Tourism Indochina: Tourism ideas seen to lack wow now factor

Tourism Indochina: Tourism ideas seen to lack wow now factor

(Tourism Indochina:Date : 2008-10-16):

The Hong Kong Tourism Board has been promised support to target emerging markets such as India, the Middle East and Russia.

Donald Tsang also promised to help attract mainland visitors from provinces other than Guangdong to boost tourism. But he did not spell out exactly how much the government might contribute.

The board will establish an office overseas to promote meetings, incentive travel, conventions and exhibitions - or MICE business, as it is known.

The government and the Trade Development Council are also examining the feasibility of a phase three expansion of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre at a nearby site.

Negotiations with Russia for a mutual visa-free agreement, meanwhile, are in their final stages.

That could make Hong Kong the first advanced region to reach such an agreement with Moscow.

Tsang said Hong Kong is also about to conclude an agreement with Macau to speed up immigration clearance for residents traveling between the two.

Hong Kong residents made 8.17 million visits to Macau last year. Under the deal, they should before the end of next year be able to clear immigration procedures using e-channels in Macau without filling out arrival forms.

On what Hong Kong offers, Tsang said cultural infrastructure and heritage conservation were just as important as economic growth.

Hexagonal rock columns and other features on the New Territories eastern coastline are unique attractions, he noted, and a geological park would provide academic research as well as tourism.

Ten sites are being considered as worthy candidates for heritage attention, including the Ninepin island group, Lai Chi Chong, Ping Chau and High Island.

On the cultural front, a revitalization of the original Central School would be modeled on the Fringe Club, though a public consultation will begin next year.

The government will also continue to back popular tourism and infrastructure, including a Kai Tak cruise terminal, the former Marine Police Headquarters in Tsim Sha Tsui and the West Kowloon Cultural District.

But the chairman of the Inbound Travel Association, Paul Leung Yiu- lam, said Tsang failed to provide fast remedies for the struggling sector. He said the government is on the right track but that it will take years for these plans to materialize.

"It is good to waive visas for Russians, but we don't have enough Russian- speaking tour guides," Leung added. For example, the SAR is better equipped for Vietnamese or English-speaking Middle Eastern tourists.

On eco-tourism, he said a geological park or revitalized heritage sites may be value-added attractions, but "if tourists want to see rocks, they don't come to Hong Kong for that."

Tourism constituency lawmaker Paul Tse Wai-chun found the policy address disappointing.

He believes organizing events such as the Rugby Sevens and the International Dragon Boat Championships will invigorate tourism quickly.


By Nickkita Lau

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