HONG KONG 2004 - Travel and Tourism

To facilitate visitors going to various attractions in Hong Kong, the Tourism Commission introduced the Visitor Signage Improvement Scheme in 2001. The scheme covers all 18 districts and will be fully completed in 2005. The signage system includes directional signs, mapboards and identification signs to guide visitors to popular tourist spots and provide interesting background information about the area.

The Tourism Commission's Tourism District Enhancement Programme provides a pleasant environment and user-friendly facilities for the enjoyment of our visitors. The programme covers popular tourist spots like the Central and Western District, the Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade, Lei Yue Mun, Sai Kung and Stanley waterfront. Plans to beautify and upgrade the tourism-related facilities in the Peak area and Tsim Sha Tsui East are underway.

To promote high standards of service in shops and restaurants, the Hong Kong Tourism Board's (HKTB) Quality Tourism Services (QTS) Scheme has been widely supported by the tourism industry and helped to upgrade professionalism and service standards offered to visitors. By end 2004, more than 1 000 retail and catering businesses, representing some 4 700 outlets, have received QTS accreditation. The QTS Scheme was enhanced in December 2003 to raise the service standards for shops and restaurants through a more stringent accreditation and surveillance system and strengthen the quality destination image of Hong Kong. It also increased visitors' confidence in patronising QTS shops and restaurants through vigorous promotions, and by bringing in more merchants to provide greater variety of choices for visitors.

A Service Quality Study on tourism-related industries was commissioned to identify tourists' perception of quality of services and look into how the industries were performing to match up with tourists' expectation. The study results will be used as reference for setting service quality standards for each industry and assist the industries in continuous improvement.

A hospitality culture in the community is essential to the sustainable development of the tourism industry. The Tourism Commission will continue to run the territory-wide public education campaign entitled 'A Hospitable Hong Kong' to promote a hospitality culture. One of the key programmes is the Hong Kong Young Ambassador Scheme, which aims to groom a cadre of young people to serve as 'ambassadors' to overseas visitors and to spread hospitality messages among peers. A series of TV and radio announcements promote the hospitality culture among the community.

The Individual Visit Scheme, introduced by the Mainland authorities to allow residents there to visit Hong Kong in a personal capacity, now covers 32 Mainland cities, including those in Guangdong province, Beijing, Shanghai and nine cities in Fujian, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The scheme has been well received, with over 4.25 million Mainland visitors coming under this scheme in 2004.

The Tourism Commission coordinated efforts among various government departments and the tourism industry to draw up measures to cope with the upsurge in Mainland visitors, especially during the 'golden week' holidays. The tested measures have demonstrated Hong Kong's capability to receive a large number of visitors during peak holiday seasons.