The Star Ferry company is hoping to boost its sagging revenues by tapping the fine-dining market. It will turn one of its old vessels into a floating restaurant, the ferry operator said yesterday.
A retired Star boat will be refitted to convert the lower deck into a kitchen and the upper deck into a dining area. It will offer mostly Western cuisine as well as views of the harbour and city skyline.
Frankie Yick Chi-ming, the director of Wharf, which owns the ferry business, told a media gathering yesterday: 'This is going to be up-class, fine dining. People will find their time well spent there and they will enjoy a dinner that they will never forget.'
Wharf is now looking for suitable food and beverages to offer on the vessel, which will initially be tied up at a pier in the harbour. Later it may find a different location along the new waterfront that is currently under construction.
Yick said it was too early to estimate how much profit Wharf might make from the operation. But he hoped it would be enough to help revive the ferry's fortunes, plagued by a nearly 25 per cent drop in daily patronage - from 50,000 to 38,000 - since the Central ferry pier was relocated in 2006.
The dwindling patronage dealt a serious blow to the ferry operation, pushing a profitable operation into the red: it recorded accumulated losses of HK$17 million in the three years up to 2009. Fares went up in 2009 and again last year.