Lawmakers accuse Hong Kong tourism chief of poor handling of Kai Tak Cruise Terminal, including inadequate transport links, underused facilities
- ‘I think you have handled the entire cruise terminal and the facilities around it quite poorly since you took office,’ lawmaker Starry Lee says
- Tourism minister Kevin Yeung says issues will be addressed in action plan set for first half of 2024
Lawmakers slammed Hong Kong’s tourism chief on Monday and accused him of mismanagement of the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal as they highlighted its poor transport links and underused facilities.
But Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung Yun-hung said the government would set out an action plan in the first half of 2024 to “elaborate a little more” on future arrangements for the Kai Tak district.
“I think you have handled the entire cruise terminal and the facilities around it quite poorly since you took office,” lawmaker Starry Lee Wai-king said at a Legislative Council panel meeting on economic development.
“The government has not made good use of the overall resources,” she said. “Taxpayers invested a lot of money into the terminal … but Hong Kong people rarely go there because of the inconvenient transport and the closed shopping malls. Why?”
City authorities and port operator Worldwide Cruise Terminals faced criticism earlier this year over chaotic transport arrangements when Royal Caribbean International ship Spectrum of the Seas returned to Hong Kong for the first time in more than a year.