Motion on “Expeditiously formulating long-term planning for the tourism industry” 

moved by Hon YIU Si-wing at the Council meeting of 23 October 2013

Motion as amended by Hon TonyTSE, Hon SIN Chung-kai and

Hon Ronny TONG

That, as the tourism industrygenerates substantial foreign exchange revenue for Hong Kong, and at the sametime creates a large number of employment opportunities, its impact on theoverall economy can be described as significant; given the year-on-yearincrease in the number of inbound tourists, Hong Kong’s ancillary facilities inrespect of scenic spots, hotels, transport, shopping and control points, etc.,have obviously become insufficient; in addition, in undertaking urban planning,the Government fails to consider it from the tourism perspective and formulaterelevant measures; the Government must strike a balance between conservationand development, so as not to hinder the development of the tourism industryand Hong Kong as a whole and affect people’s daily lives; in this connection,this Council urges the Government to formulate diversified long-term planningand comprehensive industrial policies and measures for the tourism industry,including attracting more tourists to Hong Kong to enjoy the fruits of conservationwith Hong Kong people and achieve economic benefits by the conservation andrevitalization of buildings and the environment, strengthening the tourismindustry-related manpower training, and formulating laws and regulationsconducive to the healthy development of the tourism industry, so as toalleviate the pressure on traditionally popular tourism districts, raise the visitorcarrying capacity, and promote the sustainable development of the tourismindustry; the relevant proposals should also include:

(1) to request the Government toexpeditiously submit a bill on establishing a travel industry authority tostrengthen the monitoring of travel agents and tourist guides;

(2) to propose amendments to theTravel Agents Ordinance, put in place a demerit point system based onobjective criteria, and require each travel agent to appoint two registeredauthorized representatives; when travel agents and tourist guides are found tobe non-compliant, to deduct points from them, with possible temporary licencesuspension for minor non-compliance and licence revocation for seriousnon-compliance; when a travel agent is found to be non-compliant, to deductpoints from both of its two authorized representatives; and after the persons concerned have incurred full demerit points, to forbid them to serve as authorized representatives of travel agents, so as to prevent travel agents from changing their names to evade penalty;

(3) regarding licensing systems and handling of complaints, apart from making reference to the current accreditation system of the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong, to propose improvements to the licensing systems for tourist guides and tour escorts, so as to upgrade tourism practitioners’ quality and service standard in the long run; and apart from conducting a preliminary inspection of consumer complaints about and claimsagainst travel agents and/or their employees, to switch the existing mediationrole of the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong to the purview of the TravelIndustry Authority to be set up in the future;

(4) dovetailing with the conservation policy, to protect Hong Kong’s natural landscape, as well as conserve intangib lecultural heritage, so as to attract tourists; and

(5) to develop the Lantau Islandinto a leisure ecological park, so as to increase the number of scenic spots inHong Kong;

this Council also urges the Government to enhance tourist spots, develop the countryside and green tourism projects, coupled with public education, to strengthen people’s care for the countryside environment and their awareness of keeping it clean.