- Full-day ticket priced at HK$150; stops include Four Points by Sheraton, 11 Skies, SkyCity Marriott Hotel and Disneyland
- City recorded 26.8 million visitors in the first 10 months of 2023; number of tourists rose 19.8% in October versus September
The first sight seeing bus route on Lantau Island will connect popular attractions. Photo: HandoutHong Kong’s Lantau Island got its first sightseeing bus route connecting the top tourists spots in the city including a cable car, Disneyland, hotels and a new shopping centre in a bid to boost transport connectivity and tourism.
Lawmaker Ben Chan Han-pan welcomed the new service and predicted it would give visitors another option to get to Disneyland instead of taking a taxi or the MTR.
The open-top double-decker bus service will offer full-day tickets priced at HK$150 (US$19) each, allowing passengers to hop on and off for unlimited rides. It will depart daily from the Ngong Ping 360 cable car terminal, with four trips in the morning starting at 10.20am and three in the afternoon.
The service was co-launched by Ngong Ping 360, which operates the cable car and Big Bus Tours.
Chan, chairman of the Legislative Council’s transport panel, said the tourism sector would benefit from the new route.
“New transport options will help increase footfall in different locations, and tourism as a whole, to a certain extent,” he said.
But he called on authorities to step up efforts to connect to areas in southern Lantau, such as Tong Fuk and Mui Wo, which were also popular among tourists with more detailed itineraries.
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“I hope there will be improvement in linking these attractions together and providing easier access for both tourists and residents,” he said. “This will ensure that everyone benefits from a more efficient transport system.”
An insider said visitors taking the afternoon service, from 3.30pm, would get a close-up look at Hong Kong International Airport’s aircraft maintenance area.
“The aircraft maintenance area has been chosen for the afternoon trips as it is a hotspot for a lot of photographers,” the source said. “The bus will drive slowly when it passes through so that passengers can capture the sunsets and landscapes from the top deck.”
Stops on the “360 Lantau Sightseeing Bus Tour” include the Four Points by Sheraton hotel; 11 Skies, a new shopping centre owned by New World Development; SkyCity Marriott Hotel and Hong Kong Disneyland.
Andy Lau Wai-ming, the managing director of Ngong Ping 360, said the new service was a promising addition to the island.
“We look forward to attracting more visitors to Lantau through this new sighting bus service,” Lau said.
The cable car recorded more than 5,000 daily visits in November, reaching its pre-pandemic average from 2013 to 2018.
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About 3.46 million visitors arrived in the city last month, marking a 19.8 per cent rise compared with September, according to provisional figures from the Tourism Board. The city recorded 26.8 million visitors for the year up to October.
The SkyCity Transport Terminal, which began operating inside 11 Skies, said 16 franchised bus routes would set up designated stops there by the end of the year.
The services are expected to cover 14 districts, including Tung Chung, Tuen Mun, Tseung Kwan O and Tin Hau.