Page:HKFactSheet Tourism 012004.pdf/2

 commission is following up the recommendations of a consultancy study report on the development of tourism in the Northern New Territories.

Reviving the Tourism Industry: The SARS outbreak in early 2003 hard hit the tourism industry and various sectors in Hong Kong. The Tourism Commission and the HKTB are launching a series of destination events and promotions to attract tourists and encourage local consumption.

Standards and Performance: Apart from making available a wide range of attractions to enrich the experience of tourists, it is equally important to enhance the standard of service offered. The Travel Agents (Amendment) Ordinance 2002 has taken effect since November 1, 2002 to put in place a licensing scheme to regulate the inbound travel agents. Parallel with this, to ensure the quality service provided to the visitors, the training of serving tourist guides has commenced in July 2002 with subsidy from the Government. Any serving tourist guide who has completed the prescribed training course and passed the required examination will be issued with a "Tourist Guide Pass". They are required to observe the "Code of Conduct for Tourist Guides" issued by the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong. With effect from July 1, 2004 all travel agents are required to assign only those tourist guides with a valid "Tourist Guide Pass" to receive visitors to Hong Kong. The HKTB continues to implement a Quality Tourism Services Scheme, which aims to improve the overall service standards among retailers and restaurants. It plans to expand and relaunch the scheme to enhance awareness of the scheme among visitors and local residents. The HKTB, with funding from the Government, has also been running a two-year Tourism Orientation Programme since 2002 to provide practical training to participants and value-added services to visitors.

The promotion of a community-wide hospitality culture is essential to the sustainable development of the tourism industry. The Tourism Commission launched a territory-wide public education campaign to promote a hospitality culture in 2001. This two-year campaign entitled "A Hospitable Hong Kong" comprised a series of programmes and activities, such as the Hong Kong Young Ambassador Scheme, a TV quiz game show named "Be a Good Host Hunt", an education kit for secondary schools and a short series of TV announcement to promote hospitality culture among the general public.

Accessing Hong Kong: To facilitate entry of visitors, various measures have been introduced in 2002. The quota of the Hong Kong Tour Group Scheme of Mainland visitors has been abolished since January 2002. The number of Mainland travel agents authorised to organise such tours has also increased significantly. The Government will continue to ensure Hong Kong remains easy to visit. Beyond this, nationals from some 170 countries can visit Hong Kong visa free for period from seven days to six months. From July 28 onwards, residents of four Guangdong cities (Dongguan, Foshan, Jiangmen and Zhongshan) can apply to visit Hong Kong in their individual capacity. The scheme was extended to cover Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Huizhou on August 20; to Beijing and Shanghai on September 1; and to Shantou, Chaozhou, Meizhou, Zhaoqing, Qingyuan and Yunfu on January 1, 2004. It will be extended to the whole of Guangdong no later than May 2004.

Marketing Hong Kong: The HKTB is a statutory body set up to promote Hong Kong globally as a tourist destination and take initiatives to enhance the experience of visitors when they arrive. The HKTB continues to promote Hong Kong through various means including expanding the use of e-marketing.

Alongside promoting Hong Kong as a destination in Asia, the HKTB also places emphasis on developing joint marketing efforts with strategic partners to promote multi-destination tourism and develop new markets. The Government supports the HKTB and the tourism industry to further these efforts.

In the years ahead, the Government will continue to work closely with the HKTB and the trade to maintain Hong Kong's status as Asia's World City.