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Following is the question by the Hon Ronny TONG and a written reply by the Secretary for Economic Development and Labour, Mr Stephen Ip, in the Legislative Council today (March 22):
Question
According to the findings of a research, people vacationing on mega cruise ships are on a rise and cruise travelling has become a world trend. It is expected that the number of cruise travellers will increase up to 100% in the next 15 years. Also, cities may lose over half of their market share in cruise industry in the next 10 years if their ports and terminals cannot accommodate mega cruise ships. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a)of the number and trend of visitors visiting Hong Kong by cruise ships over the past three years, and the authorities' measures to increase the number of such visitors;
(b)of the current utilization rate of the cruise terminal in Hong Kong, when the terminal is expected to reach its maximum uptake, and whether there are any corresponding measures to cope with such situation; and
(c)whether it has conducted an overall and comprehensive assessment on the supporting hardware in Hong Kong for developing cruise industry, in order to maintain or even raise Hong Kong's competitiveness in this regard?
Reply
Madam President,
(a)According to the information provided by the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), the total cruise passenger throughput and the trend in the past three years are as follows ﷿
2003 2004 2005
Total cruise 260,614(-9.8%) 314,482(+20.7%) 324,783(+3.3%)
passenger
throughput
(The above figures do not include HK residents)
At present, the Ocean Terminal is the only cruise terminal in Hong Kong. Whenever there are cruise ships arriving in Hong Kong which cannot berth at the Ocean Terminal or have conflicting schedules with the Ocean Terminal, we will assist them in making alternative berthing arrangements. To increase the number of cruise visitors to Hong Kong, the HKTB is co-organising joint promotion with cruise liners and their designated travel agents on fly-cruise visits to Hong Kong. The HKTB conducts presentations, seminars and mega events, etc. to update the cruise travel agents on Hong Kong﷿s new tourism facilities and activities from time to time. It also invites senior executives of major cruise liners to Hong Kong for familiarisation visits.
The HKTB also attends major international tourism trade shows, including the annual "Seatrade Cruise Shipping Convention" in Florida of the United States. This convention is a leading event of the world cruise industry gathering global buyers and suppliers of the cruise industry. In 2006, the HKTB will join forces with other destinations for the third consecutive year to market the Asian region to international cruise liners. To enhance cruise visitors' experience upon their arrival, the HKTB arranges special meet-and-greet service. For example, welcoming activities were arranged for the passengers of Nautica in January 2006.
(b) & (c)According to the 䩕Study on Cruise Terminal Facilities Development in Hong Kong 2004蒅 (the Study) commissioned by the Tourism Commission, a cruise terminal is normally not berthed with cruise ships every day. It often has weekly, monthly and seasonal peaks. Therefore, the general standard for measuring whether a cruise terminal has reached its maximum capacity is 75% of the annual maximum capacity of the cruise terminal.
Currently, the Ocean Terminal is operated by a private company. According to the information provided by that company, the annual average berth utilisation rate of the Ocean Terminal has increased from 71% in 2003 to 76% in 2005.
During recent peak seasons, cruise ships have had to make use of alternative berthing arrangements due to conflicting schedules at the Ocean Terminal. According to the requests for assistance received by the Government and the HKTB from the cruise liners or their designated travel agents, there have been at least 10 occasions since 1999 when cruise ships needed to make alternative berthing arrangements, such as berthing mid-stream and barging in the Hong Kong harbour. Besides, since the structural capacity of the Ocean Terminal can only accommodate cruise ships up to a maximum of 50,000 displacement tons, it cannot support the berthing of some mega cruise ships. Due to this reason, arrangements were made four times in 2005 for such mega cruise ships to berth at the Kwai Chung Container Terminal. We know that similar arrangement has to be made for another four mega cruise ships in the near future.
In view of the international trend to build mega cruise ships, it is clear that without a new cruise terminal, cruise liners will have to continue to rely on the above berthing facilities at the container terminal or berthing mid-stream in the Hong Kong harbour, if they still wish to include Hong Kong in their itineraries, or they may skip Hong Kong altogether. According to the Study, international cruise liners are considering stepping up their operations in Asia, which is considered to be a major cruise market. It is estimated that the demand for berthing facilities is expected to grow. The Study also points out that Hong Kong will require an additional berth as soon as possible to satisfy the market need, and one to two more berths beyond 2015 to sustain its development as a regional cruise hub.
In view of the above, the Government will expedite the development of new cruise terminal facilities. On the one hand, we will accelerate the timetable of Kai Tak Planning Review as far as possible. On the other, we invited interested parties to submit Expressions of Interest (EOI) at the end of last year, in order to ascertain whether there are suitable and feasible locations other than Kai Tak for development of new cruise terminal facilities before 2011. We received six suggestions. The Government﷿s inter-departmental working group is carefully examining the six suggestions, based on the criteria set out in the EOI﷿s Invitation Document. The Government will inform the Legislative Council and the public of the result of the EOI exercise and the progress of the development of new cruise terminal facilities after completion of the EOI evaluation. If any of the suggestions can meet the requirements of the Government, we will follow the normal procedures and put the site out for competitive bidding after public consultation. If no suggestion can meet our requirements, the Government will proceed at full speed with the development of the new cruise terminal at Kai Tak.
Ends/Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Issued at HKT 11:45
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