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The cable car crash has scared tourists and sent businesses into a tailspin, with Ngong Ping Village registering a 90 per cent drop in visitors.

The village landlord, the MTR Corp, said it would temporarily waive rents  on the 20-plus shops and restaurants in the village.

Kelly Yuen, a shop assistant at a bird's nest shop, said the number of tourists yesterday had fallen 90 per cent compared with normal days.

'We have not sold anything  today,' she said yesterday afternoon.

Ms Yuen said some people travelled to the village on weekdays because a ride on the cable car  took only about 20 minutes and they could enjoy the view.

But now the bus is the only  way to get to the village, which takes about 50 minutes.

An assistant at a shop that sells wooden carvings, who gave her surname as Cheung, also said the business had been hit hard. She said the shop owner was considering closing temporarily.

'Even if the cable car reopens, I think it will still take some time for people's confidence in it to return,' Ms Cheung said.

A Malaysian who gave her surname as Wong arrived with her mother and friends yesterday at the Ngong Ping 360 station in Tung Chung to find the service suspended.  They had to take the bus  instead.

A Singaporean, who gave his surname as Wong,  also had to change  plans  for himself, his wife and children.

Although Mr Wong said the incident sounded  worrying, he said the family's holiday  had not been ruined as they still could get to the Big Buddha.  And the family was still interested in taking a ride on the cable car when they returned.

A spokesman for the New Lantao Bus Company said the company was told about the cable car accident by the Transport Department on Monday night. He said 19 more bus trips  were made on top of its usual 58 rounds from Tung Chung to the Po Lin Monastery due to the higher demand.

The Po Lin Monastery will hold a ceremony to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the handover on Saturday week. Staff at the monastery said  there were no concerns about attendance.

Charles Ng Kwong-wai,  president of the Inbound Tour Operators' Association, said he hoped the problem  could be resolved before the summer season started in the middle of next month but said  the impact on tours would be limited as visitors could still reach Ngong Ping by bus.

Paul Leung Yiu-lam, president of the Hong Kong Inbound Travel Association,  said questions over whether travel insurance covered cable-car accidents also needed to be addressed as soon as possible.



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