Exclusive | Hong Kong tram company wants ‘ding ding’ to signal not just a ride, but also ice cream, toys, gin and more
- With ridership, advertising hit by Covid-19, company sets out to ‘conserve city’s tram heritage’
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Hong Kong’s tram operator is going all out to beat the Covid-19 blues and refresh its appeal by rolling out a “ding ding” range of everything from craft beer to gin, soft drinks, mooncakes, ice cream, toys and more.
French-owned Hong Kong Tramways is exploring ways to survive as it has taken a beating during the health crisis, said Nixon Cheung Wing-hang, its head of commercial and brand.
“Over the past 10 years, our ridership gradually declined to about 180,000 a day,” he told the Post. “Now we face very daunting challenges due to the coronavirus outbreak.”
Local ridership dropped by an average of 30 per cent since Covid-19 hit Hong Kong early this year, closing schools, and keeping people at home as social-distancing rules kicked in. Tourists stopped coming, and tram advertising has taken a big hit too.
We don’t want something like a ‘Save Hong Kong ding dings’ campaign to eventually happen. That would be too late