Exclusive | Hong Kong tourism blueprint to revamp Kai Tak’s role, improve cruise terminal, minister says
- Management rights of Kai Tak Cruise Terminal may be put up for tender once existing contract expires, tourism secretary Kevin Yeung says
- Kai Tak is no longer exclusive to tourists and initial plans need to be adjusted according to developments in area, Yeung adds
A blueprint for Hong Kong’s tourism landscape will recalibrate Kai Tak’s role, the city’s culture chief has said, while also revealing authorities will explore ways to improve the cruise terminal and adjust plans based on how the area develops.
In an exclusive interview with the Post, Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung Yun-hung said authorities might put the management rights of the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal up for tender once the existing contract expired in 2028.
“We need to wait and see whether everyone will be satisfied with [the operator’s] overall performance by then,” he said on Friday, without giving his own assessment. “How will the public score them?”
The port’s operator, Worldwide Cruise Terminals, and city authorities came under fire over chaotic transport arrangements when Royal Caribbean International’s Spectrum of the Seas returned to Hong Kong for the first time in more than a year on August 4, carrying about 4,000 passengers.
Many complained of long waits for taxis and other public transport, prompting authorities to temporarily ramp up bus services and offer incentives for taxi drivers to pick up the waiting tourists.
The fiasco also prompted closer scrutiny of how the terminal was being managed and its underused facilities, as well as planning in the wider Kai Tak area.
Last year, Worldwide Cruise Terminals Consortium – a three-way partnership between Worldwide Flight Services Holding, Royal Caribbean Cruises and Shun Tak Holdings – was granted a five-year extension to its lease on the port starting June 1.
