HONG KONG TRAVEL TRADE MUST DEVELOP STRATEGIC PLANS FOR FUTURE ENDEAVOURS

Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) Executive Director Ms Clara Chong today (27 September) attended the Joint Council of the Travel Industry of Hong Kong (JCTI) meeting to discuss the countermeasures of the tourism industry following the 11 September terrorist attacks in the United States.

Those attending agreed that, for the continuous development of tourism business, the entire travel industry should co-operate in increasing Hong Kong’s appeal and competitiveness by providing more attractive packages.

Ms Chong said the incident in the United States has affected tourism worldwide and that the HKTB had immediately adjusted and modified its promotional strategies in accordance with the market environment and situation. Since the incident, the HKTB has halted consumer promotion activities in the United States and Canada and has reallocated resources to short-haul markets.

She, however, stressed that the HKTB is still maintaining close contact with the trade in the United States and Canada with a view that when the situation improved, Hong Kong would be in a very good position to recapture market share.

Ms Chong said that Mainland China and Taiwan — Hong Kong’s two biggest source markets accounting for around 50% of total visitor arrivals — were the least affected.

“The HKTB will further strengthen promotions in these two markets, especially through the City of Life: Hong Kong is it! campaign’s Best of the Best Culinary Awards and the Hong Kong Lights Up programme,” she said.

Working alongside the Tourism Commission, the HKTB will be urging the authorities concerned to draw up measures that would make it easier for travellers to visit Hong Kong. This would include increasing the quota of Hong Kong tours for Mainland visitors and streamlining visa application procedures for business travellers. For the Taiwan market, the HKTB suggests speeding up the implementation of the “iPermit” electronic visa system and increasing the number of flights to and from Taiwan.

Ms Chong said she believed that North Asia and Australia are two markets still possessing potential and that the HKTB will monitor closely the situation and will strengthen promotional activities at an appropriate time.

Earlier this year, the HKTB forecast growth of 7.8% in visitor arrivals to 14.08 million. Although actual growth for the first eight months of 2001 reached 7.4% to 9.07 million, in view of the current market environment in the United States, the HKTB has adjusted the forecast downwards and estimates total arrivals for 2001 will be similar to 2000: around 13.06 million.

The HKTB was pleased to learn that, under volatile market conditions, local travel trade partners are actively engaged in preparing more attractive packages. The packages will be launched shortly to entice visitors from the short-haul markets to Hong Kong.

“The Tourism Commission is organising a tourism conference with the HKTB for November to discuss the issue when the impact of the incident will be clearer,” Ms Chong said. “Now travellers will be even more conscious of service quality and value for money when planning their trips. We are glad that trade members have agreed to enhance Hong Kong’s appeal and position as the most popular travel destination in Asia by quickly taking action,” Ms Chong added.

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