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Kai Tak Cruise Terminal Welcomed First GuestsOn 12 June 2013, the new Kai Tak Cruise Terminal welcomed Royal Caribbean International’s Mariner of the Seas on her maiden call in Hong Kong. This signified the readiness of Hong Kong to receive mega cruise ships from now on – an important milestone for Hong Kong in its dedication to become Asia’s cruise hub.
During the inaugural berthing, the HKTB staged a traditional cultural performance with two 75-feet dragons, 12 lions, a big team of percussionists, and more than 60 performers to welcome the 3,000-plus passengers from Australia, Germany, Singapore, the UK and the US. A plaque and key ceremony was held at the cruise terminal and attended by Mr Philip Yung, Commissioner for Tourism of HKSARG, and over 100 journalists.
The new cruise terminal is every bit as impressive as anticipated. The first berth alone can accommodate the largest cruise vessels in the world. The terminal is due to fully open to the public in the third quarter of 2013, with a second berth to be commissioned in 2014.
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| Maiden call of Mariner of the Seas to Hong Kong. |
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Mr Philip Yung, Commissioner for Tourism of the Hong Kong SAR Government (third left) , Ms Daisy Lui, Deputy Executive Director of the HKTB (third right) and cruise tourism officials greet the first batch of passengers of Mariner of the Seas. |
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 Hong Kong Pavilion – 11 cruise brands under one roof. |
The First-Ever Cruise Pavilion in Hong KongThe HKTB joined hands with eleven international cruise brands to showcase the diverse range of cruise products offered in Hong Kong. This first-ever cruise pavilion under the HKTB in the International Travel Expo Hong Kong (ITE) was held on 13-16 June 2013, with over 100,000 trade and public visitors. Cruise lines co-exhibiting were Azamara Club Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, Costa Cruises, Holland America Line, Oceania Cruises, Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean International, Seabourn, SeaDream Yacht Club, Silversea Cruises and Star Cruises.
This travel fair coincided with the inaugural berthing at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal. The newly commissioned Kai Tak Cruise Terminal development drew immense interest from both trade and public. With world-class cruise infrastructure, including the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal, Ocean Terminal, and attentive services provided by cruise industry professionals, Hong Kong is poised to become Asia’s cruise hub.
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| Guests of honour, Ms Daisy Lui, Deputy Executive Director (3rd from left), and Mr Kenneth Wong, General Manager, MICE & Cruise (2nd from right) of the HKTB. |
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Visitors were very interested to know more about cruise products |
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HKTB Ramps up Regional Cruise Co-operationThe HKTB believes that strengthened regional co-operation is essential to cruise industry development. Therefore, the organisation is pursuing partnership opportunities with neighbouring ports to promote the development of this regional cruise tourism.
As part of this effort, the collaboration of the HKTB and the Taiwan Tourism Bureau (TTB) in cruise tourism promotion in Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as the surrounding region, cites an example. Leveraging on this partnership, Royal Caribbean International (RCI) has scheduled two additional sailings of Mariner of the Seas to Taiwan on 29 October and
2 November this year with Hong Kong as the home port. These have already proven so overwhelmingly popular that the bookings of November 2 sailing exceeded 70% capacity within two weeks of going on sale.
The HKTB will continue to explore regional collaboration of this kind as an important drive towards this industry development.
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