight to procedure, call the duty manager, report how many guests are on the ride, explain what happened, and every time I stop them and say no, you go check on the guest first. Make sure they're safe, make sure they're not scared. The full report can wait. It's through that kind of constant repetition that you slowly shift the mindset, getting them to think about the guest experience before anything else.
Technology is reshaping park operations, but implementation is often where the ambition meets resistance. What's an innovation Ocean Park has adopted, and what did that teach you?
I won't say we do a lot of fancy innovative things, at least not in my department. But one thing I've learned is that when you introduce something new to the team, the easiest way to get them to adapt and accept that change is to show them what the benefits are for them. Because a lot of times, especially when you have operators who have been around the park for 10 to 20 years, they are so used to what they're doing. When somethings not broke, don't fix it. So when you try to introduce something new, you've got to show them what's in it for them. If they don't see the benefit, it's natural for them to resist.
On the other hand, our guests are adapting to new technologies too. So sometimes even if you want to stay where you are, you just have to accept that new technologies are coming. Changes are needed.
The biggest takeaway is, it's more about explaining why the change is necessary than explaining how to do it. Once they understand that, they are more accepting.
"It's more about explaining why the change is necessary than explaining how to do it. Once they understand that, they are more accepting."
For someone starting in frontline operations today, what actually separates the people who move into leadership from those who don't?
Definitely the mindset. When you're on the front line, it's easy to think too much about yourself, too much "me" instead of "us", and you can tell a lot about someone by how they talk. If they're always asking what's the benefit for me, rather than what's the benefit for the team, that tells me straight away where their head is at.
As you move up the rank, you're taking care of a lot more than just your own ride or your own small team. You need to be able to look at the bigger picture and say, I may not like this, but I know it's for the greater good. That ability is really hard to teach. Other skills you can learn as you go, soft skills you can pick up along the way, but mindset is different.
So that's always the first thing I look for, how does this person speak, how do they look at things, can they think beyond themselves. That's what separates the ones who move up.
"Other skills you can learn as you go, but it's really hard to change someone's mindset. You have to be able to look at the big picture, even when you don't like what you see."
When guests leave after a great day, which part of what made it great, would surprise them most to know was deliberate?
I would say our landscaping. And I think that genuinely surprises people.
Every park has its strengths. Ours is the setting. We are one of the very few parks in the world actually built on top of a mountain, right next to the coastline. We have attractions where you can see the ocean, and our landscaping team puts enormous effort into blending the attractions into the nature around them, making the park feel like it belongs in that environment. That is something you just don't always see in other parks.
Education and conservation is another big thing we do.
"We don't just want guests to leave with a smile. We want them to walk away with something they can remember, knowledge, an experience, something that stays with them."
That side of what we do takes a lot of deliberate effort from our team, and most guests probably don't realise how intentional it all is.
Final Thoughts
Alfred's perspective is a reminder that great park operations aren't just about what guests can see, it's the decisions they never notice that make the difference. Keep the guest first, understand your audience, and never underestimate how hard it is to shift a mindset. The rest you can figure out along the way.
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