Hong Kong’s Ngong Ping 360 cable car attraction joins effort against illegal ticket sales

The Ngong Ping 360 cable car attraction on Hong Kong’s Lantau Island is to “actively cooperate” with authorities in their crackdown on illegal ticket sales.

The attraction, which first discovered the illegal resale of its tickets in 2023, told the South China Morning Post last Friday that it has earlier detected “suspicious” transactions involving mass purchases on online platforms and that two accounts had been suspended this month.

This followed the Hong Kong Police and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department having last Thursday arrested two individuals on suspicion of illegally selling tickets for the attraction.

During the joint operation, Hong Kong Police officers discovered the pair’s alleged illegal activity after they disguised themselves as customers to gather evidence at stalls in Tung Chung, near the cable car’s terminal.

The suspects were charged with illegal hawking without a licence and causing an obstruction in a public place.

FEHD staff seized items such as cable car ticket redemption vouchers, price tags and an Octopus Mobile Point-of-Sale device.

After first discovering individuals illegally selling tickets in 2023, Ngong Ping 360 advised that authorities carried out two operations that year and in 2024 against such activity.

The operator also said it had discovered “suspicious bulk transactions” on various unspecified online sales platforms. It added that it had repeatedly asked those platforms to cancel the transactions and freeze the accounts.

Over the last month, two “suspicious accounts” on different platforms were frozen, according to the operator. But individuals continued to apply for new accounts on different platforms for illegal ticket resale purposes.

The company added it had put up notices and broadcast announcements at the Tung Chung Cable Car Terminal to remind guests to avoid patronising unlicensed vendors and only buy tickets through formal channels.

It advised the South China Morning Post “Ngong Ping 360 will actively cooperate with relevant government departments to eliminate illegal cable car ticket scalping activities and safeguard the interests of our guests.”

Under the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance, residents cannot trade on the street unless they hold a valid hawker licence. Offenders face a maximum penalty of six months’ imprisonment and a fine of HK$10,000 (US$1,283).

If illegal hawking activities cause an obstruction in a public place, offenders can be jailed for three months and fined HK$25,000 (US$3207) under the Summary Offences Ordinance.

Image: The Ngong Ping 360 cable car attraction on Hong Kong’s Lantau Island. Credit: Shutterstock.