Full steam ahead for Kai Tak Cruise Terminal
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government is pressing ahead with preparatory work for the construction of a new cruise terminal at Kai Tak.
A spokesman for the Tourism Commission said that to expedite the construction process, the government is preparing for the invitation of tenders for two works contracts simultaneously, namely the site formation works contract and the cruise terminal building works contract. “We hope that by adopting this dual-track approach, the construction lead time can be shortened,” he said.
The government will seek funding approval from the Legislative Council later this year for carrying out the site formation works. It is expected that construction can begin before the end of the year.
The government has invited prequalification applications for the design and construction of the cruise terminal building. Application details, including the eligibility criteria for applicants, are laid out in the notice published in the Government Gazette on March 6. Qualified applicants can obtain the relevant application documents from the Architectural Services Department (ArchSD) and submit their applications on or before March 31.
“After closing of the prequalification exercise, the ArchSD will prequalify four suitable candidates to participate in the design and build contract tender exercise,” the spokesman said.
The government hopes to begin operation of the first berth by mid-2013.
February visitor arrivals reached 2.16 million
Visitor arrivals in February 2009 reached 2,162,325, or 8.1% less year-on-year, according to the Hong Kong Tourism Board. This brings the cumulative arrivals for the first two months of 2009 to 4,958,424, or 1.8% ahead of the same period last year.
Almost all major market regions registered decline in arrivals in February, resulting in a drop in total arrivals for the month. The shortfall was attributed to the slowdown in travel among mainland China visitors, following the Lunar New Year holidays at the end of January. Another factor was that arrivals from long-haul and selected short-haul market regions continued to drop as a result of the global financial downturn.
Visitor arrivals from different market regions during the month were:
• South & Southeast Asia: 176,716 (+4.3%)
• Mainland China: 1,345,291 (-6.7%)
• Taiwan: 147,184 (-17.3%)
• North Asia: 163,234 (-14.4%)
• Australia, New Zealand & South Pacific: 42,489 (-10.8%)
• The Americas: 101,017 (-11.4%)
• Europe, Africa & the Middle East: 136,620 (-11.7%)
Out of the total Mainland arrivals in February, 773,145 or 57.5% arrived under the Individual Visit Scheme. This is a 9.6% year-on-year decrease.
Overall, some 58.3% of all visitors to Hong Kong in February stayed in the city for at least one night. This is 0.7% lower than the same month last year. The remaining 41.7% same-day in-town visitors either returned home or left for another destination on the same day as arrival.
Hotel occupancy across all categories of hotels in February was 76%, which was 4% lower than in February 2008. The average achieved hotel room rate across all hotel categories was US$130, which was 10.4% lower than in February 2008.
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