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Following is a question by the Hon Gary Fan Kwok-wai and a written reply by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Tsang Tak-sing, in the Legislative Council today (November 21):
Question:
Regarding the Public Swimming Pool Monthly Ticket Scheme (the Scheme) launched by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department in the swimming season this year, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective numbers of monthly tickets sold at full fare and with half-rate concession so far;
(b) whether it has compiled statistics or conducted any study on the utilisation of the monthly tickets (e.g. the frequency of utilisation or in which sessions they were used); if it has not, of the reasons for that;
(c) whether it has assessed if the Scheme has increased the utilisation rate of the swimming pools; if such assessment has been made, of the outcome; whether any swimming pool had to suspend admission of swimmers because the number of swimmers admitted had reached its maximum capacity; and
(d) whether it will consider lowering the price of the monthly tickets so as to attract more members of the public to use such tickets; if it will not, of the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) introduced the Public Swimming Pool Monthly Ticket Scheme on July 5, 2012 with the aim of relieving the financial burden on regular swimmers, especially elderly swimmers, and to encourage public participation in sport.
Ticket holders are entitled to unlimited use of all public swimming pools under the management of the LCSD (except the Wan Chai Swimming Pool, which is designated for group training) during public sessions within one month of the effective date of the ticket.
The monthly tickets, priced at $300 each, went on sale on June 21, 2012. Senior citizens aged 60 or above, people with disabilities and their minders (on a one-to-one basis), children aged between three and 13, and full-time students have a half-price concession and can purchase the monthly ticket for $150.
My reply to the four parts of the question is as follows:
(a) From June 21, 2012, when the public swimming pool monthly tickets went on sale, to the end of October, LCSD had sold 30 970 tickets, of which 11 374 were sold at full price and 19 596 at half price.
(b) Up to the end of October, LCSD had sold over 30 000 monthly tickets, half of which were bought by senior citizens aged 60 or above. On average, ticket holders visited public swimming pools 22 times a month, mostly in the first session of the day (from 6.30am to noon). The number of admissions during that session made up about 68% of the total number of admissions using monthly tickets.
(c) According to LCSD records, the total attendance at public swimming pools from July to September this year was about 5.1 million, an increase of 6.3% (about 300 000) compared to the corresponding period last year. During these three months, there were 149 sessions that reached maximum capacity, which is about 1.5% of the total number of public sessions, similar to the corresponding period last year. At present, public swimming pools have sufficient capacity to accommodate the increase in admission resulting from the introduction of the monthly ticket. The increase in patronage has not led to a situation whereby admission of swimmers to any swimming pool has had to be suspended due to the pool reaching maximum capacity.
(d) By the end of October, LCSD had sold more than 30 000 public swimming pool monthly tickets, of which 37% were sold at full price and the remaining 63% at half price, indicating that the current pricing of the monthly tickets can meet the aims of easing the financial burden on regular swimmers and encouraging public participation in sport.
LCSD will review the monthly ticket scheme having regard to the usage and operation of swimming pools and the number of monthly tickets sold, and will consider ways of encouraging more members of the public to buy monthly tickets.
Ends/Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Issued at HKT 11:31
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