Asia/Pacific News
Hong Kong Wants More Cruise Ship Traffic
Hong Kong's tourism officials are pushing for more cruise line visits to the city-state as they prepare for the opening of a new cruise terminal in June, the South China Morning Post reports.
"Three out of 100 American tourists join a cruise tour, but only four out of 10,000 Asian tourists do so," said Kenneth Wong Cheuk-hung, a general manager with the Tourism Board.
The new terminal in Kai Tak will be able to accommodate the world's largest cruise ships, which were too big for the existing Ocean Terminal.
The Tourism Board will try to sell the destination to major cruise companies, including Carnival, Azamara Club Cruises, Royal Caribbean, Crystal Cruises, and Star Cruises at a forum in Hong Kong next week.
Wong said residents of southern China might be interested in cruises from Hong Kong, which could provide round trips to Taiwan, Vietnam, or Chinese tourist destination Sanya city in Hainan province.
The Tourism Board also sees cruise passengers as a potential revenue source for the city since those who stay overnight in Hong Kong spend an average of HK$4,833 ($623) per day, twice as much as average tourists.
Cruise industry officials said in September that there is a potential market of 300 million passengers in the Asia-Pacific region if the industry could manage a 1 percent market penetration.
Carnival has said it is focused on emerging markets in Asia and plans to add a new Costa branded ship in China and a new Princess Cruises program for the Japanese market this year.
