Hong Kong cruise company seeks more piers for its on-board dining services proven to be a hit with mainland Chinese budget tours
- Harbour Cruise – Bauhinia says lunchtime service will be offered next Wednesday to Friday after success of recent trial
- Operator hopes to expand pickup points to piers in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hung Hom, Wan Chai and Central
A Hong Kong cruise operator has urged the government to help make more piers available in the city for its services offering lunch on its vessels to budget tour groups from mainland China, saying a recent trial of the dining experience was a success.
Harbour Cruise – Bauhinia on Thursday said it would offer the lunchtime service next Wednesday to Friday, hoping to cater to at least 15 mainland tour groups a day, after a trial involving about 50 tourists went smoothly.
Rockie Ip Ting-kwok, director of the company’s operations, said it aimed to expand the pickup points to piers in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hung Hom, Wan Chai and Central, adding it could only use the ones in North Point and Kwun Tong at the moment.
“We used the Kwun Tong pier in the hope of easing the crowd of tourists and traffic at Kowloon City,” Ip said.
The move to use cruises to serve meals to mainland tour groups comes after residents in To Kwa Wan, Kowloon City and Hung Hom last week complained that tourists were causing a nuisance and traffic jams in those areas.
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During Wednesday’s trial, about 50 mainland tourists on budget tours boarded the lower deck of the cruise at Kwun Tong and enjoyed a 45-minute lunch before returning to their coaches.
The Travel Industry Authority, tasked by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu to address crowd management and transport issues, said it was satisfied with the arrangement.
Harbour Cruise – Bauhinia’s Ip said he would ask pier operators to allow the company to berth the cruises at the locations for a period of time during the day. He called on the government to assist and moderate discussions between the two.
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“Some cruises are too big to dock at public piers. We can dock at designated piers, but there aren’t many of them,” Ip said. “If piers located in those popular tourist districts can be opened, it will bring convenience.”
The company has a fleet of four ferries that carry both passengers and vehicles, with the largest one called Man Lok with a capacity of 402 seats on its dining floor. Another cruise called Man On has 378 seats on its dining floor. The vessels, which have pink and white facades, are typically 64 metres (209 feet) long and 13 metres wide.
Before Wednesday’s trial, the fleet already offered set lunches, afternoon tea and dinner buffets to locals and tourists.
Tourism sector lawmaker Perry Yiu Pak-leung said different factors had to be assessed to determine whether more piers could be opened for the lunch cruise operator.
“Ships are different sizes and require different parking facilities,” Yiu said. “They will need to study whether the piers still have space to cater to them.”
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Timothy Chui Ting-pong, executive director of the Hong Kong Tourism Association, said he believed cruise lunches would emerge as a new trend.
“We have to tackle the crowding issue as the government has shown its strong stance and the industry wants to improve as well,” Chui said. “As the hot and rainy weather is approaching, tour agencies also want to offer better dining experiences for their customers on cruises.”
Chui added that the cruise lunch would increase operational costs by about HK$20 (US$2.5) per visitor, but it would still be manageable for tour agencies.
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During the trial, four lunch sets were available with prices ranging from HK$64 to HK$160 per person for 10 people per table. The most luxurious meal included crab, mussels, abalone and roasted duck.
The HK$64 set included unlimited rice, soup and seven signature local dishes, including Hong Kong-style curry chicken and Sichuan-style spicy tofu.
The evening menu had sets of five or six dishes as well as a buffet.
Ip said he expected a large number of mainland tourists to visit Hong Kong during the “golden week” holiday starting May 1, and he hoped to offer the lunch service every day.
