NEWS
GENTING CRUISE OPTIMISTIC ABOUT HOSTING HK WINE & DINE FESTIVAL ONBOARD
By Susan Lewis
4-10-2021
Source: Genting Cruise Line
Genting Cruise Lines is optimistic it will be part of this year's Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival next month, with some the events to be held on its cruise ship Genting Dream.
"We are in very close discussion with the Hong Kong Tourism Board to bring the Wine & Dine Festival to our Dream Cruises," Kent Zhu, President of Genting Cruise Lines, told the Hong Kong Standard.
"We are now in a very advanced stage of finalising the details," he added.
The events on Genting Dream - expected to be held from November 3 to 28 - would be exclusive to its passengers to ensure safety and health of customers and crew.
"We will still follow the very strict rules on who will get on board and who cannot. We don't allow anybody who is not vaccinated. Everyone has to go through Covid PCR test," Zhu said.
The company, however, hopes the Hong Kong government can relax its requirement for passengers to take Covid-19 tests within 48 hours before embarkation to within 72 hours.
It also hopes the government can relax capacity limit for its vessels from the current 1,680 passengers a trip to more than half of their full capacities.
The Tourism Board, organiser of the Wine and Dine Festival, said it is considering the possibility of incorporating the cruise as one of the elements of the festival.
Although collaboration with the Tourism Board is still to be confirmed, Genting said the cruise will conduct a wine and dine-themed cruise in November anyway.
Customers could bar-hop on the cruise to taste wines and spirits, and could also take part in wine-pairing and learning mixology.
People who are not on board might still be able to take part in a virtual wine-tasting event conducted on the cruise ship as part of the festival.
The Wine and Dine Festival usually takes place in October or November on the harbourfront in Central district in Hong Kong.
The last physical show was held in 2018 attracting 180,000 visitors. It was cancelled in 2019 due to anti-government protests, while last year’s show took place mostly online because of the pandemic.
(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)
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