Kai Tak cruise hub 'not in best location' but expansion is timely

Hong Kong is not in the best geographical location to serve as a cruise hub, considering mainlanders' travel preferences, a cruise operator says.

Mainland tourists like to visit modern countries, such as Japan and South Korea, and prefer short trips to tours of more than a week, said John Tercek, Royal Caribbean Cruises' vice-president of commercial development. But Hong Kong is geographically closer to Vietnam than to other East Asian countries, he noted.

Tourists who start out from Hong Kong would find it too much of a rush to include Japan or South Korea in, say, a five-day cruise, Tercek said.

"Vietnam has beautiful beaches … but the Chinese don't go to beaches," he said. "They prefer going north than south. They like shopping and enjoying Korean and Japanese culture."

Tercek was speaking this week on the sidelines of a cruise trade forum organised by the Tourism Board.

The travel industry is gearing up for the launch of the Kai Tak cruise terminal in June. Royal Caribbean Cruises, for example, is scheduled to send its Celebrity Millennium vessel out on a 16-night trip to Southeast Asia in February next year.