HONG Kong's latest tourist attraction - a 5.7 km-long cable car ride to the famed Big Buddha statue - finally opened yesterday after a three-month-long delay.

The move has come just in time for the mainland's Golden Week national holidays next month.

Tourists can now enjoy a breathtaking journey to view the 26-m-high figure - the world's largest, seated, outdoor, bronze Buddha statue.

The 20-minute Skyrail cable car ride, which plys the scenic, hilly terrain between Tung Chung and Ngong Ping on Lantau island, offers passengers a 360-degree panoramic view of North Lantau Country Park, the South China Sea, Tung Chung Bay and the Hong Kong International Airport.

It is part of the HK$1 billion (S$204 million) Ngong Ping 360 project owned by the government's MTR Corporation, which operates the city's subway system.

The aim of the project is to further develop the Ngong Ping area and create an integrated tourism experience.

Apart from the cable car ride, Ngong Ping 360 features a village that boasts educational exhibitions as well as retail spots.

Previously, the only way to get to the Big Buddha was by bus.

The Skyrail is the latest tourist attraction on Lantau, Hong Kong's largest outlying island, since Disneyland opened there last September. It is also the city's newest lure to draw the mainland tourist crowd.

About 400,000 visitors crossed the border into Hong Kong during last October's Golden Week period - a 10 per cent rise from previous year figures.

Ngong Ping 360, which took two years to complete, hopes to attract 1.5 million visitors in its first year.

Travel Industry Council (TIC) executive director Joseph Tung told reporters that eventually, he expected the Skyrail to help raise the number of Golden Week visitors by another 10 per cent.

Hong Kong's tourism figures have remained healthy in recent years.

A total of 4.7 million mainland visitors arrived in the city over the first four months of the year, up by almost 17 per cent against the same period last year.

These numbers have been rising gradually since the mainland allowed individual visits to Hong Kong in 2003 via the Individual Permit Scheme. Before this, mainlanders could visit the territory only on tour groups.

In all, Hong Kong attracted 23 million visitors last year, up 7.1 per cent from 2004.

The city is targeting 27 million this year, with hopes pinned on Ngong Ping 360, Disneyland, a revitalised Ocean Park, as well as another newly-opened attraction, the Hong Kong Wetland Park, a nature conservation park, among other attractions.

The Skyrail is expected to sell out over the Oct 1 Golden Week, which means sales of 7,500 tickets daily.

Ticket prices vary from HK$35 to HK$155, depending on dates and types of attraction packages.

Industry insiders are hoping that the attraction is done with its various teething problems, such as delays caused by technical glitches and bad weather, as well as reported resignations of several staff.

Its opening date yesterday was in fact chosen by fengshui experts.

But City University professor Joseph Cheng points out that attractions such as Ngong Ping 360 and Disneyland are in for some keen regional competition posed by the likes of Macau's new American casinos as well as Singapore's integrated resort plans.

'For instance, Macau's Sands casino recovered its investment within a year of operations, well ahead of schedule,' he told The Straits Times.

'This will put more pressure on attractions in Hong Kong to succeed in as short a time as possible.'

• The Skyrail cable car ride plies between Tung Chung and Ngong Ping on Lantau Island and lasts 20 minutes.
• It is the latest tourist attraction on Lantau since Disneyland opened there last September, and is also part of the HK$1 billion (S$204 million) Ngong Ping 360 project.
• Ticket prices vary from HK$35 to HK$155, depending on dates and types of attraction packages.
• Through Ngong Ping 360, Disneyland, a revitalised Ocean Park and the newly opened Hong Kong Wetland Park and other attractions, the island hopes to draw 27 million tourists this year.