During her election campaign, the current Chief Executive assured me and the members of the industry that inter-disciplinary study on Hong Kong’s tourism would be held, even though the establishment of the Tourism Bureau would not be considered for the time being. In October 2017, the Financial Secretary chaired the high-level tourism coordinating meeting and implement policies and measures related to the tourism industry.
In the same month, the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau published the Development Blueprint for Hong Kong's Tourism Industry - the first blueprint published by the Government in recent years on the tourism industry. The blueprint accepted most of the recommendations I made since 2012 and has developed short-, medium-, and long-term development measures and implementation schedules, which focus on topics including the blueprint will promote the development of tours with local flavor through smart tourism, increase matching funds to support the development of new products in the industry and to expand diversified new customer source. In the Budget announced in February 2018, additional $226 million was allocated to specifically implement various measures stated in the blueprint. The decision reflected the Government's determination to implement short-term measures to support the local tourism industry.
Development Blueprint for Hong Kong's Tourism Industry