Following is a question by the Hon Frankie Yick and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Ms Mable Chan, in the Legislative Council today (October 15):
 
Question:
 
     The Government has devoted considerable efforts to promoting tourism, with Victoria Harbour tours being one of the most popular activities among tourists. However, it is learnt that currently Victoria Harbour tours mainly take place along the promenade of Tsim Sha Tsui East, where there is an excessive demand for the limited number of public landing steps. Some industry players have further pointed out that some vessels occupy the berths at the landing steps, forcing other vessels to wait for an extended period of time for berthing. This often leads to competition for berths and even dangerous situations, raising concerns about maritime safety. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) of the respective usage and queuing arrangements for the various public landing steps in Tsim Sha Tsui East during weekdays, weekends and Mainland public holidays (particularly during evening hours);
 
(2) whether it has compiled statistics on visitors joining Victoria Harbour tours; if so, of the respective numbers of those joining through tour groups and as individual travellers;
 
(3) what measures are in place by the authorities to optimize the use of public resources, prevent vessels from occupying the public landing steps in Tsim Sha Tsui East, and maintain order for berthing of vessels and for passengers boarding the vessels for Victoria Harbour tours; and
 
(4) as it is learnt that nowadays the number of restaurants and shops near Kowloon City Pier catering to tour groups has significantly dwindled and crowds of tourists no longer exist there, resulting in extremely low usage of the public landing steps at King Wan Street, Kowloon City, whether the authorities will consider gradually reactivating the public landing steps there under controlled circumstances, for example, by first allowing access during specified times on weekdays or weekends, or even during Mainland public holidays, so as to divert some of the visitors of Victoria Harbour tours from the promenade of Tsim Sha Tsui East; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     Landing steps are public landing facilities for use by vessels for passenger embarkation and disembarkation. Regarding the Tsim Sha Tsui East area, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) currently manages Tsim Sha Tsui Landing No. 1, while the Transport Department (TD) is responsible for managing the remaining Landing No. 2 and No. 5 and monitoring their utilisation. The Civil Engineering and Development Department is responsible for the maintenance and repair of the aforementioned public landing steps. The Government will review the usage of public landing facilities and gauge the views of stakeholders from time to time to improve the design and usage arrangements of the landing facilities.
 
     In consultation with the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau (CSTB), the TD and the Marine Department (MD), my reply to the question raised by the Hon Frankie Yick is as follows:

(1) The TD conducts utilisation surveys on the over 190 landing facilities (including public piers and landing steps) under its management about every two years. Survey findings on the utilisation of public landing steps in Tsim Sha Tsui East in year 2023-2024 are shown in the following table:
 

Landing facility	Daily utilisation of the facility (Note 1) (No. of vessels)
	Weekdays or Saturdays	Sundays or public holidays
Tsim Sha Tsui Landing No.1 (Note 2)	--	--
Tsim Sha Tsui Landing No.2	0	0
Tsim Sha Tsui Landing No.5	0	0

Note 1: The surveys were conducted between 7am and 8pm on a normal weather day.
Note 2: Tsim Sha Tsui Landing No.1 is currently managed by LCSD, which does not keep information such as its utilisation by vessels.

     According to the observations of the LCSD and the Travel Industry Authority (TIA), participation in Victoria Harbour tours using Tsim Sha Tsui Landing No.1 has been running smoothly as a whole. The queuing order at the Avenue of Stars is generally good, with no signs of chaos.
 
(2) At present, marine tourism projects and sightseeing vessels are available in the market for the general public and tourists to enjoy the scenery of the Victoria Harbour. Participants of the Victoria Harbour tours include both tour groups and individual travellers.
 
     In respect of tour groups, the TIA estimated that between July and September 2025, there were around 16 000 Mainland inbound tour groups (with around 570 000 visitors in total) registered with itineraries including taking vessels to tour the Victoria Harbour (including joining Victoria Harbour tours or taking inner harbour ferry routes). The aforementioned Mainland inbound tour groups generally embark and disembark in Tsim Sha Tsui, Central, Wan Chai or North Point. Nearly half of these groups will embark and disembark in the Tsim Sha Tsui area, among which around 80 per cent will embark at the Star Ferry Pier, while the remaining around 20 per cent will use Tsim Sha Tsui Landing No.1 and other landing steps for embarkation and disembarkation. In addition, tour activities using Tsim Sha Tsui Landing No.1 for embarkation and disembarkation are generally self-paid activities, which tour group members could freely choose to participate according to their preference, hence the actual number of participants may be lower than that registered with the itineraries.
 
     The CSTB does not keep figures on the number of tourists who participated in Victoria Harbour tours in the capacity of individual travellers.

(3) In terms of berthing by vessels, public landing steps are generally public facilities that are open all day and for use by all vessels provided that they comply with the relevant marine regulations to ensure safe embarkation and disembarkation of passengers. Under the Merchant Shipping (Local Vessels) (General) Regulation (Cap. 548F), the purpose of berthing at public landing steps should be to enable embarkation and disembarkation of passengers on or from a vessel only. Upon completion of which, the vessel concerned must leave the public landing steps to allow berthing by other vessels. During periods of high demand for the public landing steps, vessels are required to queue up in an orderly manner so as to facilitate passenger embarkation and disembarkation. 
 
     The MD conducts daily patrols and law enforcement in various Hong Kong waters (including the Tsim Sha Tsui East area), including against unauthorised occupation of the public landing steps by vessels. The MD also conducts joint operations with the Police to combat conducts in violation of marine legislations such as illegal carriage of passengers and overloading.
 
     In terms of order of the tourists, the TIA has been closely monitoring the situation of registered Mainland inbound tour groups using Tsim Sha Tsui Landing No. 1 to participate in Victoria Harbour tours, and frequently deploying staff to monitor and inspect the operating situation on site. The Victoria Harbour operators concerned have been properly managing the order of passengers queuing for embarkation and disembarkation. The TIA also maintains close communication with members of the travel trade, districts, the Police, etc, to facilitate measures to be implemented by travel agents and Victoria Harbour tour operators to co-ordinate, adjust and stagger the itineraries of tour groups, as well as deploy additional manpower to maintain order, with a view to avoiding excessive concentration of tour groups at the same location at the same time.

(4) Kowloon City is currently one of the districts gathered with the largest number of Mainland inbound tour groups. There are multiple public landing facilities that are open all day for use by vessels for passenger embarkation and disembarkation, including the King Wan Street Landing mentioned in the question. If Victoria Harbour tour operators intend to use landing facilities along both sides of the Victoria Harbour other than the current embarkation and disembarkation points for the embarkation and disembarkation of passengers from Mainland inbound tour groups participating in Victoria Harbour tours, the TIA will maintain close liaison with relevant members of the trade, districts, Government departments, etc, striving to balance the impact of tour group activities on the local communities at the locations concerned.

Ends/Wednesday, October 15, 2025
Issued at HKT 12:33

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