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Following is a written reply by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Gregory So, to a question by the Hon Tommy Cheung in the Legislative Council today (November 26):
Question:
Some members from the tourism, exhibition, retail and catering industries have relayed to me that since its commissioning in June 2013, the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal (the Terminal) has all along not been fully utilised. As a result, the terminal building has very few visitors and the shop tenants there have poor business. Yet, the Wine and Dine Festival, which was re-sited to the Terminal and held at the end of October this year, had a record-breaking attendance as high as 180 000, demonstrating that the Terminal has the potential for holding large-scale trade fairs or international mega events, thus creating more business opportunities for the aforesaid industries. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the names of the activities planned to be held at the Terminal next year by the Terminal's operator as well as the expected number of participants of and amount of spending to be brought by each of such activities;
(2) whether it has plans to position the Terminal as a venue for holding large-scale trade fairs or international mega events and launch promotional activities accordingly; if it has such plans, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(3) as members of the aforesaid industries have also relayed that due to the inadequate parking spaces for private cars and the limited capacities of nearby roads, it is difficult for the Terminal and its vicinity to accommodate a large number of private cars going there, thereby limiting the types of trade fairs that can be held at the Terminal, whether the authorities have any improvement measure in this respect; and
(4) whether it has examined how the Terminal may, through holding trade fairs and international mega events at the Terminal, attract more high-end visitors to visit Hong Kong via the cruise vessels that berth at the Terminal?
Reply:
President,
Apart from being used for berthing of cruise ships, the column-free architectural design of the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal (KTCT) allows the KTCT to be used as an event venue during non-cruise days. Since commissioning, the KTCT has hosted a variety of events, including car shows, floating book fair, youth skills competition, brand promotion activities, Cruise Holiday Expo and banquets, etc. Meanwhile, the area in the vicinity of the KTCT has become an interesting venue for hosting events, such as music festival, marathon and the Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival, etc. We believe such trend could help drive the development of the area.
My reply to the four parts of the question is as follows:
(1) Previous successful experiences in hosting events at the KTCT and the surrounding area have inspired a number of organisations to consider staging events at the KTCT. Some have initiated contacts with the terminal operator for detailed discussion. Concrete details of the events will be announced by the organisers after the confirmation of the events. We are not in a position to disclose them now.
(2) and (4) To enable the KTCT to host different events when there is no ship call, the Administration, back in the design stage of the terminal, has adopted a column-free architectural design to enhance the usage flexibility of the terminal. The terminal operator has deployed dedicated staff to promote the strengths of the KTCT as an event venue and actively arrange site visits for organisations that are interested in staging events at the KTCT, with a view to attracting as many major events to be held there during non-cruise days as possible. Recent major events held at the KTCT include the 2014 Guangzhou/Hong Kong/Macao/Chengdu Youth Skills Competition cum Carnival in October this year and the welcome reception of the Cruise Shipping Asia-Pacific 2014 (CSAP 2014), an international cruise industry conference last Thursday (November 20).
The terminal operator and relevant Government departments will endeavor to provide appropriate support on traffic and crowd control, etc. to ensure that major events could be smoothly held.
(3) Kai Tak Development (KTD) is a project of considerable scale. The terminal building and the first berth of the KTCT were the first batch of completed facilities. Having completed detailed planning of the transport infrastructure for the KTD area, the Administration will proceed with the implementation of road works and associated infrastructures having regard to actual demand and the completion schedules of the development projects within the area. For instance, the Administration is planning to commence works for a dual two-lane carriageway next year for replacing the existing single two-lane carriageway linking Cheung Yip Street in Kowloon Bay with the KTCT, in order to serve the development projects to be launched progressively at the southern tip of the former runway.
In the long run, with the commissioning of the developments in the former runway area including hotels and residential developments, the Administration will complete the works of a dual two-lane carriageway around 2021, linking the former runway area with the road networks of the northern part of the former aircraft holding area, so as to further enhance the transport infrastructure of the former runway area. The Administration is also planning for the next stage of connecting roads of the KTD to the external areas, including the Central Kowloon Route and Trunk Road T2 etc., so as to provide quick and direct road linkage between east and west Kowloon, making it more convenient to commute to and from the KTD.
In addition, when events or banquets are held at the KTCT, the terminal operator would provide temporary parking spaces within the KTCT for the vehicles or shuttle buses of participants and organisers having regard to actual need. On the other hand, the terminal operator and the relevant departments are also exploring the feasibility of providing special ferry service to the KTCT. The terminal operator, together with a ferry company, made use of a temporary pontoon connecting with the KTCT to provide special ferry services for guests attending the welcome reception of the CSAP 2014 last Thursday (November 20), offering an alternative to land transport for attendees to commute to the KTCT. Around 320 guests took the ferry and they were generally satisfied with the service.
Ends/Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Issued at HKT 14:56
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