Cruise company says customers can ask for refund as Labour Day fireworks display uncertain

Customers who have booked a trip to enjoy the Labour Day fireworks display at Victoria Harbour can ask for a refund or choose another date if the show is ultimately canceled due to adverse weather, the operator of a ship company said. 

The Hong Kong Tourism Board previously expected some 800,000 mainland tourists to visit the city as the Labour Day golden week holidays kick-started on Wednesday. 

Yet, due to the stormy weather and heavy rain, the government has yet to decide if the first fireworks show of the monthly campaign scheduled at 8 pm will go ahead as planned. 

Speaking on an RTHK program on Wednesday, Harbor Cruise Bauhinia director of operations Rockie Ip Ting-kwok said even if the show is canceled tonight, the cruise ships will sail and citizens can still enjoy a buffet dinner onboard with the view of Victoria Harbour. 

Customers can also ask for a refund, choose another date or switch to other tours by paying the price difference, he added. 

Ip noted that the market response was only mild due to uncertain weather. A cruise ship can normally host around 350 to 400 guests and now there are only some 200 reservations, he said. 

Ip also said no customers have inquired about refund arrangements so far. 

Lam Chi-ting, chairman of the Hong Kong Tourism Instructors Association, said although the number of inbound tourists nears pre-pandemic levels, there isn’t a spike in the number of tours to Hong Kong. 

Lam believes the industry for tour guides may not benefit from the long holidays since the number of tours have been sharply cut from 300 to about 100 to 200 on a daily basis. 

He continued that the length of the tours also varied from three to four nights in the past to recently five to six days in the Greater Bay Area. The time tourists spend in Hong Kong is therefore shortened to only about three days.